雙語·面紗 第八章

8

But there was a quality of courage in Mrs. Garstin which in itself was admirable. She let no one in her immediate circle, which to her was the world, see how mortified she was by the frustration of her hopes. She made no change in her style of living. By careful management she was able to give as showy dinners as she had done before, and she met her friends with the same bright gaiety which she had so long cultivated. She had a hard and facile fund of chit-chat which in the society she moved in passed for conversation. She was a useful guest among persons to whom small talk did not come easily, for she was never at a loss with a new topic and could be trusted immediately to break an awkward silence with a suitable observation.

It was unlikely now that Bernard Garstin would ever be made a judge of the High Court, but he might still hope for a County Court judgeship or at the worst an appointment in the Colonies. Meanwhile she had the satisfaction of seeing him appointed Recorder of a Welsh town. But it was on her daughters that she set her hopes. By arranging good marriages for them she expected to make up for all the disappointments of her career. There were two, Kitty and Doris. Doris gave no sign of good looks, her nose was too long and her figure was lumpy; so that Mrs. Garstin could hope no more for her than that she should marry a young man who was well off in a suitable profession.

But Kitty was a beauty. She gave promise of being so when she was still a child, for she had large, dark eyes, liquid and vivacious, brown, curling hair in which there was a reddish tint, exquisite teeth and a lovely skin. Her features would never be very good, for her chin was too square and her nose, though not so long as Doris's, too big. Her beauty depended a good deal on her youth, and Mrs. Garstin realised that she must marry in the first flush of her maidenhood. When she came out she was dazzling: her skin was still her greatest beauty, but her eyes with their long lashes were so starry and yet so melting that it gave you a catch at the heart to look into them. She had a charming gaiety and the desire to please. Mrs. Garstin bestowed upon her all the affection, a harsh, competent, calculating affection, of which she was capable; she dreamed ambitious dreams; it was not a good marriage she aimed at for her daughter, but a brilliant one.

Kitty had been brought up with the knowledge that she was going to be a beautiful woman and she more than suspected her mother's ambition. It accorded with her own desires. She was launched upon the world and Mrs. Garstin performed prodigies in getting herself invited to dances where her daughter might meet eligible men. Kitty was a success. She was amusing as well as beautiful, and very soon she had a dozen men in love with her. But none was suitable, and Kitty, charming and friendly with all, took care to commit herself with none. The drawing-room in South Kensington was filled on Sunday afternoons with amorous youth, but Mrs. Garstin observed, with a grim smile of approval, that it needed no effort on her part to keep them at a distance from Kitty. Kitty was prepared to flirt with them, and it diverted her to play one off against the other, but when they proposed to her, as none failed to do, she refused them with tact but decision.

Her first season passed without the perfect suitor presenting himself, and the second also; but she was young and could afford to wait. Mrs. Garstin told her friends that she thought it a pity for a girl to marry till she was twenty-one. But a third year passed and then a fourth. Two or three of her old admirers proposed again, but they were still penniless, one or two boys younger than herself proposed; a retired Indian Civilian, a K.C.I.E., did the same: he was fifty-three. Kitty still danced a great deal, she went to Wimbledon and Lord's, to Ascot and Henley; she was thoroughly enjoying herself; but still no one whose position and income were satisfactory asked her to marry him. Mrs. Garstin began to grow uneasy. She noticed that Kitty was beginning to attract men of forty and over. She reminded her that she would not be any longer so pretty in a year or two and that young girls were coming out all the time. Mrs. Garstin did not mince her words in the domestic circle and she warned her daughter tartly that she would miss her market.

Kitty shrugged her shoulders. She thought herself as pretty as ever, prettier perhaps, for she had learnt how to dress in the last four years, and she had plenty of time. If she wanted to marry just to be married there were a dozen boys who would jump at the chance. Surely the right man would come along sooner or later. But Mrs. Garstin judged the situation more shrewdly: with anger in her heart for the beautiful daughter who had missed her chances she set her standard a little lower. She turned back to the professional class at which she had sneered in her pride and looked about for a young lawyer or a business man whose future inspired her with confidence.

Kitty reached the age of twenty-five and was still unmarried. Mrs. Garstin was exasperated and she did not hesitate often to give Kitty a piece of her very unpleasant mind. She asked her how much longer she expected her father to support her. He had spent sums he could ill afford in order to give her a chance and she had not taken it. It never struck Mrs. Garstin that perhaps her own hard affability had frightened the men, sons of wealthy fathers or heirs to a title, whose visits she had too cordially encouraged. She put down Kitty's failure to stupidity. Then Doris came out. She had a long nose still, and a poor figure, and she danced badly. In her first season she became engaged to Geoffrey Dennison. He was the only son of a prosperous surgeon who had been given a baronetcy during the war. Geoffrey would inherit a title--it is not very grand to be a medical baronet, but a title, thank God, is still a title--and a very comfortable fortune.

Kitty in a panic married Walter Fane.

第八章

然而，賈斯汀太太不乏勇氣，這種品質(zhì)本身是令人欽佩的。她不會(huì)讓圈子里的人，或者她那個(gè)世界的人，看到她因?yàn)橄Ｍ钠茰缍械角璧木较?。她的生活方式從不改變，通過精打細(xì)算，她能夠像以前那樣，照常舉辦高調(diào)的晚宴，用她長(zhǎng)久以來養(yǎng)成的、和以前一樣的歡樂態(tài)度來招待朋友。她有一種別人用起來很難，而她得心應(yīng)手的閑聊的本領(lǐng)，在社交場(chǎng)合她能左右逢源地招呼各色人等。在人群中間，她是個(gè)很有用處的客人，在聊天不能順暢進(jìn)行時(shí)，她總能恰到好處地找到新的話題，察言觀色之后，她總能立馬挑起打破尷尬沉默的重?fù)?dān)。

現(xiàn)在看起來，伯納德能當(dāng)上高等法院的法官的希望很渺茫了，但他仍然有希望當(dāng)上地方法院的法官，或者最不濟(jì)也能在殖民地的法院中混個(gè)法官當(dāng)當(dāng)。與此同時(shí)，令賈斯汀太太聊以自慰的是看到了他被任命為威爾士某個(gè)城鎮(zhèn)的刑事法院法官?？墒?，她還是把希望寄托在女兒們身上，靠著為她們安排一樁好婚事，她想一舉把這一輩子的晦氣統(tǒng)統(tǒng)去掉。她有兩個(gè)女兒已經(jīng)長(zhǎng)成，凱蒂和多瑞絲，但多瑞絲長(zhǎng)得不好看，鼻子太長(zhǎng)，身材也不苗條，所以賈斯汀太太最多只能指望她嫁一個(gè)有體面工作、家境還不錯(cuò)的年輕人。

但凱蒂是個(gè)美人胚子，她年紀(jì)不大的時(shí)候就已經(jīng)乖巧可愛了，一雙大眼睛，烏黑的眼珠水汪汪的，撲閃撲閃地透著靈氣，褐色的小鬈發(fā)泛著紅色的微光，潔白而精致的牙齒，以及可愛的皮膚。她的容貌說不上是無可挑剔，因?yàn)橄掳陀悬c(diǎn)兒太寬，而她的鼻子雖說不像多瑞絲那樣長(zhǎng)，但有點(diǎn)兒太大。她的美麗很大程度上是因?yàn)槟贻p，而賈斯汀太太意識(shí)到必須在她尚處于豆蔻年華時(shí)就要給她尋個(gè)好婆家。凱蒂出落成一個(gè)大姑娘時(shí)，著實(shí)讓人眼前一亮：她的皮膚仍然是最漂亮的地方，睫毛長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的，她在顧轉(zhuǎn)流盼中瞟上你一眼，就能攝人心魄，讓你融化在她的美目之中。她的神情中還有一種迷人的歡快，可以感染身邊的人。賈斯汀太太把所有的感情一股腦兒地都寄托在了她的身上，這是一種苛刻的、拿手的、精于算計(jì)的感情，她擅長(zhǎng)。賈斯汀太太有一個(gè)野心勃勃的夢(mèng)想，她不只是要給她的女兒安排一樁好婚事，而是要安排一樁可以光宗耀祖的婚事。

凱蒂就是在這樣一種環(huán)境中成長(zhǎng)起來的，她很清楚自己會(huì)成為一個(gè)漂亮的女人，心里也很明白她母親的意圖，其實(shí)這也是她自己的愿望。她開始進(jìn)入了這個(gè)圈子，在圈子里賈斯汀太太簡(jiǎn)直就是個(gè)奇才，她能讓自己頻頻得到各種舞會(huì)的邀請(qǐng)，在那些舞會(huì)上她的女兒可能會(huì)釣到金龜婿。凱蒂也確實(shí)成功地吸引了大多數(shù)人的目光，她既快樂又美麗，很快就有十多個(gè)男人愛上了她。但是這些追求者中沒有一個(gè)是合適的人選，凱蒂對(duì)他們施展魅力，對(duì)所有人都很友好，同時(shí)小心翼翼地跟每個(gè)人都若即若離。每個(gè)禮拜天的下午，南肯辛頓的會(huì)客廳中都擠滿了愛慕她的年輕人，然而賈斯汀太太帶著一絲冷酷的、贊許的微笑觀察著，對(duì)她來說，不費(fèi)吹灰之力就能讓這些年輕人和凱蒂保持一定的距離。凱蒂準(zhǔn)備和他們調(diào)情，而且在這些人中挑撥離間，從中取樂。當(dāng)他們向她求婚時(shí)，毫無例外，她都很有技巧而又?jǐn)蒯斀罔F地拒絕了他們。

她的第一個(gè)社交季就這樣過去了，完美的求婚者沒有出現(xiàn)。第二個(gè)社交季還是如此，但她還年輕，有足夠的資本等待。賈斯汀太太告訴她的朋友們，女孩子到了二十一歲還嫁不出去，那可真是個(gè)悲哀?？墒?，第三個(gè)年頭過去了，接著又是第四個(gè)年頭。兩三個(gè)執(zhí)著的追求者又再次向凱蒂求婚，但他們?nèi)匀徊幻晃模€有一兩個(gè)比凱蒂還要年輕的小伙子向她求婚，甚至還有一個(gè)退了休的印度公務(wù)員（他曾獲印度帝國(guó)勛章，是位騎士，都五十三歲了）也向凱蒂求婚，但凱蒂都沒有答應(yīng)。她現(xiàn)在仍然是各個(gè)舞會(huì)的?？?，她出現(xiàn)在溫布爾登和王宮的舞會(huì)上，在愛斯科賽馬會(huì)和亨利皇家賽船會(huì)上露面。雖然她自己能夠玩得很開心，但依然沒有一個(gè)地位和收入都能夠讓她滿意的人向她求婚。賈斯汀太太逐漸變得不安起來，她注意到凱蒂開始吸引四十歲以上的男士了。她提醒凱蒂，一兩年之后，她將不再年輕漂亮了，而年輕漂亮的姑娘總是會(huì)層出不窮。賈斯汀太太在家里一向想說什么就說什么，她刻薄地警告她的女兒，如果還不抓緊，慢慢地她會(huì)失去市場(chǎng)。

凱蒂聳了聳肩，她認(rèn)為自己依然美貌如初，也許還更吸引人了，因?yàn)樵谶^去的四年中，她已經(jīng)學(xué)會(huì)如何更為得體地穿衣打扮，她還有大把的時(shí)間去慢慢選擇。如果她動(dòng)了嫁人的念頭，會(huì)有一籮筐的小伙子在排著隊(duì)等著她垂青。毫無疑問，如意郎君遲早會(huì)來到身邊。然而，賈斯汀太太顯然對(duì)形勢(shì)的判斷更為老到，而且她心里一直生氣她的漂亮女兒已經(jīng)錯(cuò)過了好機(jī)會(huì)，迫使她不得不把擇婿的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)降得低一點(diǎn)兒。她以前對(duì)職員階層的人士是瞧不上的，談到他們時(shí)，她總是不屑一顧，但現(xiàn)在她開始注意身邊年輕的律師或者商業(yè)精英了，指望他們的未來會(huì)大有前途，讓她能夠有信心重拾夢(mèng)想。

凱蒂已經(jīng)到了二十五歲了，仍然待字閨中。賈斯汀太太更加焦躁不安了，她開始經(jīng)常動(dòng)不動(dòng)就給凱蒂臉子看，話也難聽了。她問凱蒂還要讓她的父親養(yǎng)她多久，為了給她創(chuàng)造找到好丈夫的機(jī)會(huì)，他幾乎花光了積蓄，而她的婚姻還是泡影。賈斯汀太太從來沒想過，或許是她自己上趕著的態(tài)度，過分熱心的做派，嚇跑了那些登門拜訪的富家子弟和有著貴族頭銜的年輕繼承人，她只是把凱蒂的失敗歸于凱蒂自己的愚蠢。這時(shí)輪到多瑞絲了，她的鼻子過長(zhǎng)，身材也不好，舞也跳得差。而她初入社交圈，就成功地跟杰奧弗瑞·丹尼森訂了婚，他是家里的獨(dú)生子，父親是一位很有錢的外科醫(yī)生，在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間，曾獲封準(zhǔn)男爵的稱號(hào)，杰奧弗瑞將繼承這一封號(hào)——雖然一名醫(yī)生獲得準(zhǔn)男爵的稱號(hào)也并非光宗耀祖的事，但感謝上帝，封號(hào)就是封號(hào)——更別說杰奧弗瑞將會(huì)繼承一筆十分豐厚的遺產(chǎn)了。

凱蒂一氣之下嫁給了沃爾特·費(fèi)恩。