Prologue
Prologue
“Elinor Katharine Carlisle. You stand charged upon this indictment with the murder of MaryGerrard upon the 27th of July last. Are you guilty or not guilty?”
Elinor Carlisle stood very straight, her head raised. It was a graceful head, the modelling of thebones sharp and well-defined. The eyes were a deep vivid blue, the hair black. The brows hadbeen plucked to a faint thin line.
There was a silence—quite a noticeable silence.
Sir Edwin Bulmer, Counsel for the Defence, felt a thrill of dismay.
He thought:
“My God, she’s going to plead guilty… She’s lost her nerve….”
Elinor Carlisle’s lips parted. She said:
“Not guilty.”
Counsel for the Defence sank back. He passed a handkerchief over his brow, realizing that ithad been a near shave.
Sir Samuel Attenbury was on his feet, outlining the case for the Crown.
“May it please your lordship, gentlemen of the jury, on the 27th of July, at half past three in theafternoon, Mary Gerrard died at Hunterbury, Maidensford….”
His voice ran on, sonorous and pleasing to the ear. It lulled Elinor almost into unconsciousness.
From the simple and concise narrative, only an occasional phrase seeped through to her consciousmind.
“…case a peculiarly simple and straightforward one…“…It is the duty of the Crown…prove motive and opportunity…“…No one, as far as can be seen, had any motive to kill this unfortunate girl, Mary Gerrard,except the accused. A young girl of a charming disposition—liked by everybody—without, onewould have said, an enemy in the world….”
Mary, Mary Gerrard! How far away it all seemed now. Not real any longer….
“…Your attention will be particularly directed to the following considerations:
1. What opportunities and means had the accused for administering poison?
2. What motive had she for so doing?
“It will be my duty to call before you witnesses who can help you to form a true conclusion onthese matters….
“…As regards the poisoning of Mary Gerrard, I shall endeavour to show you that no one hadany opportunity to commit this crime except the accused….”
Elinor felt as though imprisoned in a thick mist. Detached words came drifting through the fog.
“…Sandwiches…
“…Fish paste…
“…Empty house…”
The words stabbed through the thick enveloping blanket of Elinor’s thoughts — pin- pricksthrough a heavy muffling veil….
The court. Faces. Rows and rows of faces! One particular face with a big black moustache andshrewd eyes. Hercule Poirot, his head a little on one side, his eyes thoughtful, was watching her.
She thought: He’s trying to see just exactly why I did it… He’s trying to get inside my head tosee what I thought—what I felt….
Felt…? A little blur—a slight sense of shock… Roddy’s face—his dear, dear face with its longnose, its sensitive mouth… Roddy! Always Roddy—always, ever since she could remember…since those days at Hunterbury amongst the raspberries and up in the warren and down by thebrook. Roddy—Roddy—Roddy…
Other faces! Nurse O’Brien, her mouth slightly open, her freckled fresh face thrust forward.
Nurse Hopkins looking smug—smug and implacable. Peter Lord’s face—Peter Lord—so kind, sosensible, so—so comforting! But looking now—what was it—lost? Yes—lost! Minding—mindingall this frightfully! While she herself, the star performer, didn’t mind at all!
Here she was, quite calm and cold, standing in the dock, accused of murder. She was in court.
Something stirred; the folds of blanket round her brain lightened—became mere wraiths. Incourt!…People…
People leaning forward, their lips parted a little, their eyes agog, staring at her, Elinor, with ahorrible ghoulish enjoyment—listening with a kind of slow, cruel relish to what that tall man withthe Jewish nose was saying about her.
“The facts in this case are extremely easy to follow and are not in dispute. I shall put thembefore you quite simply. From the very beginning…”
Elinor thought:
“The beginning… The beginning? The day that horrible anonymous letter came! That was thebeginning of it….”
序幕
Prologue
序幕
“埃莉诺•凯瑟琳•卡莱尔，你被指控于今年七月二十七日谋杀了玛丽•杰拉德。你是否认罪？”
埃莉诺•卡莱尔站得笔直，闻声抬起头。优雅的头颅，一张轮廓分明的脸，她有一双明亮的深蓝色眼眸和一头乌黑亮丽的秀发，眉毛修成了柳叶弯。
沉默——漫长得令人无法忽视的沉默。
埃德温•布尔默爵士——她的辩护律师，感到一阵沮丧的战栗。
他想：
“天哪，她要认罪了……她已经失去神志了……”
埃莉诺•卡莱尔嘴唇微张。她说：
“不认罪。”
辩护律师松了一口气，坐回座位。他用手帕擦了擦额头的汗，感到侥幸逃过一劫。
公诉人塞缪尔•阿坦伯利爵士站起来陈述案情。
“尊敬的法官、陪审团的各位先生，七月二十七日下午三点半，玛丽•杰拉德在梅登斯福德的亨特伯里庄园（原文为亨特伯里庄园，以下简称“H庄园”。——译者注）死去……”
他的声音滔滔不绝、铿锵悦耳，听得埃莉诺昏昏欲睡。都是一些对案情平白简洁的陈述，只有几个零星的句子飘进她的脑子里。
“……案情一目了然……
“……公诉方的责任……证明作案动机和时机……
“……很明显，除了被告，没有任何人有动机要杀死这个可怜的姑娘。玛丽•杰拉德是一个迷人的小姑娘，人见人爱，可以说，在这世上没有仇敌……”
玛丽，玛丽•杰拉德！这一切现在看来是多么遥远，多么不真实……“……请各位特别留意以下事项：
1.被告有什么样的机会和手段可以获得毒药？
2.她这么做有什么动机？
“我有责任传唤证人到庭，帮助你们得出对这个案子的正确结论……“……玛丽•杰拉德被毒杀一案，我会竭力向各位证明，没有任何人有机会犯下这种罪行，除了被告……”
埃莉诺觉得好像被囚禁在浓重的迷雾里，零星的话语从雾中飘来。
“……三明治……
“……鱼糜……
“……空房子……”
这几个字刺穿了缠绕着埃莉诺思维的厚重外壳，使得她惊醒过来……法庭。面孔。一排排的面孔！有一张特别的面孔，长着黑色的小胡子和一双精明的眼睛。赫尔克里•波洛，他的头略微歪向一边，若有所思地看着她。
她想：“他试图弄明白我究竟为什么那么做。他试图进入我的头脑，想知道我的想法和我的感受……”感受……？有点模糊，有点恶心和震惊……罗迪的脸——可亲可爱的脸，颀长的鼻子，柔软的嘴唇……罗迪！始终是罗迪，始终，从她能记事起……那些在H庄园共同度过的日子，山莓丛中，兔子窝边，小溪流畔。罗迪，罗迪，罗迪……其他人的脸！奥布莱恩护士，她的嘴微微张着，长满雀斑、好气色的脸向前倾。霍普金斯护士看起来一脸得意——得意且无情。然后是彼得•洛德的脸，彼得•洛德，多么善良，多么体贴，多么，多么抚慰人心！但看看现在，成了什么样子！迷失？是的，迷失！一副心急如焚的样子。而她自己，作为事件的主角，却毫不在意！
她在法庭上。平静，冷漠，站在被告席上，被控谋杀。
她被惊醒了，缠绕着她的思维的浓雾变淡了，变得幽灵一样缥缈。在法庭上！人群……
人们向前倾着身子，他们的嘴巴微张着，眼睛瞪得大大的，幸灾乐祸地盯着她，埃莉诺，他们津津有味地听着那个高个子男人讲述有关她的案情。
“这件案子的事实是非常清楚的，并且不存在争议。接下来我将向你们简单陈述一下案情。从一开始……”
埃莉诺心想，一开始……一开始？收到那封可怕的匿名信那天！这就是开始……
PART I One 1
PART I
One
An anonymous letter!
Elinor Carlisle stood looking down at it as it lay open in her hand. She’d never had such a thingbefore. It gave one an unpleasant sensation. Ill-written, badly spelt, on cheap pink paper.
This is to Warn You (it ran),
I’m naming no Names but there’s Someone sucking up to your Aunt and ifyou’re not kareful you’ll get Cut Out of Everything. Girls Are very Artful and OldLadies is Soft when Young Ones suck up to Them and Flatter them What I say isYou’d best come down and see for Yourself whats Going On its not right you andthe Young Gentleman should be Done Out of What’s yours—and She’s VeryArtful and the Old Lady might Pop off at any time.
Well-Wisher
Elinor was still staring at this missive, her plucked brows drawn together in distaste, when thedoor opened. The maid announced, “Mr. Welman,” and Roddy came in.
Roddy! As always when she saw Roddy, Elinor was conscious of a slightly giddy feeling, athrob of sudden pleasure, a feeling that it was incumbent upon her to be very matter-of-fact andunemotional. Because it was so very obvious that Roddy, although he loved her, didn’t feel abouther the way she felt about him. The first sight of him did something to her, twisted her heart roundso that it almost hurt. Absurd that a man—an ordinary, yes, a perfectly ordinary young man—should be able to do that to one! That the mere look of him should set the world spinning, that hisvoice should make you want—just a little—to cry… Love surely should be a pleasurable emotion—not something that hurt you by its intensity….
One thing was clear: one must be very, very careful to be offhand and casual about it all. Mendidn’t like devotion and adoration. Certainly Roddy didn’t.
She said lightly:
“Hallo, Roddy!”
Roddy said:
“Hallo, darling. You’re looking very tragic. Is it a bill?”
Elinor shook her head.
Roddy said:
“I thought it might be—midsummer, you know—when the fairies dance, and the accountsrendered come tripping along!”
Elinor said:
“It’s rather horrid. It’s an anonymous letter.”
Roddy’s brows went up. His keen fastidious face stiffened and changed. He said—a sharp,disgusted exclamation:
“No!”
Elinor said again:
“It’s rather horrid….”
She moved a step towards her desk.
“I’d better tear it up, I suppose.”
She could have done that—she almost did—for Roddy and anonymous letters were two thingsthat ought not to come together. She might have thrown it away and thought no more about it. Hewould not have stopped her. His fastidiousness was far more strongly developed than his curiosity.
But on impulse Elinor decided differently. She said:
“Perhaps, though, you’d better read it first. Then we’ll burn it. It’s about Aunt Laura.”
Roddy’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Aunt Laura?”
He took the letter, read it, gave a frown of distaste, and handed it back.
“Yes,” he said. “Definitely to be burnt! How extraordinary people are!”
Elinor said:
“One of the servants, do you think?”
“I suppose so.” He hesitated. “I wonder who—who the person is—the one they mention?”
Elinor said thoughtfully:
“It must be Mary Gerrard, I think.”
Roddy frowned in an effort of remembrance.
“Mary Gerrard? Who’s she?”
“The daughter of the people at the lodge. You must remember her as a child? Aunt Laura wasalways fond of the girl, and took an interest in her. She paid for her schooling and for variousextras—piano lessons and French and things.”
Roddy said:
“Oh, yes, I remember her now: scrawny kid, all legs and arms, with a lot of messy fair hair.”
Elinor nodded.
“Yes, you probably haven’t seen her since those summer holidays when Mum and Dad wereabroad. You’ve not been down at Hunterbury as often as I have, of course, and she’s been abroadau pair in Germany lately, but we used to rout her out and play with her when we were all kids.”
“What’s she like now?” asked Roddy.
Elinor said:
“She’s turned out very nice looking. Good manners and all that. As a result of her education,you’d never take her for old Gerrard’s daughter.”
“Gone all ladylike, has she?”
“Yes. I think, as a result of that, she doesn’t get on very well at the lodge. Mrs. Gerrard diedsome years ago, you know, and Mary and her father don’t get on. He jeers at her schooling and her‘fine ways.’”
Roddy said irritably:
“People never dream what harm they may do by ‘educating’ someone! Often it’s cruelty, notkindness!”
Elinor said:
“I suppose she is up at the house a good deal… She reads aloud to Aunt Laura, I know, sinceshe had her stroke.”
Roddy said:
“Why can’t the nurse read to her?”
Elinor said with a smile:
“Nurse O’Brien’s got a brogue you can cut with a knife! I don’t wonder Aunt Laura prefersMary.”
Roddy walked rapidly and nervously up and down the room for a minute or two. Then he said:
“You know, Elinor, I believe we ought to go down.”
Elinor said with a slight recoil:
“Because of this—?”
“No, no—not at all. Oh, damn it all, one must be honest, yes! Foul as that communication is,there may be some truth behind it. I mean, the old girl is pretty ill—”
“Yes, Roddy.”
He looked at her with his charming smile—admitting the fallibility of human nature. He said:
“And the money does matter—to you and me, Elinor.”
She admitted it quickly.
“Oh, it does.”
He said seriously:
“It’s not that I’m mercenary. But, after all, Aunt Laura herself has said over and over again thatyou and I are her only family ties. You’re her own niece, her brother’s child, and I’m herhusband’s nephew. She’s always given us to understand that at her death all she’s got would cometo one or other—or more probably both—of us. And—and it’s a pretty large sum, Elinor.”
“Yes,” said Elinor thoughtfully. “It must be.”
“It’s no joke keeping up Hunterbury.” He paused. “Uncle Henry was what you’d call, I suppose,comfortably off when he met your Aunt Laura. But she was an heiress. She and your father wereboth left very wealthy. Pity your father speculated and lost most of his.”
Elinor sighed.
“Poor Father never had much business sense. He got very worried over things before he died.”
“Yes, your Aunt Laura had a much better head than he had. She married Uncle Henry and theybought Hunterbury, and she told me the other day that she’d been exceedingly lucky always in herinvestments. Practically nothing had slumped.”
“Uncle Henry left all he had to her when he died, didn’t he?”
Roddy nodded.
“Yes, tragic his dying so soon. And she’s never married again. Faithful old bean. And she’salways been very good to us. She’s treated me as if I was her nephew by blood. If I’ve been in ahole she’s helped me out; luckily I haven’t done that too often!”
“She’s been awfully generous to me, too,” said Elinor gratefully.
Roddy nodded.
“Aunt Laura,” he said, “is a brick. But, you know, Elinor, perhaps without meaning to do so,you and I live pretty extravagantly, considering what our means really are!”
She said ruefully:
“I suppose we do… Everything costs so much—clothes and one’s face—and just silly thingslike cinemas and cocktails—and even gramophone records!”
Roddy said:
“Darling, you are one of the lilies of the field, aren’t you? You toil not, neither do you spin!”
Elinor said:
“Do you think I ought to, Roddy?”
He shook his head.
“I like you as you are: delicate and aloof and ironical. I’d hate you to go all earnest. I’m onlysaying that if it weren’t for Aunt Laura you probably would be working at some grim job.”
He went on:
“The same with me. I’ve got a job, of sorts. Being with Lewis & Hume is not too arduous. Itsuits me. I preserve my self-respect by having a job; but—mark this—but I don’t worry about thefuture because of my expectations—from Aunt Laura.”
Elinor said:
“We sound rather like human leeches!”
“Nonsense! We’ve been given to understand that some day we shall have money—that’s all.
Naturally, that fact influences our conduct.”
Elinor said thoughtfully:
“Aunt Laura has never told us definitely just how she has left her money?”
Roddy said:
“That doesn’t matter! In all probability she’s divided it between us; but if that isn’t so—if she’sleft all of it or most of it to you as her own flesh and blood—why, then, darling, I shall share in it,because I’m going to marry you—and if the old pet thinks the majority should go to me as themale representative of the Welmans, that’s still all right, because you’re marrying me.”
He grinned at her affectionately. He said:
“Lucky we happen to love each other. You do love me, don’t you, Elinor?”
“Yes.”
She said it coldly, almost primly.
“Yes!” Roddy mimicked her. “You’re adorable, Elinor. That little air of yours — aloof —untouchable—la Princesse Lointaine. It’s that quality of yours that made me love you, I believe.”
Elinor caught her breath. She said, “Is it?”
“Yes.” He frowned. “Some women are so—oh, I don’t know—so damned possessive—so—sodoglike and devoted—their emotions slopping all over the place! I’d hate that. With you I neverknow—I’m never sure—any minute you might turn round in that cool, detached way of yours andsay you’d changed your mind—quite coolly, like that—without batting an eyelash! You’re afascinating creature, Elinor. You’re like a work of art—so—so—finished!”
He went on:
“You know, I think ours will be the perfect marriage… We both love each other enough and nottoo much. We’re good friends. We’ve got a lot of tastes in common. We know each other throughand through. We’ve all the advantages of cousinship without the disadvantages of bloodrelationship. I shall never get tired of you, because you’re such an elusive creature. You may gettired of me, though. I’m such an ordinary sort of chap—”
Elinor shook her head. She said:
“I shan’t get tired of you, Roddy—never.”
“My sweet!”
He kissed her.
He said:
“Aunt Laura has a pretty shrewd idea of how it is with us, I think, although we haven’t beendown since we finally fixed it up. It rather gives us an excuse, doesn’t it, for going down?”
“Yes. I was thinking the other day—”
Roddy finished the sentence for her:
“—That we hadn’t been down as often as we might. I thought that, too. When she first had herstroke we went down almost every other weekend. And now it must be almost two months sincewe were there.”
Elinor said:
“We’d have gone if she’d asked for us—at once.”
“Yes, of course. And we know that she likes Nurse O’Brien and is well looked after. All thesame, perhaps we have been a bit slack. I’m talking now not from the money point of view—butthe sheer human one.”
Elinor nodded.
“I know.”
“So that filthy letter has done some good, after all! We’ll go down to protect our interests andbecause we’re fond of the old dear!”
He lit a match and set fire to the letter which he took from Elinor’s hand.
“Wonder who wrote it?” he said. “Not that it matters… Someone who was ‘on our side,’ as weused to say when we were kids. Perhaps they’ve done us a good turn, too. Jim Partington’s motherwent out to the Riviera to live, had a handsome young Italian doctor to attend her, became quitecrazy about him and left him every penny she had. Jim and his sisters tried to upset the will, butcouldn’t.”
Elinor said:
“Aunt Laura likes the new doctor who’s taken over Dr. Ransome’s practice—but not to thatextent! Anyway, that horrid letter mentioned a girl. It must be Mary.”
Roddy said:
“We’ll go down and see for ourselves….”
第一部分 第一章 1
第一部分
第一章 1
匿名信！埃莉诺•卡莱尔站在那里，低头看着手里打开的信。她以前从来没有收过这样的信。它让人不悦。字迹难看，错字连篇，粉红色信纸透着一股廉价的气息。
写这封信是为了提醒你，
我不想说出我的名字，有人盯上了你的姑姑，如果你不流心，你就会失去一切。年轻姑娘是非常狡猾的，而老人家耳根子又软，只要年轻人巴结奉承她，就会言听计从。要我说你最好来一趟，自己看看是怎么回事。你和那位年轻的先生不应该失去这一切——她是很狡猾的，而老太太随时都会挂掉。
好心人
埃莉诺还在盯着这封信，她的眉毛厌恶地拧到了一起，这时门开了。女仆通报：“韦尔曼先生来了。”这时，罗迪走了进来。
罗迪！每次看到罗迪，埃莉诺都有种头晕目眩的感觉，一种突如其来的快乐的悸动，但是表面上她却不动声色。因为很明显，罗迪虽然爱她，却不及她爱他那么深。第一眼看到他就让她的心悸动莫名，甚至觉得疼痛。真是不可思议，一个人，一个普通人，是的，一个极其普通的年轻人，竟然能够对另一个人产生这么大的魔力！一看到他，她就目眩神迷，一听到他的声音她就甚至有点想哭。爱难道不应该是让人心情愉悦的吗？怎么会强烈到让人受伤？
有一点她很清楚：她必须非常小心地掩饰这一切。男人不喜欢被女人过分痴缠和崇拜。罗迪当然也不例外。
她轻描淡写地说：“嗨，罗迪！”
罗迪说：“嗨，亲爱的。你怎么愁容满面，收到账单了？”
埃莉诺摇摇头。
罗迪说：“我还以为是账单呢——仲夏，你知道的，精灵翩翩起舞的时候，账单也纷至沓来了！”
埃莉诺说：“这个更可怕。是一封匿名信。”
罗迪的眉毛向上一挑，高傲的脸僵住了，他面色大变，不悦地说：“不会吧！”
埃莉诺再次说：“这个真的很可怕。”
她朝书桌走了一步。
“我想，最好还是撕了它。”
她本来可以这么做，她也差点这么做了，因为罗迪和匿名信完全不应该被牵扯到一起。她可以把信丢到一边，不再去想它。他也不会制止她的。他的洁癖远远超过他的好奇心。
但埃莉诺却突然改了主意。她说：“不过，也许你还是先看看吧。然后我们再烧了它。
是关于劳拉姑姑的。”
罗迪吃惊地扬起眉毛说：“劳拉婶婶？”
他接过信看起来，眉头厌恶地拧起，看完把信递了回去。“是的，”他说，“一定要烧掉！怎么会有这样奇怪的人！”
埃莉诺说：“你觉得会不会是一个仆人？”
“我想是的。”他犹豫了一下， “我不知道他们说的那个人是谁？”
埃莉诺若有所思地说：“我想一定是玛丽•杰拉德。”
罗迪皱着眉头，努力回想。
“玛丽•杰拉德？她是谁？”
“就是门房的女儿，你一定还记得她小时候的样子！劳拉姑姑一直很喜欢这个女孩子，对她照顾有加。她为她支付了学费和其他各种教育的费用——钢琴课和法语课之类的。”
罗迪说：“哦，是的，我现在想起来了，骨瘦如柴的孩子，细胳膊细腿的，有一头乱蓬蓬的金发。”
埃莉诺点了点头。
“是的，你应该很久没见她了。自从这些年暑假你父母都选择到国外度假，你当然不像我这么常来H庄园，近年来她又一直在德国当寄宿帮工。不过我们小时候常找她一起玩。”
“她现在长什么样了？”罗迪问。
埃莉诺说：“非常漂亮，落落大方。是这些年受到良好教育的结果，你一点都看不出她是老杰拉德的女儿。”
“像个真正的大家闺秀，是吗？”
“是的。我想，这样一来，她和门房就很不相称了。杰拉德太太几年前去世了，玛丽和她的父亲关系并不好。他总嘲笑她上了学和‘小姐派头’。”
罗迪气愤地说：“人们做梦也想不到‘教育’对人有什么危害！对某些人来说那不是仁慈，反而是一种残忍！”
埃莉诺说：“我想她常常待在大宅子里。我知道，自从劳拉姑姑中风后，都是由她读书给姑姑听。”
罗迪说：“为什么不能让护士读给她听？”
埃莉诺笑着说：“奥布莱恩护士那一口爱尔兰土腔，生硬得像用刀子砍东西！我不奇怪劳拉姑姑更喜欢让玛丽来读。”
罗迪显得有些紧张，他快步在房间里走来走去，足足有一两分钟。然后他说：“埃莉诺，我觉得我们应该去一趟。”
埃莉诺有些迟疑地说：“难道因为这个？”
“不，不，才不是呢。噢，该死，我还是实话实说吧，正是因为这个！这封信虽然令人恶心，但背后可能隐藏着某些真相。我的意思是，老太太确实病得不轻……”
“是的，罗迪。”
他朝她露出一个迷人的微笑，承认人性的不可靠。他说：“而且这笔钱对你我来说确实很重要，埃莉诺。”
她很快就承认了这一点：“是的，确实如此。”
他认真地说：“这不是我贪财。但是，毕竟，劳拉婶婶自己说了一遍又一遍，你和我是她仅有的亲人了。你是她的亲侄女、她哥哥的孩子，我是她丈夫的侄子。她总是暗示我们，她去世后所有的一切会由我们中的一个——更可能是我们俩共同继承。而且这是相当大的一笔财产，埃莉诺。”
“是的，”埃莉诺若有所思地说，“确实如此。”
“要维持H庄园可不是闹着玩的。”他停顿了一下，“亨利叔叔遇到你的劳拉姑姑的时候，我想，就已经挺有钱了。加上她自己又是富有的继承人。她和你父亲都继承了一大笔钱。可惜你的父亲投资不当，失去了他的大部分财产。”
埃莉诺叹了口气，说：“可怜的父亲从来没有什么商业头脑。他在去世前一直为这些事情操心。”
“是的，你的劳拉姑姑比你父亲更善于理财。她嫁给了亨利叔叔，他们买下了H庄园，她有一天告诉我，她在投资方面一直很走运，几乎从未亏过。”
“亨利叔叔死的时候把一切都留给了她，是不是？”
罗迪点了点头。“是的，可惜的是他那么早就去世了。而她也没有再婚。真是忠贞的老人家。她对我们一直非常好。她待我就像亲侄子一样。如果我有困难，她总是不吝施以援手帮我摆脱困境。幸运的是，我没有经常麻烦她！”
“她对我也一样，一直非常慷慨。”埃莉诺感激地说。
罗迪点了点头。“劳拉婶婶真的是大好人，”他说，“但是，老实说，埃莉诺，虽然不是故意的，如果考虑到我们的实际财力，你和我生活得真是太奢华了！”
她沮丧地说：“我想你说得没错。一切的开销都是那么大——衣服、化妆品，还有些无聊的东西，比如电影和鸡尾酒，甚至唱片！”
罗迪说：“亲爱的，你是空谷百合，不是吗？你不用为稻粱谋，也不用为五斗米折腰！”
埃莉诺说：“你觉得我应该怎样，罗迪？”
罗迪摇了摇头。“我就喜欢你现在的样子：超凡脱俗。我可不喜欢你认真工作。我得说，要不是因为劳拉婶婶，你可能就要去干一些辛苦的工作了。”
他接着说：“我也是一样。我现在在刘易斯与休谟公司工作，工作不累又体面，最适合我了。这份工作让我维持了我的自尊，但是我并不担心未来，因为我指望着劳拉婶婶。”
埃莉诺说：“我们真像吸血的蚂蟥！”
“胡说！我们只是知道将来会得到一大笔钱，仅此而已。当然这实际上会影响我们的行为。”
埃莉诺若有所思地说：“劳拉姑姑从来没有明确地告诉我们，她到底会如何处理她的钱。”
罗迪说：“那没关系！总归会给我们俩平分吧。哪怕最后不是这样——如果她把全部或大部分财产留给你，因为你是她的至亲，那也没关系， 亲爱的，我还是一样可以分享它，因为我要娶你；如果老太太觉得我是韦尔曼家的男丁而把财产留给我，那也一样，因为你要嫁给我。”
他看着她深情一笑，说：“幸运的是我们碰巧相爱。你是爱我的，对不对，埃莉诺？”
“是的。”她冷冷地说，几乎是一本正经的。
“是的！”罗迪模仿她的语气，“你真可爱，埃莉诺。你那冷冰冰的气质，拒人千里，就像‘远方的公主’（远方的公主La Princesse Lointaine是法国著名诗人及剧作家EdmondRostand在一八九五年的剧作。——译者注）。我想，正是这点让我着迷。”
埃莉诺屏住了呼吸。她说：“是吗？”
“是的。”他皱起了眉头，“有些女人是那么……哦，我形容不了，那么有占有欲——那么……那么忠心耿耿——感情泛滥！我讨厌这样。而跟你一起，我永远没有把握，从来不敢肯定，你随时都会变脸，换上一张冷若冰霜的脸，冷冷地说自己改变主意了，就像这样，眼皮都不眨一下！你是个迷死人的东西，埃莉诺。你就像一件艺术品，那么……那么完美！”
他接着说：“你知道，我觉得我们的婚姻将是完美的。我们都足够爱对方，但都不过分。我们是很好的朋友，趣味相投，知根知底。我们具有表兄妹般的亲近，却没有血缘的问题。我永远不会厌倦你，因为你是那样一个难以捉摸的人儿。不过，你倒可能会讨厌我，我是如此平凡……”
埃莉诺摇摇头。她说：“我不会厌倦你，罗迪——永远不会。”
“我的甜心！”
他吻了她。
他说：“我觉得，劳拉婶婶十分清楚我们的关系，虽然我们确定关系后还没去看望过她。这正好给了我们一个去她那里的理由，不是吗？”
“是的。前几天我也正想——”
罗迪接上她的话：“我们没有尽可能多地去看望她。我也想到这一点了。她第一次中风的时候，我们几乎每隔一个星期的周末都去，但最近我们差不多有两个月没去看她了。”
埃莉诺说：“如果她叫我们去，我们会立刻赶过去的。”
“是的，那当然。我们知道她喜欢奥布莱恩护士，她把她照顾得很好。不过，尽管如此，也许我们还是有点懈怠了。我现在不是从财产的角度这么说，而纯粹是从人情来讲。”
埃莉诺点了点头说：“我知道。”
“所以这封肮脏的信毕竟还是做了件好事！我们会去保护我们的利益，因为我们喜欢老太太！”
他点了一根火柴，从埃莉诺手里接过信，把它烧了。
“不知道是谁写的，”他说，“不过这不是问题……正像我们小时候常说的，有人‘站在我们这一边’。也许这对我们是好事。吉姆•帕廷顿的母亲搬去了里维拉，有个年轻英俊的意大利医生照顾她，结果她迷上了他，把自己所有的财产都留给了他。吉姆和他的姐妹们试图推翻遗嘱，但没有成功。”
埃莉诺说：“劳拉姑姑挺喜欢接手兰塞姆医生业务的新医生——但没到那种程度！再说，那封可怕的信提到是个姑娘。一定是玛丽。”
罗迪说：“咱们亲自去看看。”
PART I One 2
II
Nurse O’Brien rustled out of Mrs. Welman’s bedroom and into the bathroom. She said over hershoulder:
“I’ll just pop the kettle on. You could do with a cup of tea before you go on, I’m sure, Nurse.”
Nurse Hopkins said comfortably:
“Well, dear, I can always do with a cup of tea. I always say there’s nothing like a nice cup of tea—a strong cup!”
Nurse O’Brien said as she filled the kettle and lit the gas ring:
“I’ve got everything here in this cupboard—teapot and cups and sugar—and Edna brings me upfresh milk twice a day. No need to be forever ringing bells. ’Tis a fine gas ring, this; boils a kettlein a flash.”
Nurse O’Brien was a tall red-haired woman of thirty with flashing white teeth, a freckled faceand an engaging smile. Her cheerfulness and vitality made her a favourite with her patients. NurseHopkins, the District Nurse who came every morning to assist with the bed making and toilet ofthe heavy old lady, was a homely-looking middle-aged woman with a capable air and a briskmanner.
She said now approvingly:
“Everything’s very well-done in this house.”
The other nodded.
“Yes, old-fashioned, some of it, no central heating, but plenty of fires and all the maids are veryobliging girls and Mrs. Bishop looks after them well.”
Nurse Hopkins said:
“These girls nowadays—I’ve no patience with ’em—don’t know what they want, most of them—and can’t do a decent day’s work.”
“Mary Gerrard’s a nice girl,” said Nurse O’Brien. “I really don’t know what Mrs. Welmanwould do without her. You saw how she asked for her now? Ah, well, she’s a lovely creature, Iwill say, and she’s got a way with her.”
Nurse Hopkins said:
“I’m sorry for Mary. That old father of hers does his best to spite the girl.”
“Not a civil word in his head, the old curmudgeon,” said Nurse O’Brien. “There, the kettle’ssinging. I’ll wet the tea as soon as it comes to the boil.”
The tea was made and poured, hot and strong. The two nurses sat with it in Nurse O’Brien’sroom next door to Mrs. Welman’s bedroom.
“Mr. Welman and Miss Carlisle are coming down,” said Nurse O’Brien. “There was a telegramcame this morning.”
“There now, dear,” said Nurse Hopkins. “I thought the old lady was looking excited aboutsomething. It’s some time since they’ve been down, isn’t it?”
“It must be two months and over. Such a nice young gentleman, Mr. Welman. But very proud-looking.”
Nurse Hopkins said:
“I saw her picture in the Tatler the other day—with a friend at Newmarket.”
Nurse O’Brien said:
“She’s very well-known in society, isn’t she? And always has such lovely clothes. Do you thinkshe’s really good-looking, Nurse?”
Nurse Hopkins said:
“Difficult to tell what these girls really look like under their makeup! In my opinion, she hasn’tgot anything like the looks Mary Gerrard has!”
Nurse O’Brien pursed her lips and put her head on one side.
“You may be right now. But Mary hasn’t got the style!”
Nurse Hopkins said sententiously:
“Fine feathers make fine birds.”
“Another cup of tea, Nurse?”
“Thank you, Nurse. I don’t mind if I do.”
Over their steaming cups the women drew a little closer together.
Nurse O’Brien said:
“An odd thing happened last night. I went in at two o’clock to settle my dear comfortably, as Ialways do, and she was lying there awake. But she must have been dreaming, for as soon as I gotinto the room she said, ‘The photograph. I must have the photograph.’
“So I said, ‘Why, of course, Mrs. Welman. But wouldn’t you rather wait till morning?’ And shesaid, ‘No, I want to look at it now.’ So I said, ‘Well, where is this photograph? Is it the one of Mr.
Roderick you’re meaning?’ And she said, ‘Roder-ick? No. Lewis.’ And she began to struggle, andI went to lift her and she got out her keys from the little box beside her bed and told me to unlockthe second drawer of the tallboy, and there, sure enough, was a big photograph in a silver frame.
Such a handsome man. And ‘Lewis’ written across the corner. Old-fashioned, of course, must havebeen taken many years ago. I took it to her and she held it there, staring at it a long time. And shejust murmured. ‘Lewis—Lewis.’ Then she sighed and gave it to me and told me to put it back. Andwould you believe it, when I turned round again she’d gone off as sweetly as a child.”
Nurse Hopkins said:
“Was it her husband, do you think?”
Nurse O’Brien said:
“It was not! For this morning I asked Mrs. Bishop, careless- like, what was the late Mr.
Welman’s first name, and it was Henry, she told me!”
The two women exchanged glances. Nurse Hopkins had a long nose, and the end of it quivereda little with pleasurable emotion. She said thoughtfully:
“Lewis—Lewis. I wonder, now. I don’t recall the name anywhere round these parts.”
“It would be many years ago, dear,” the other reminded her.
“Yes, and, of course, I’ve only been here a couple of years. I wonder now—”
Nurse O’Brien said:
“A very handsome man. Looked as though he might be a cavalry officer!”
Nurse Hopkins sipped her tea. She said:
“That’s very interesting.”
Nurse O’Brien said romantically:
“Maybe they were boy and girl together and a cruel father separated them….”
Nurse Hopkins said with a deep sigh:
“Perhaps he was killed in the war….”
第一部分 第一章 2
2奥布莱恩护士从韦尔曼夫人的卧室里出来，进入浴室。她转过头说：“我来烧水，护士，这样你肯定能喝杯茶再走。”
霍普金斯护士舒心地说：“太好了，亲爱的，我是什么时候都能来一杯茶。我总是说，没有什么比得上一杯好茶，一杯浓茶！”
奥布莱恩护士一边给水壶灌满水放到煤气炉上，一边说：“我把需要的东西都放在这个柜子里了--茶壶、杯子、糖。埃德娜每天都会给我送两次鲜牛奶。没有必要总是按铃叫仆人。这个煤气炉很好用，一壶水一下子就烧开了。”
奥布莱恩护士是个三十岁左右、高个子的红头发女人，有一口闪亮的白牙，满脸雀斑，笑容迷人。她的开朗和活力让她备受病人欢迎。霍普金斯护士是当地的庄区护士，每天早上来帮忙照顾身躯沉重的老太太如厕和铺床等事务，她是个其貌不扬的中年妇人，看起来十分能干，活泼开朗。
她赞赏地说：“这幢房子真不错。”
另一位护士点点头。“是的，虽然有点老式，没有中央供暖，但有很多壁炉，所有的女仆都非常听话，毕索普太太把她们训练得很好。”
霍普金斯护士说：“我真受不了现在的这些女孩子，不知道她们到底想要什么，大部分连日常工作都做不好。”
“玛丽•杰拉德是个好姑娘，”奥布莱恩护士说，“我真的不知道韦尔曼夫人要是没有她该怎么办。你看到她现在有多么依赖她了吗？嗯，我要说的是，她是一个可爱的小家伙，她对付老太太有自己的一套。”
霍普金斯护士说：“我为玛丽感到难过。她那个老父亲想尽办法折磨她。”
“那个倔老头，狗嘴里吐不出象牙。”奥布莱恩护士说，“水开了，我得赶紧泡茶去。”
茶泡好了，滚烫的浓茶。两名护士在韦尔曼夫人卧室隔壁的奥布莱恩护士的房间里坐着喝茶。
“韦尔曼先生和卡莱尔小姐就要来了，”奥布莱恩护士说，“今天早上有一封电报发来。”
“哦，原来如此，”霍普金斯护士说，“怪不得今天老太太看起来很高兴。他们有一段时间没来了，不是吗？”
“至少有两个月了。韦尔曼先生可真是个不错的年轻绅士，就是看起来有点傲慢。”
霍普金斯护士说：“我前几天在《尚流》杂志上看到了小姐的照片了，她与朋友在新市场。”
奥布莱恩护士说：“她在上流社会非常出名，是不是？而且总是穿着漂亮的衣服。你觉得她真的长得好看吗，护士？”
霍普金斯护士说：“很难说，现在这些女孩子都化着妆，不知道她们实际长什么样子！
在我看来，她可能还没有玛丽•杰拉德漂亮！”
奥布莱恩护士撅起嘴，把头歪向一边。“也许你说得对。但是玛丽没她那么好的气质！”
霍普金斯护士言简意赅地说：“人靠衣装马靠鞍。”
“再喝一杯茶，护士？”
“谢谢你，护士。我很乐意再来一杯。”
端着热气腾腾的茶杯，两个女人凑得更近了。奥布莱恩护士说：“昨天晚上发生了一件奇怪的事。夜里两点钟的时候，我和往常一样，到老太太房间里帮她翻身，让她躺得更舒服一些。她醒着，但她一定做梦了，因为我一走进房间，她就说，‘照片，我要那张照片。’
于是我说，‘好的，韦尔曼夫人。但是，你要不要等到早上再看？’她说，‘不，我现在就想看。’于是我说，‘好吧，照片在哪里？你指的是罗德里克先生的照片吗？’她说，‘罗德里克？不，是刘易斯。’然后她挣扎着要起来，我扶她坐起来，她从床边的小盒子里拿出一把钥匙，让我打开那个高脚柜的第二个抽屉，果然，里面有一张镶着银框的大照片。照片里是一个非常英俊的男子，照片一角写着‘刘易斯’的名字。照片样式很老了，一定是很久以前拍的。我把它拿给她，她拿着照片看了很久，嘴里还喃喃地说，‘刘易斯……刘易斯。’然后，她叹了口气，把照片给我，叫我把它放回去。而且，你相信吗，当我再转身看她的时候，她已经睡得像个孩子一样香了。”
霍普金斯护士说：“你觉得照片上的人是不是她的丈夫？”
奥布莱恩护士说：“不是！今天上午我装作不经意的样子问毕索普太太已故韦尔曼先生叫什么名字，她告诉我是亨利！”
两个女人交换了一下眼色。霍普金斯护士长着一个长鼻子，这会儿因为激动，鼻尖一颤一颤的。她若有所思地说：“刘易斯……刘易斯。我很好奇。我想不起来附近有谁叫这个名字。”
“这应该是很多年前的事情了，亲爱的。”对方提醒她。
“是的，当然了，我来这里才一两年。我很好奇--”
奥布莱恩护士说：“是个非常英俊的男人。看起来好像是一名骑兵军官！”
霍普金斯护士呷了一口茶。她说：“这很有意思。”
奥布莱恩护士沉浸在浪漫的想象中：“也许他们是青梅竹马，被无情的父亲拆散了。”
霍普金斯护士深深叹了口气，说：“也许他后来战死沙场了。”
PART I One 3
III
When Nurse Hopkins, pleasantly stimulated by tea and romantic speculation, finally left the house,Mary Gerrard ran out of the door to overtake her.
“Oh, Nurse, may I walk down to the village with you?”
“Of course you can, Mary, my dear.”
Mary Gerrard said breathlessly:
“I must talk to you. I’m so worried about everything.”
The older woman looked at her kindly.
At twenty-one, Mary Gerrard was a lovely creature with a kind of wild-rose unreality about her:
a long delicate neck, pale golden hair lying close to her exquisitely shaped head in soft naturalwaves, and eyes of a deep vivid blue.
Nurse Hopkins said:
“What’s the trouble?”
“The trouble is that the time is going on and on and I’m not doing anything!”
Nurse Hopkins said drily:
“Time enough for that.”
“No, but it is so—so unsettling. Mrs. Welman has been wonderfully kind, giving me all thatexpensive schooling. I do feel now that I ought to be starting to earn my own living. I ought to betraining for something.”
Nurse Hopkins nodded sympathetically.
“It’s such a waste of everything if I don’t. I’ve tried to—to explain what I feel to Mrs. Welman,but—it’s difficult—she doesn’t seem to understand. She keeps saying there’s plenty of time.”
Nurse Hopkins said:
“She’s a sick woman, remember.”
Mary flushed a contrite flush.
“Oh, I know. I suppose I oughtn’t to bother her. But it is worrying—and Father’s so—so beastlyabout it! Keeps jibing at me for being a fine lady! But indeed I don’t want to sit about doingnothing!”
“I know you don’t.”
“The trouble is that training of any kind is nearly always expensive. I know German pretty wellnow, and I might do something with that. But I think really I want to be a hospital nurse. I do likenursing and sick people.”
Nurse Hopkins said unromantically:
“You’ve got to be as strong as a horse, remember!”
“I am strong! And I really do like nursing. Mother’s sister, the one in New Zealand, was anurse. So it’s in my blood, you see.”
“What about massage?” suggested Nurse Hopkins. “Or Norland? You’re fond of children.
There’s good money to be made in massage.”
Mary said doubtfully:
“It’s expensive to train for it, isn’t it? I hoped—but of course that’s very greedy of me—she’sdone so much for me already.”
“Mrs. Welman, you mean? Nonsense. In my opinion, she owes you that. She’s given you a slap-up education, but not the kind that leads to anything much. You don’t want to teach?”
“I’m not clever enough.”
Nurse Hopkins said:
“There’s brains and brains! If you take my advice, Mary, you’ll be patient for the present. In myopinion, as I said, Mrs. Welman owes it to you to help you get a start at making your living. AndI’ve no doubt she means to do it. But the truth of the matter is, she’s got fond of you, and shedoesn’t want to lose you.”
Mary said:
“Oh!” She drew in her breath with a little gasp. “Do you really think that’s it?”
“I haven’t the least doubt of it! There she is, poor old lady, more or less helpless, paralysed oneside and nothing and nobody much to amuse her. It means a lot to her to have a fresh, pretty youngthing like you about the house. You’ve a very nice way with you in a sickroom.”
Mary said softly:
“If you really think so—that makes me feel better… Dear Mrs. Welman, I’m very, very fond ofher! She’s been so good to me always. I’d do anything for her!”
Nurse Hopkins said drily:
“Then the best thing you can do is to stay where you are and stop worrying! It won’t be forlong.”
Mary said, “Do you mean—?”
Her eyes looked wide and frightened.
The District Nurse nodded.
“She’s rallied wonderfully, but it won’t be for long. There will be a second stroke and then athird. I know the way of it only too well. You be patient, my dear. If you keep the old lady’s lastdays happy and occupied, that’s a better deed than many. The time for the other will come.”
Mary said:
“You’re very kind.”
Nurse Hopkins said:
“Here’s your father coming out from the lodge—and not to pass the time of day pleasantly, Ishould say!”
They were just nearing the big iron gates. On the steps of the lodge an elderly man with a bentback was painfully hobbling down the two steps.
Nurse Hopkins said cheerfully:
“Good morning, Mr. Gerrard.”
Ephraim Gerrard said crustily:
“Ah!”
“Very nice weather,” said Nurse Hopkins.
Old Gerrard said crossly:
“May be for you. ’Tisn’t for me. My lumbago’s been at me something cruel.”
Nurse Hopkins said cheerfully:
“That was the wet spell last week, I expect. This hot dry weather will soon clear that away.”
Her brisk professional manner appeared to annoy the old man.
He said disagreeably:
“Nurses—nurses, you’m all the same. Full of cheerfulness over other people’s troubles. Littleyou care! And there’s Mary talks about being a nurse, too. Should have thought she’d want to besomething better than that, with her French and her German and her piano playing and all thethings she’s learned at her grand school and her travels abroad.”
Mary said sharply:
“Being a hospital nurse would be quite good enough for me!”
“Yes, and you’d sooner do nothing at all, wouldn’t you? Strutting about with your airs and yourgraces and your fine-lady-do-nothing ways. Laziness, that’s what you like, my girl!”
Mary protested, tears springing to her eyes:
“It isn’t true, Dad. You’ve no right to say that!”
Nurse Hopkins intervened with a heavy, determinedly humorous air.
“Just a bit under the weather, aren’t we, this morning? You don’t really mean what you say,Gerrard. Mary’s a good girl and a good daughter to you.”
Gerrard looked at his daughter with an air of almost active malevolence.
“She’s no daughter of mine—nowadays—with her French and her history and her mincing talk.
Pah!”
He turned and went into the lodge again.
Mary said, the tears still standing in her eyes:
“You do see, Nurse, don’t you, how difficult it is? He’s so unreasonable. He’s never really likedme even when I was a little girl. Mum was always standing up for me.”
Nurse Hopkins said kindly:
“There, there, don’t worry. These things are sent to try us! Goodness, I must hurry. Such around as I’ve got this morning.”
And as she stood watching the brisk retreating figure, Mary Gerrard thought forlornly thatnobody was any real good or could really help you. Nurse Hopkins, for all her kindness, was quitecontent to bring out a little stock of platitudes and offer them with an air of novelty.
Mary thought disconsolately:
“What shall I do?”
第一部分 第一章 3
3
当霍普金斯护士在茶叶和浪漫遐想的刺激下心满意足，终于要离开的时候，玛丽•杰拉德跑出门追上了她。
“噢，护士，我可以跟你一起走到村里去吗？”
“当然可以，玛丽，亲爱的。”
玛丽•杰拉德气喘吁吁地说：“我必须和你谈谈。我对一切都很担心。”
年长的妇人亲切地望着她。
二十一岁的玛丽•杰拉德是个可爱的小东西，像一朵野玫瑰一样娇艳梦幻：修长的脖子，浅金色的鬈发柔顺自然地烘托着玲珑娇俏的脸庞，碧蓝的眼睛灵动有神。
霍普金斯护士说：“碰到什么麻烦了吗？”
“麻烦就是时间一天天过去，而我却无所事事！”
霍普金斯护士生硬地说：“你有的是时间。”
“是的，但如此……如此令人不安。韦尔曼夫人一直那么慷慨，为我支付所有这些昂贵的教育费用。我觉得现在我应该要开始自己谋生了。我应该接受某方面的培训。”
霍普金斯护士同情地点点头。
“如果我不这么做，那么以前的一切都白费了。我试过向……向韦尔曼夫人解释，但是，这太难了，她似乎并不明白。她总是说时间有的是。”
霍普金斯护士说：“别忘了，她是个病人。”
玛丽满脸通红，羞愧地说：“是的，我知道。我想我不该打扰她。但是，我很担心，父亲又是那样，那样不通情理！总是嘲笑我想当个淑女！不过说实在的，我真不想这样游手好闲！”
“我知道你不想。”
“麻烦的是，任何培训的学费都很昂贵。我现在德语已经学得相当好了，也许可以凭这个找份工作。但我想成为一个医院的护士。我真的喜欢护理和照顾病人。”
霍普金斯护士实事求是地说：“别忘了，当护士你得壮得像匹马才行！”
“我很强壮！我真的很喜欢护理。我母亲有个妹妹，住在新西兰，就是一名护士。因此，你瞧，我觉得我也有这样的天分。”
“当个按摩师怎样？”霍普金斯护士建议道，“或者去北方当保姆？你那么喜欢孩子。当按摩师赚得挺多。”
玛丽迟疑地说：“可是培训费很贵吧，是不是？我希望——当然我太贪心了——她已经为我做了这么多。”
“你是说韦尔曼夫人吗？胡说。在我看来，这是她欠你的。她给了你最上等的教育，却都是派不上用场的那种。你不想教书吗？”
“我不够聪明。”
霍普金斯护士说：“满大街都是聪明人！如果你听我的，玛丽，目前你还是耐心等待。
在我看来，正如我说过的，韦尔曼夫人欠你的，她有责任帮你在事业上起步。而且我毫不怀疑她自己也是这样打算。只是问题在于她太喜欢你了，她不想失去你。”
“噢！”玛丽说，她喘了一口气，“你真的这么认为？”
“我一点儿也不怀疑这点！你瞧，可怜的老太太瘫痪在床，了无生趣，没什么能够让她高兴的了。所以身边有个像你这样年轻漂亮、朝气蓬勃的女孩子，对她来讲是莫大的安慰。而且你对待病人又是那么体贴。”
玛丽轻声说：“如果你真的这么认为，这让我感觉好多了……亲爱的韦尔曼夫人，我非常非常喜欢她！她一直对我这么好。我愿意为她做任何事！”
霍普金斯护士生硬地说：“那么你现在该做的就是该怎么样还怎么样，不要瞎担心！反正这样的日子过不了多久了。”
玛丽说：“你的意思是？”
她惊恐地瞪大了双眼。
地区护士点点头。“她现在看着情况不错，但维持不了多久。还会有第二次和第三次中风。我对这种病太了解了。你要有耐心，亲爱的。如果你把老太太最后的日子服侍好，让她开开心心的，这比什么都好。你会时来运转的。”
玛丽说：“你真好。”
霍普金斯护士说：“你父亲从门房里出来了，看样子就知道他今天过得不顺心。”
她们走到大铁门旁。一位弯腰驼背的老人正从门房的台阶上步履蹒跚地走下来。
霍普金斯护士高兴地打招呼：“早上好，杰拉德先生。”
伊法姆•杰拉德粗声粗气地说了声：“啊！”
“今天天气真好啊。”霍普金斯护士说。
老杰拉德生气地说：“天气再好也不干我的事。腰痛都把我折腾死了。”
霍普金斯护士还是高高兴兴地说：“我想这是上个星期的湿气的缘故。今天这种炎热干燥的天气很快就会驱除湿气的。”
她轻描淡写的专业态度似乎惹恼了那位老人。
他不高兴地说：“护士，护士，你们都是一样的。拿别人的痛苦当快乐。一点同情心都没有！还有玛丽，也成天念叨着要当护士。我还以为她会更有出息呢，既然在学校里学了什么法语、德语、钢琴演奏，还跑到国外旅行。”
玛丽厉声说：“能成为医院的护士对我来说已经够好了！”
“是的，我看你干脆什么都不要干了，是不是？摆出你那趾高气扬的架子来，当个什么都不用干的大小姐。懒虫，那才是你的本色，我的女儿！”
玛丽的眼泪像断线的珍珠，她争辩道：“不是这样的，爸爸。你没有权利这样说我！”
霍普金斯护士不容分说地来劝解。
“今天早上这天气真让人有点难受，是不是？其实你并不是真的这个意思，对不对，杰拉德？玛丽是个好姑娘，是你的好女儿。”
杰拉德恶狠狠地瞪了一眼自己的女儿。“她再也不是我女儿了，学会了法语、历史、装腔作势。呸！”
他转身走进了门房。
玛丽的眼泪还在眼眶里打转：“你看见了，是不是，护士，多么伤人啊？他就是这么不讲理。他从来没有真正喜欢过我，甚至当我还是个小女孩的时候就这样。妈妈总是会护着我。”
霍普金斯护士和蔼地说：“好了，好了，别难过。这些都是对我们的考验！老天，我得赶紧走了。今天早上我还有一堆事情呢。”
玛丽•杰拉德站在那里，看着那轻快的身影远去，她惆怅地想，没有人是真心为你，或真正能够帮你的。霍普金斯护士虽然善良，也不外乎是说些陈腔滥调，还自以为是什么新鲜话罢了。
玛丽闷闷不乐地想：“我该怎么办？”
PART I Two 1
Two
Mrs. Welman lay on her carefully built-up pillows. Her breathing was a little heavy, but she wasnot asleep. Her eyes—eyes still deep and blue like those of her niece Elinor, looked up at theceiling. She was a big, heavy woman, with a handsome, hawklike profile. Pride and determinationshowed in her face.
The eyes dropped and came to rest on the figure sitting by the window. They rested theretenderly—almost wistfully.
She said at last:
“Mary—”
The girl turned quickly.
“Oh, you’re awake, Mrs. Welman.”
Laura Welman said:
“Yes, I’ve been awake some time….”
“Oh, I didn’t know. I’d have—”
Mrs. Welman broke in:
“No, that’s all right. I was thinking—thinking of many things.”
“Yes, Mrs. Welman?”
The sympathetic look, the interested voice, made a tender look come into the older woman’sface. She said gently:
“I’m very fond of you, my dear. You’re very good to me.”
“Oh, Mrs. Welman, it’s you who have been good to me. If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t knowwhat I should have done! You’ve done everything for me.”
“I don’t know… I don’t know, I’m sure…” The sick woman moved restlessly, her right armtwitched—the left remaining inert and lifeless. “One means to do the best one can; but it’s sodifficult to know what is best—what is right. I’ve been too sure of myself always….”
Mary Gerrard said:
“Oh, no, I’m sure you always know what is best and right to do.”
But Laura Welman shook her head.
“No—no. It worries me. I’ve had one besetting sin always, Mary: I’m proud. Pride can be thedevil. It runs in our family. Elinor has it, too.”
Mary said quickly:
“It will be nice for you to have Miss Elinor and Mr. Roderick down. It will cheer you up a lot.
It’s quite a time since they were here.”
Mrs. Welman said softly:
“They’re good children—very good children. And fond of me, both of them. I always knowI’ve only got to send and they’ll come at any time. But I don’t want to do that too often. They’reyoung and happy—the world in front of them. No need to bring them near decay and sufferingbefore their time.”
Mary said, “I’m sure they’d never feel like that, Mrs. Welman.”
Mrs. Welman went on, talking perhaps more to herself than to the girl:
“I always hoped they might marry. But I tried never to suggest anything of the kind. Youngpeople are so contradictory. It would have put them off! I had an idea, long ago when they werechildren, that Elinor had set her heart on Roddy. But I wasn’t at all sure about him. He’s a funnycreature. Henry was like that—very reserved and fastidious… Yes, Henry…”
She was silent for a little, thinking of her dead husband.
She murmured:
“So long ago…so very long ago… We had only been married five years when he died. Doublepneumonia… We were happy—yes, very happy; but somehow it all seems very unreal, thathappiness. I was an odd, solemn, undeveloped girl—my head full of ideas and hero worship. Noreality…”
Mary murmured:
“You must have been very lonely—afterwards.”
“After? Oh, yes—terribly lonely. I was twenty-six…and now I’m over sixty. A long time, mydear…a long, long time…” She said with sudden brisk acerbity, “And now this!”
“Your illness?”
“Yes. A stroke is the thing I’ve always dreaded. The indignity of it all! Washed and tended likea baby! Helpless to do anything for yourself. It maddens me. The O’Brien creature is good-natured—I will say that for her. She doesn’t mind my snapping at her and she’s not more idiotic than mostof them. But it makes a lot of difference to me to have you about, Mary.”
“Does it?” The girl flushed. “I—I’m so glad, Mrs. Welman.”
Laura Welman said shrewdly:
“You’ve been worrying, haven’t you? About the future. You leave it to me, my dear. I’ll see toit that you shall have the means to be independent and take up a profession. But be patient for alittle—it means too much to me to have you here.”
“Oh, Mrs. Welman, of course—of course! I wouldn’t leave you for the world. Not if you wantme—”
“I do want you…” The voice was unusually deep and full. “You’re — you’re quite like adaughter to me, Mary. I’ve seen you grow up here at Hunterbury from a little toddling thing—seenyou grow into a beautiful girl… I’m proud of you, child. I only hope I’ve done what was best foryou.”
Mary said quickly:
“If you mean that your having been so good to me and having educated me above—well, abovemy station—if you think it’s made me dissatisfied or—or—given me what Father calls fine-ladyideas, indeed that isn’t true. I’m just ever so grateful, that’s all. And if I’m anxious to start earningmy living, it’s only because I feel it’s right that I should, and not—and not—well, do nothing afterall you’ve done for me. I—I shouldn’t like it to be thought that I was sponging on you.”
Laura Welman said, and her voice was suddenly sharp-edged:
“So that’s what Gerrard’s been putting into your head? Pay no attention to your father, Mary;there never has been and never will be any question of your sponging on me! I’m asking you tostay here a little longer solely on my account. Soon it will be over… If they went the proper wayabout things, my life could be ended here and now—none of this long-drawn-out tomfoolery withnurses and doctors.”
“Oh, no, Mrs. Welman, Dr. Lord says you may live for years.”
“I’m not at all anxious to, thank you! I told him the other day that in a decently civilized state,all there would be to do would be for me to intimate to him that I wished to end it, and he’d finishme off painlessly with some nice drug. ‘And if you’d any courage, Doctor,’ I said, ‘you’d do it,anyway!’”
Mary cried:
“Oh! What did he say?”
“The disrespectful young man merely grinned at me, my dear, and said he wasn’t going to riskbeing hanged. He said, ‘If you’d left me all your money, Mrs. Welman, that would be different, ofcourse!’ Impudent young jackanapes! But I like him. His visits do me more good than hismedicines.”
“Yes, he’s very nice,” said Mary. “Nurse O’Brien thinks a lot of him and so does NurseHopkins.”
Mrs. Welman said:
“Hopkins ought to have more sense at her age. As for O’Brien, she simpers and says, ‘Oh,doctor,’ and tosses those long streamers of hers whenever he comes near her.”
“Poor Nurse O’Brien.”
Mrs. Welman said indulgently:
“She’s not a bad sort, really, but all nurses annoy me; they always will think that you’d like a‘nice cup of tea’ at five in the morning!” She paused. “What’s that? Is it the car?”
Mary looked out of the window.
“Yes, it’s the car. Miss Elinor and Mr. Roderick have arrived.”
第一部分 第二章 1
第二章
1韦尔曼夫人靠在精心放置的枕头上。她的呼吸有点粗重，但没有睡着。她的眼睛依然深邃湛蓝，很像她的侄女埃莉诺。她正向上看着天花板。她是个高大丰满的女人，有着端庄而犀利的外貌。她的脸上现出高傲与决断的神色。
眼睛往下看，落在坐在窗边的身影上。温柔地在那里停留——几乎是带着渴望。
“玛丽——”最后她开口了。
女孩迅速转身。“哦，你醒了，韦尔曼夫人。”
劳拉•韦尔曼说：“是的，我已经醒了有一会儿了。”
“哦，我不知道。我刚才……”
韦尔曼夫人打断她：“不，没关系。我在想，想很多事情。”
“想什么呢，韦尔曼夫人？”
关切的神情与话语，使得老妇人的脸上浮现温柔的神色。她轻轻地说：“我很喜欢你，亲爱的。你对我非常好。”
“噢，韦尔曼夫人，是你一直对我很好。如果不是你，我不知道我会怎么样！你给了我一切。”
“我真的不知道，我不知道。”生病的女人不安地动了动，她的右手臂抽动着，左边的胳膊却一动不动，毫无生气，“人们总是尽力想做最好，但到底什么是最好的，什么是对的，却很难知道。我一直太自以为是了。”
玛丽•杰拉德说：“哦，不，我敢肯定，你一直做的都是对的，是最好的。”
但劳拉•韦尔曼摇摇头。 “不，不。我很担心。玛丽，我身上一直有一项罪过：我很骄傲。骄傲会成为恶魔。它在我的家族中代代相传。连埃莉诺也是。”
玛丽连忙说：“埃莉诺小姐和罗德里克先生要过来真是太好了。你一定很高兴。他们已经有很长时间没来了。”
韦尔曼夫人温柔地说：“他们是好孩子——非常好的孩子。他们两个都喜欢我。我知道只要我要求，他们随时都会来。但我并不想经常这样做。他们年轻、快乐，世界是属于他们的。没有必要让他们陪着我遭受行将就木的痛苦。”
玛丽说：“我敢肯定，他们从来没有这样觉得，韦尔曼夫人。”
韦尔曼夫人接着说，不过更像是自言自语，而不是对女孩说：“我一直希望他们会结婚。但我从来没有向他们吐露过一丝这样的意思。年轻人是如此矛盾。否则会适得其反！
很久以前，在他们还小的时候，我就觉得，埃莉诺的心思在罗迪身上。但我不能确定罗迪的心思。他是一个有趣的家伙。亨利也是这样——矜持且挑剔……是的，亨利……”
她沉默了一下，想着她死去的丈夫。她喃喃地说：“那是很久以前——很久很久以前的事了……我们结婚才五年他就死了。双侧肺炎……我们很幸福，是的，很幸福，但是那幸福，不知为何，似乎很不真实。我还是一个古怪、阴郁、不成熟的姑娘，满脑子理想主义和英雄崇拜。一点儿都不现实。”
玛丽喃喃地说：“你后来一定很寂寞。”
“后来？哦，是的，寂寞得可怕。我那时才二十六岁，现在我六十多岁了。漫长的岁月，亲爱的，非常漫长的岁月。”
她突然苦笑一下：“现在又是这个！”
“你的病？”
“是的。中风是我一直害怕的事情。带来这一切的屈辱！像个婴儿一样，连洗澡都要人帮忙！自己做任何事情都力不从心。这简直要把我逼疯了。奥布莱恩护士是个有耐心的人——这点我承认。她不介意我对她呼来喝去，也不比他们大多数人更愚蠢。但你在我身边对我来说就完全不一样了，玛丽。”
“是吗？”女孩的脸红了。“我，我很高兴，韦尔曼夫人。”
劳拉•韦尔曼敏锐地说：“你一直在担心，是不是？担心自己的未来。交给我，亲爱的。我会安排好的，你会获得经济上的独立，并且拥有一份安身立命的工作。但是要再等等——你在我身边对我来说太重要了。”
“噢，韦尔曼夫人，当然！我绝不会离开你的。除非你不要我——”
“我真的需要你。”老人的声音异常深沉动情。“你——你就像是我的女儿，玛丽。我看着你在H庄园从一个蹒跚学步的小东西长成一个美丽的姑娘。我为你感到骄傲，孩子。我只希望我为你做的是最好的安排。”
玛丽连忙说：“如果你的意思是说，你一直以来对我这么好，让我接受了……嗯，我的地位配不上的教育，如果你认为因此而让我不知足，或者，或者像我父亲说的，有了当大小姐的想法，那不是真的。我只是满怀感激，仅此而已。如果说我急于找个工作自谋生路，那只是因为我觉得这么做是对的，我不应该……不应该……嗯，游手好闲，毕竟你为我做了那么多。我……我不想被人说我是在吸榨你。”
劳拉•韦尔曼的声音突然变得尖刻：“这就是杰拉德一直灌输给你的想法吗？不要理会你的父亲，玛丽。从来没有，也永远不会有人指责你吸榨我！我要求你在这里待久一点完全是我的私心。用不了多久了……要是他们通情达理，我的命早就可以结束了——而不用被这些护士和医生白费力气地拖延。”
“哦，不，韦尔曼夫人，洛德医生说，你还可以活很多年。”
“我一点也不在乎，谢谢！前天我告诉他，在一个体面的文明国家，应该更人道，如果我想结束自己的生命，他应该有一些不错的药物可以帮我毫无痛苦地解脱。‘要是你有一丁点的勇气，医生，’我说，‘你就应该那么做！’”
玛丽喊道：“噢！他怎么说？”
“这个没大没小的年轻人只是咧嘴笑笑，并表示他不会冒着被绞死的风险那么做。他说，‘如果你把所有的钱都留给我，韦尔曼夫人，那倒可以考虑考虑！’放肆的小坏蛋！不过，我很喜欢他。他的出诊比他的药对我更有效。”
“是的，他真的非常好，”玛丽说，“奥布莱恩护士很崇拜他，霍普金斯护士也是。”
韦尔曼夫人说：“霍普金斯在她这个年纪理应更有头脑。至于奥布莱恩，每当医生走近，她都嗤嗤地假笑，搔首弄姿地说，‘噢，医生。’”
“可怜的奥布莱恩护士。”
韦尔曼太太宽容地说：“她不是个坏人，真的，但所有的护士都让人恼火。她们总是觉得在清晨五点你会想要‘一杯好茶’！”她停顿了一下。“那是什么？是汽车吗？”
玛丽看看窗外。
“是的，是汽车。埃莉诺小姐和罗德里克先生到了。”
PART I Two 2
II
Mrs. Welman said to her niece:
“I’m very glad, Elinor, about you and Roddy.”
Elinor smiled at her.
“I thought you would be, Aunt Laura.”
The older woman said, after a moment’s hesitation:
“You do—care about him, Elinor?”
Elinor’s delicate brows lifted.
“Of course.”
Laura Welman said quickly:
“You must forgive me, dear. You know, you’re very reserved. It’s very difficult to know whatyou’re thinking or feeling. When you were both much younger I thought you were perhapsbeginning to care for Roddy—too much….”
Again Elinor’s delicate brows were raised.
“Too much?”
The older woman nodded.
“Yes. It’s not wise to care too much. Sometimes a very young girl does do just that… I was gladwhen you went abroad to Germany to finish. Then, when you came back, you seemed quiteindifferent to him—and, well, I was sorry for that, too! I’m a tiresome old woman, difficult tosatisfy! But I’ve always fancied that you had, perhaps, rather an intense nature—that kind oftemperament runs in our family. It isn’t a very happy one for its possessors… But, as I say, whenyou came back from abroad so indifferent to Roddy, I was sorry about that, because I had alwayshoped you two would come together. And now you have, and so everything is all right! And youdo really care for him?”
Elinor said gravely:
“I care for Roddy enough and not too much.”
Mrs. Welman nodded approval.
“I think, then, you’ll be happy. Roddy needs love—but he doesn’t like violent emotion. He’dshy off from possessiveness.”
Elinor said with feeling:
“You know Roddy very well!”
Mrs. Welman said:
“If Roddy cares for you just a little more than you care for him—well, that’s all to the good.”
Elinor said sharply:
“Aunt Agatha’s Advice column. ‘Keep your boyfriend guessing! Don’t let him be too sure ofyou!’”
Laura Welman said sharply:
“Are you unhappy, child? Is anything wrong?”
“No, no, nothing.”
Laura Welman said:
“You just thought I was being rather—cheap? My dear, you’re young and sensitive. Life, I’mafraid, is rather cheap….”
Elinor said with some slight bitterness:
“I suppose it is.”
Laura Welman said:
“My child—you are unhappy? What is it?”
“Nothing—absolutely nothing.” She got up and went to the window. Half turning, she said:
“Aunt Laura, tell me, honestly, do you think love is ever a happy thing?”
Mrs. Welman’s face became grave.
“In the sense you mean, Elinor—no, probably not… To care passionately for another humancreature brings always more sorrow than joy; but all the same, Elinor, one would not be withoutthat experience. Anyone who has never really loved has never really lived….”
The girl nodded.
She said:
“Yes—you understand—you’ve known what it’s like—”
She turned suddenly, a questioning look in her eyes:
“Aunt Laura—”
The door opened and red-haired Nurse O’Brien came in.
She said in a sprightly manner:
“Mrs. Welman, here’s Doctor come to see you.”
第一部分 第二章 2
2韦尔曼夫人对她的侄女说：“我很高兴，埃莉诺，对于你和罗迪的事。”
埃莉诺对她笑笑。“我想你会开心的，劳拉姑姑。”
老妇人在片刻犹豫之后说：“你真的……爱他吗，埃莉诺？”
埃莉诺精致的眉毛一挑。“当然。”
劳拉•韦尔曼赶紧说：“你一定要原谅我，亲爱的。你知道，你总是那么矜持。我很难知道你到底是怎么想的或有什么感觉。你们俩还小的时候，我觉得你也许喜欢罗迪，喜欢得有点过头了。”
埃莉诺精致的眉毛再次一挑。“过头？”
老妇人点点头。“是的。爱得太在乎是不明智的。有时候，年轻姑娘难免如此。我很高兴你后来到德国去了。然后，当你回来的时候，你似乎对他很冷漠。对此，我又很难过！
我真是个挑剔的老女人，这也不满意，那也不满意！不过，我一直觉得，你也许有一种强烈的个性，那种个性在我们家族中很普遍。拥有这种个性的人并不十分幸福……但是，正如我所说，当你从国外回来后，对罗迪如此冷淡，我又很难过，因为我一直希望你们俩能走到一起。现在你们终于在一起了，所以一切都尽如人意！你真的爱他吗？”
埃莉诺严肃地说：“我爱罗迪，爱得不能更爱了。”
韦尔曼夫人点头赞许。“那么，我想你们会幸福的。罗迪需要爱，但他不喜欢强烈的情感。占有欲会吓跑他。”
埃莉诺动情地说：“你真了解罗迪！”
韦尔曼夫人说：“如果罗迪爱你比你爱他多一点点，那就一切都好。”
埃莉诺一本正经地说：“阿加莎姑姑的爱情专栏。‘让你的男朋友猜不透你的心思！不要让他吃定你！’”
劳拉•韦尔曼犀利地说：“你不开心，孩子？出了什么事吗？”
“没有，没有，什么都没有。”
劳拉•韦尔曼说：“你是不是觉得我挺……粗俗？亲爱的，你年轻、敏感。生活本身，恐怕就是挺粗俗的。”
埃莉诺的回答带着轻微的苦涩：“我想是的。”
劳拉•韦尔曼说：“我的孩子，你不快乐？怎么啦？”
“没什么，真的没什么。”她起身走到窗前。半转着身子说：“劳拉姑姑，实话告诉我，你认为爱情是永远快乐的事情吗？”
韦尔曼夫人的脸色变得严峻。“在某种意义上，埃莉诺， 不，可能不会永远快乐。把感情寄托在另一个人身上，带来的总是悲伤多于快乐。但是不管怎么样，埃莉诺，如果没有这种经验，人生就不完整。一个人如果没有真正爱过，就没有真正活过。”
女孩点点头。她说：“是的，你明白，你知道那是什么感觉……”
她突然转过身，眼里含着疑问。“劳拉姑姑——”
门开了，红头发的奥布莱恩护士走了进来，她欢快地说：“韦尔曼夫人，医生来看你了。”
PART I Two 3
III
Dr. Lord was a young man of thirty-two. He had sandy hair, a pleasantly ugly freckled face and aremarkably square jaw. His eyes were a keen, piercing light blue.
“Good morning, Mrs. Welman,” he said.
“Good morning, Dr. Lord. This is my niece, Miss Carlisle.”
A very obvious admiration sprang into Dr. Lord’s transparent face. He said, “How do you do?”
The hand that Elinor extended to him he took rather gingerly as though he thought he might breakit.
Mrs. Welman went on:
“Elinor and my nephew have come down to cheer me up.”
“Splendid!” said Dr. Lord. “Just what you need! It will do you a lot of good, I am sure, Mrs.
Welman.”
He was still looking at Elinor with obvious admiration.
Elinor said, moving towards the door:
“Perhaps I shall see you before you go, Dr. Lord?”
“Oh—er—yes, of course.”
She went out, shutting the door behind her. Dr. Lord approached the bed, Nurse O’Brienfluttering behind him.
Mrs. Welman said with a twinkle:
“Going through the usual bag of tricks, Doctor: pulse, respiration, temperature? What humbugsyou doctors are!”
Nurse O’Brien said with a sigh:
“Oh, Mrs. Welman. What a thing, now, to be saying to the doctor!”
Dr. Lord said with a twinkle:
“Mrs. Welman sees through me, Nurse! All the same, Mrs. Welman, I’ve got to do my stuff,you know. The trouble with me is I’ve never learnt the right bedside manner.”
“Your bedside manner’s all right. Actually you’re rather proud of it.”
Peter Lord chuckled and remarked:
“That’s what you say.”
After a few routine questions had been asked and answered, Dr. Lord leant back in his chair andsmiled at his patient.
“Well,” he said. “You’re going on splendidly.”
Laura Welman said: “So I shall be up and walking round the house in a few weeks’ time?”
“Not quite so quickly as that.”
“No, indeed. You humbug! What’s the good of living stretched out like this, and cared for like ababy?”
Dr. Lord said:
“What’s the good of life, anyway? That’s the real question. Ever read about that nice mediaevalinvention, the Little Ease? You couldn’t stand, sit or lie in it. You’d think anyone condemned tothat would die in a few weeks. Not at all. One man lived for sixteen years in an iron cage, wasreleased and lived to a hearty old age.”
Laura Welman said:
“What’s the point of this story?”
Peter Lord said:
“The point is that one’s got an instinct to live. One doesn’t live because one’s reason assents toliving. People who, as we say, ‘would be better dead,’ don’t want to die! People who apparentlyhave got everything to live for just let themselves fade out of life because they haven’t got theenergy to fight.”
“Go on.”
“There’s nothing more. You’re one of the people who really want to live, whatever you sayabout it! And if your body wants to live, it’s no good your brain dishing out the other stuff.”
Mrs. Welman said with an abrupt change of subject:
“How do you like it down here?”
Peter Lord said, smiling:
“It suits me fine.”
“Isn’t it a bit irksome for a young man like you? Don’t you want to specialize? Don’t you find acountry GP practice rather boring?”
Lord shook his sandy head.
“No, I like my job. I like people, you know, and I like ordinary everyday diseases. I don’t reallywant to pin down the rare bacillus of an obscure disease. I like measles and chicken pox and all therest of it. I like seeing how different bodies react to them. I like seeing if I can’t improve onrecognized treatment. The trouble with me is I’ve got absolutely no ambition. I shall stay here till Igrow side-whiskers and people begin saying, ‘Of course, we’ve always had Dr. Lord, and he’s anice old man: but he is very old-fashioned in his methods and perhaps we’d better call in youngso-and-so, who’s so very up to date….’”
“H’m,” said Mrs. Welman. “You seem to have got it all taped out!”
Peter Lord got up.
“Well,” he said. “I must be off.”
Mrs. Welman said:
“My niece will want to speak to you, I expect. By the way, what do you think of her? Youhaven’t seen her before.”
Dr. Lord went suddenly scarlet. His very eyebrows blushed. He said:
“I—oh! she’s very good-looking, isn’t she? And—eh—clever and all that, I should think.”
Mrs. Welman was diverted. She thought to herself:
“How very young he is, really….”
Aloud she said:
“You ought to get married.”
第一部分 第二章 3
3洛德医生是一个三十二岁的年轻人。他有茶色的头发，满脸雀斑，长着显著的方下巴。他的眼睛是醒目的浅蓝色，眼中满是热切。
“早上好，韦尔曼夫人。”他说。
“早上好，洛德医生。这是我的侄女，卡莱尔小姐。”
洛德医生一脸掩饰不住的倾慕。他说：“你好。”他小心翼翼地握住埃莉诺伸来的手，仿佛怕捏碎它。
韦尔曼夫人接着说：“埃莉诺和我的侄子都来为我鼓劲。”
“太好了！”洛德医生说，“这正是你需要的！我相信对你大有好处，韦尔曼夫人。”
他仍然一脸仰慕地看着埃莉诺。
埃莉诺一边向门口走去，一边说：“你走之前，我能和你说几句话吗，洛德医生？”
“哦——好的，当然。”
她走了出去，关上了门。洛德医生走近床边，奥布莱恩护士亦步亦趋跟在他身后。
韦尔曼夫人眨眨眼说：“医生的老把戏来了——号脉、听呼吸、量体温？你们医生都是骗子！”
奥布莱恩护士叹了口气说：“哦，韦尔曼夫人。你怎么能这样说医生！”
洛德医生也眨眨眼说：“韦尔曼夫人看穿了我，护士！尽管如此，韦尔曼夫人，我也得做我的老一套，你知道的。我的问题是我从来没有学会正确对待病人的态度。”
“你对待病人的态度没问题。其实你挺自得的。”
彼得•洛德咯咯笑道：“这可是你说的！”
经过几个常规的检查后，洛德医生往椅子上一靠，对他的病人笑了。
“好了，”他说，“你恢复得很棒。”
劳拉•韦尔曼说：“那么几个星期后我就能起来在屋子里转悠了？”
“没有这么快的。”
“没有，真是的。你这个骗子！这样活着有什么意思，像个婴儿一样处处依赖别人的照顾？”
洛德医生说：“活着有什么意思？这真的是个难题。你有没有读过那个中古的故事《小安乐窝》？人在里面不能站，不能坐，也不能躺。你会觉得任何人在里面用不了几个星期就会死。结果却不是。一个人在一个铁笼里生活了十六年，被放出来后一直活到寿终正寝。”
劳拉•韦尔曼说：“这个故事说明什么道理呢？”
彼得•洛德说：“这个故事的核心是，人有求生的本能。人并不是因为理性而活着。俗话说‘好死不如赖活！’谁都不想死，那些有条件活着的人最终向死亡投降是因为他们失去了与死亡搏斗的力量。”
“继续说。”
“没有更多可说的了。不管你怎么说，你属于真正想活下去的那类人！如果你的身体要活下去，你的大脑反其道而行也没有用。”
韦尔曼夫人突然换了个话题：“你在这儿过得怎么样？”
彼得•洛德笑着说：“这儿的生活挺适合我的。”
“对你这样的年轻人来说，这里的生活是不是有点令人厌烦？难道你不想当专科医生？
难道你不觉得当个乡村医生很无聊？“
洛德摇了摇茶色的脑袋。
“不，我喜欢我的工作。我喜欢人，我喜欢处理普通的日常疾病。我真的不想和什么罕见杆菌打交道。我喜欢麻疹、水痘以及其他一切。我喜欢观察不同的身体会对这些病菌做出何种不同反应，如果我能因此改进常规的治疗方法就很高兴了。我的问题是我绝对没有野心。我想留在这里，一直到胡须花白，人们开始说，‘当然，我们一直有洛德医生，他是一个不错的老家伙，不过他的治疗方法太老套，也许我们应该找年轻的某某，他的手段是最新的。’”
“嗯，”韦尔曼夫人说，“你好像想得很长远了！”
彼得•洛德站了起来。“好吧，”他说，“我得走了。”
韦尔曼夫人说：“我想我的侄女想要跟你谈谈。顺便问一句，你觉得她怎么样？你以前没见过她。”
洛德医生突然满脸通红，连眉毛都红了。他说：“我噢！她很漂亮，不是吗？而且，呃，还很聪明。”
韦尔曼夫人被逗乐了。她心想：“他真的太年轻了。”不过她大声说，“你应该结婚了。”
PART I Two 4
IV
Roddy had wandered into the garden. He had crossed the broad sweep of lawn and along a pavedwalk and had then entered the walled kitchen garden. It was well-kept and well-stocked. Hewondered if he and Elinor would live at Hunterbury one day. He supposed that they would. Hehimself would like that. He preferred country life. He was a little doubtful about Elinor. Perhapsshe’d like living in London better….
A little difficult to know where you were with Elinor. She didn’t reveal much of what shethought and felt about things. He liked that about her… He hated people who reeled off theirthoughts and feelings to you, who took it for granted that you wanted to know all their innermechanism. Reserve was always more interesting.
Elinor, he thought judicially, was really quite perfect. Nothing about her ever jarred or offended.
She was delightful to look at, witty to talk to—altogether the most charming of companions.
He thought complacently to himself:
“I’m damned lucky to have got her. Can’t think what she sees in a chap like me.”
For Roderick Welman, in spite of his fastidiousness, was not conceited. It did honestly strikehim as strange that Elinor should have consented to marry him.
Life stretched ahead of him pleasantly enough. One knew pretty well where one was; that wasalways a blessing. He supposed that Elinor and he would be married quite soon—that is, if Elinorwanted to; perhaps she’d rather put it off for a bit. He mustn’t rush her. They’d be a bit hard up atfirst. Nothing to worry about, though. He hoped sincerely that Aunt Laura wouldn’t die for a longtime to come. She was a dear and had always been nice to him, having him there for holidays,always interested in what he was doing.
His mind shied away from the thought of her actual death (his mind usually did shy away fromany concrete unpleasantness). He didn’t like to visualize anything unpleasant too clearly… But—er—afterwards—well, it would be very pleasant to live here, especially as there would be plentyof money to keep it up. He wondered exactly how his aunt had left it. Not that it really mattered.
With some women it would matter a good deal whether husband or wife had the money. But notwith Elinor. She had plenty of tact and she didn’t care enough about money to make too much ofit.
He thought: “No, there’s nothing to worry about—whatever happens!”
He went out of the walled garden by the gate at the far end. From there he wandered into thelittle wood where the daffodils were in spring. They were over now, of course. But the green lightwas very lovely where the sunlight came filtering through the trees.
Just for a moment an odd restlessness came to him—a rippling of his previous placidity. He felt:
“There’s something—something I haven’t got—something I want—I want—I want….”
The golden green light, the softness in the air—with them came a quickened pulse, a stirring ofthe blood, a sudden impatience.
A girl came through the trees towards him—a girl with pale, gleaming hair and a rose-flushedskin.
He thought, “How beautiful—how unutterably beautiful.”
Something gripped him; he stood quite still, as though frozen into immobility. The world, hefelt, was spinning, was topsy-turvy, was suddenly and impossibly and gloriously crazy!
The girl stopped suddenly, then she came on. She came up to him where he stood, dumb andabsurdly fishlike, his mouth open.
She said with a little hesitation:
“Don’t you remember me, Mr. Roderick? It’s a long time of course. I’m Mary Gerrard, from thelodge.”
Roddy said:
“Oh—oh—you’re Mary Gerrard?”
She said: “Yes.”
Then she went on rather shyly:
“I’ve changed, of course, since you saw me.”
He said: “Yes, you’ve changed. I—I wouldn’t have recognized you.”
He stood staring at her. He did not hear footsteps behind him. Mary did and turned.
Elinor stood motionless a minute. Then she said:
“Hello, Mary.”
Mary said:
“How do you do, Miss Elinor? It’s nice to see you. Mrs. Welman has been looking forward toyou coming down.”
Elinor said:
“Yes—it’s a long time. I—Nurse O’Brien sent me to look for you. She wants to lift Mrs.
Welman up, and she says you usually do it with her.”
Mary said: “I’ll go at once.”
She moved off, breaking into a run. Elinor stood looking after her. Mary ran well, grace in everymovement.
Roddy said softly: “Atalanta…”
Elinor did not answer. She stood quite still for a minute or two. Then she said:
“It’s nearly lunchtime. We’d better go back.”
They walked side by side towards the house.
第一部分 第二章 4
4罗迪闲逛到了花园。他先穿过草坪中一条宽阔的弯道，走上一条石子铺砌的小路，随后进入围墙内的菜园。这里维护得很好，各样东西都齐备。他不知道，他和埃莉诺将来是否会住在H庄园。他猜想他们大概会住在这里。他喜欢乡村生活。不过他拿不准埃莉诺。
也许她更想住在伦敦。
和埃莉诺在一起时，想了解她是有点困难的。她不怎么透露内心的想法和感受。他喜欢她的这一点。他讨厌那些总是要倾诉自己的想法和感受的人，好像理所当然地认为你想知道他们内心的一切。有所保留才更有趣。
埃莉诺，他客观地认为，确实很完美。她总是那么淡定和从容。她看起来赏心悦目，谈吐风趣诙谐——总之是最理想的伴侣。
他洋洋得意地想，我多么幸运得到了她。真想不到她会看上像我这样的一个小伙子。
罗德里克•韦尔曼尽管有些挑剔，却并不自负。他真心实意地感到意外，埃莉诺竟然答应嫁给他。
大好人生就在前方。人贵有自知之明，知足才会常乐。他猜想埃莉诺和他会很快结婚——如果埃莉诺愿意的话，也许她会希望推迟一点点。他千万不要催促她。一开始他们的日子可能会有点拮据。
不过，没什么可担心的。他真诚地希望劳拉婶婶能多活几年。她是个好人，一直对他很好，让他在这里度假，总是支持他做的事情。
他把劳拉婶婶会死的想法从头脑里摒除（他的头脑通常回避任何不愉快的事情）。
他不喜欢去想任何不愉快的事情，尤其是不想那些具体的细节。但是……呃……之后……嗯，将会非常愉快地生活在这里，特别是将有足够的钱来维持这种生活。他不知道他的婶婶究竟如何处理她的遗产。这其实并不重要。对于有些女人来说，钱归丈夫还是妻子是个大问题。但埃莉诺不会。她足够聪明，也不太在乎钱。
他想，不，没什么可担心的——无论发生什么事！
他从最远的那个门走出有围墙的花园。
从那里，他漫步进入小树林，春天，水仙花会在此盛开。当然，现在花早谢了。不过阳光从树叶间滤过，在林间投下的绿色光芒仍然如此明媚。
在那一瞬间，他的心里涌上一种奇怪的躁动，在平静的心里掀起波澜。他觉得，有什么东西，我没有的东西，我想要的东西——我要——我要……金色的绿光，柔和的微风——伴随而来的冲击，让他血脉偾张，激动难捺。
一个女孩穿过树丛，闪闪发光的金发，玫瑰般红润的肌肤，向他走来。
他想，多么美丽——多么惊人的美丽。
什么东西攫住了他的心神，他一动不动地站着，好像被冻成了石像。他觉得天旋地转，这个世界突然不可思议地、了不起地疯狂了！
女孩突然停了下来，然后继续往前走，来到他面前。他还是目瞪口呆地站在那儿，回不过神来。
她说，有一点犹豫：“你不记得我了吗，罗德里克先生？当然，已经很久没见了。我是住在门房的玛丽•杰拉德。”
罗迪说：“噢，噢，你是玛丽•杰拉德？”
她说：“是的。”
然后，她有些羞涩地继续说：“当然，从上次见面后，我变了很多。”
他说：“是的，你变了。我……我没有认出你来。”
他站在那里盯着她，没有听到身后的脚步声。玛丽听到了，她转过身。
埃莉诺一言不发地站了有一分钟，然后她说：“你好，玛丽。”
玛丽说：“你好，埃莉诺小姐，很高兴见到你。韦尔曼夫人一直盼着你来。”
埃莉诺说：“是的，我有一阵子没来了。我——奥布莱恩护士让我来找你。她要帮韦尔曼夫人起身，她说平时都是你跟她一起完成。”
玛丽说：“我马上就去。”
她一路小跑着离开了。埃莉诺站在那里，看着她。玛丽跑得很轻快，每一个动作都很优雅。
罗迪轻声说：“阿塔兰忒”（阿塔兰忒（Atalanta），希腊神话中一位善于疾走的女猎手，因在赛跑中输给希波墨涅斯而成为他的妻子。——译者注）。
埃莉诺没有回答。她一动不动地站了一两分钟，然后说：“快到午饭时间了。我们最好回去吧。”
他们并肩走向房子。
PART I Two 5
V“Oh! Come on, Mary. It’s Garbo, and a grand film—all about Paris. And a story by a tiptopauthor. There was an opera of it once.”
“It’s frightfully nice of you, Ted, but I really won’t.”
Ted Bigland said angrily:
“I can’t make you out nowadays, Mary. You’re different—altogether different.”
“No, I’m not, Ted.”
“You are! I suppose because you’ve been away to that grand school and to Germany. You’retoo good for us now.”
“It’s not true, Ted. I’m not like that.”
She spoke vehemently.
The young man, a fine sturdy specimen, looked at her appraisingly in spite of his anger.
“Yes, you are. You’re almost a lady, Mary.”
Mary said with sudden bitterness:
“Almost isn’t much good, is it?”
He said with sudden understanding:
“No, I reckon it isn’t.”
Mary said quickly:
“Anyway, who cares about that sort of thing nowadays? Ladies and gentlemen, and all that!”
“It doesn’t matter like it did—no,” Ted assented, but thoughtfully. “All the same, there’s afeeling. Lord, Mary, you look like a duchess or a countess or something.”
Mary said:
“That’s not saying much. I’ve seen countesses looking like old-clothes women!”
“Well, you know what I mean.”
A stately figure of ample proportions, handsomely dressed in black, bore down upon them. Hereyes gave them a sharp glance. Ted moved aside a step or two. He said:
“Afternoon, Mrs. Bishop.”
Mrs. Bishop inclined her head graciously.
“Good afternoon, Ted Bigland. Good afternoon, Mary.”
She passed on, a ship in full sail.
Ted looked respectfully after her.
Mary murmured.
“Now, she really is like a duchess!”
“Yes—she’s got a manner. Always makes me feel hot inside my collar.”
Mary said slowly:
“She doesn’t like me.”
“Nonsense, my girl.”
“It’s true. She doesn’t. She’s always saying sharp things to me.”
“Jealous,” said Ted, nodding his head sapiently. “That’s all it is.”
Mary said doubtfully:
“I suppose it might be that….”
“That’s it, depend upon it. She’s been housekeeper at Hunterbury for years, ruling the roost andordering everyone about and now old Mrs. Welman takes a fancy to you, and it puts her out!
That’s all it is.”
Mary said, a shade of trouble on her forehead:
“It’s silly of me, but I can’t bear it when anyone doesn’t like me. I want people to like me.”
“Sure to be women who don’t like you, Mary! Jealous cats who think you’re too good-looking!”
Mary said:
“I think jealousy’s horrible.”
Ted said slowly:
“Maybe—but it exists all right. Say, I saw a lovely film over at Alledore last week. Clark Gable.
All about one of these millionaire blokes who neglected his wife; and then she pretended she’ddone the dirty on him. And there was another fellow….”
Mary moved away. She said:
“Sorry, Ted, I must go. I’m late.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to have tea with Nurse Hopkins.”
Ted made a face.
“Funny taste. That woman’s the biggest gossip in the village! Pokes that long nose of hers intoeverything.”
Mary said:
“She’s been very kind to me always.”
“Oh, I’m not saying there’s any harm in her. But she talks.”
Mary said:
“Goodbye, Ted.”
She hurried off, leaving him standing gazing resentfully after her.
第一部分 第二章 5
5“噢！来吧，玛丽。这是一部盛大的电影——都是有关巴黎的。故事是由一个顶尖的作者创作的。以前还有过一部关于它的歌剧。”
“你真好，泰德，但我真的不想去。”
泰德•比格兰德气愤地说：“我再也请不动你了，玛丽。你变了，完全变了。”
“不，我没有，泰德。”
“你变了！我想是因为你上了那些好学校，又去了德国。你现在已经是我们高攀不起的了。”
“这不是真的，泰德。我不喜欢你这么说。“她激动地说。
这个英俊而强壮的年轻人，尽管生气，还是倾慕地望着她。“是的，你变了。你几乎是个淑女了，玛丽。”
玛丽苦涩地说：“几乎毕竟不是，对吗？”
他突然理解了：“是的，我认为不是。”
玛丽很快说：“反正，今天谁还在乎那种事情？绅士淑女，所有的一切！”
“现在是和过去不一样了，”泰德表示同意，他若有所思，“不管怎么样，我有一种感觉。老天，玛丽，你看起来就像一位伯爵夫人或什么的。”
玛丽说：“那可不必。我见过的伯爵夫人看起来都像老古董！”
“噢，你知道我不是这个意思。”
一个高大端庄、穿着得体的黑色套装的身影向他们走来。她的眼神尖锐地扫过他们。
泰德往边上退了一两步。他说：“下午好，毕索普太太。”
毕索普太太客气地点点头。“下午好，泰德•比格兰德。下午好，玛丽。”她从他们身边经过，像一艘扬帆远航的帆船。
泰德恭敬地盯着她的身影。
玛丽喃喃地说：“她才真像是一位公爵夫人！”
“是的——她有一种派头。总是让我紧张到冒汗。”
玛丽慢慢地说：“她不喜欢我。”
“废话，我的姑娘。”
“这是真的。她不喜欢我。她总是对我说话很尖刻。”
“嫉妒，”泰德说，他自作聪明地点点头，“就是这么回事。”
玛丽怀疑地说：“我想或许是因为……”
“就是这么回事，不会有错。她当了好多年H庄园的管家，大权在握，号令所有人，现在老韦尔曼夫人看中你，让她靠边站了！就是这么回事。”
玛丽的眉头紧皱：“我真傻，但我就是不能忍受别人不喜欢我。我希望人人都喜欢我。”
“不喜欢你的当然都是女人，玛丽！嫉妒你的美貌！”
玛丽说：“我觉得嫉妒很可怕。”
泰德缓缓地说：“也许，但它有存在的理由。对了，我上个星期在阿勒多看了一部好电影。克拉克•盖博演的。讲一个年轻的百万富翁忽略了他的妻子，然后她假装背叛了他。还有另一个家伙——”
玛丽走开了。“对不起，泰德，我必须要走了。我已经迟到了。”
“你要去哪里？”
“我要去跟霍普金斯护士喝茶。”
泰德做了个鬼脸。“古怪的品味。那个女人是村里最大的长舌妇！她那长鼻子到处嗅来嗅去。”
玛丽说：“她一直对我很好。”
“哦，我不是说她有什么坏处。但她喜欢嚼舌根。”
玛丽说：“再见，泰德。”
她匆匆离开，留下他站在那里愤愤不平地望着她的背影。
PART I Two 6
VI
Nurse Hopkins occupied a small cottage at the end of the village. She herself had just come in and
was untying her bonnet strings when Mary entered.
“Ah, there you are. I’m a bit late. Old Mrs. Caldecott was bad again. Made me late with my
round of dressings. I saw you with Ted Bigland at the end of the street.”
Mary said rather dispiritedly:
“Yes….”
Nurse Hopkins looked up alertly from where she was stooping to light the gas ring under the
kettle.
Her long nose twitched.
“Was he saying something particular to you, my dear?”
“No. He just asked me to go to the cinema.”
“I see,” said Nurse Hopkins promptly. “Well, of course, he’s a nice young fellow and doesn’t
do too badly at the garage, and his father does rather better than most of the farmers round here.
All the same, my dear, you don’t seem to me cut out for Ted Bigland’s wife. Not with your
education and all. As I was saying, if I was you I’d go in for massage when the time comes. You
get about a bit and see people that way; and your time’s more or less your own.”
Mary said:
“I’ll think it over. Mrs. Welman spoke to me the other day. She was very sweet about it. It was
just exactly as you said it was. She doesn’t want me to go away just now. She’d miss me, she said.
But she told me not to worry about the future, that she meant to help me.”
Nurse Hopkins said dubiously:
“Let’s hope she’s put that down in black and white! Sick people are odd.”
Mary asked:
“Do you think Mrs. Bishop really dislikes me—or is it only my fancy?”
Nurse Hopkins considered a minute.
“She puts on a sour face, I must say. She’s one of those who don’t like seeing young people
having a good time or anything done for them. Thinks, perhaps, Mrs. Welman is a bit too fond of
you, and resents it.”
She laughed cheerfully.
“I shouldn’t worry if I was you, Mary, my dear. Just open that paper bag, will you? There’s a
couple of doughnuts in it.”
第一部分 第二章 6
6霍普金斯护士住在村头的一间小平房里。她自己也刚刚回来，玛丽进屋的时候，她正在解开帽子的系绳。
“啊，你来了。我回来得有点晚了。老郝德杰太太的情况又变糟了。害得我都没时间换衣服。我看到你和泰德•比格兰德在街口。”
玛丽没精打采地说：“是的。”
霍普金斯护士正在弯腰给炉子点火，闻言警觉地抬起头。
她的长鼻子抽动着：“他跟你说了些什么不寻常的事吗，亲爱的？”
“没有。他只是请我去看电影。”
“我明白了，”霍普金斯护士很快说，“嗯，当然，他是个不错的小伙子，在车库干得也不赖，他的父亲也比这儿的大多数农民强一些。尽管如此，亲爱的，我觉得你嫁给泰德•比格兰德还是太委屈了。和你所受的教育以及一切都不相配。就像我说的，如果我是你，等时机成熟就去学按摩。你就可以到处走走，认识一些人，你的时间也自由一些。”
玛丽说：“我会好好考虑一下。前几天韦尔曼夫人跟我谈过。她对这件事很热心。正像你说的一样，她不希望我马上离开。她说她会想念我。而且她告诉我不要担心未来，她打算帮助我。”
霍普金斯护士有些迟疑地说：“但愿她能够白纸黑字写下来！病人的想法总是反复无常。”
玛丽问：“你觉得毕索普太太真的不喜欢我——还是只是我的错觉？”
霍普金斯护士考虑了一分钟。“我必须说，她那张脸是挺臭的。她是那种见不得年轻人好的人。想想看，或许，韦尔曼夫人太喜欢你了，所以她不高兴了。”
她爽朗地笑了起来。
“如果我是你，我可不瞎担心，玛丽，亲爱的。打开纸袋，好吗？里面有两个甜甜圈。”
PART I Three 1
Three
Your Aunt had second stroke last night No cause immediate anxiety but suggestyou should come down if possible Lord.