雙語·面紗 第十六章

16

Her happiness, sometimes almost more than she could bear, renewed her beauty. Just before she married, beginning to lose her first freshness, she had looked tired and drawn. The uncharitable said that she was going off. But there is all the difference between a girl of twenty-five and a married woman of that age. She was like a rosebud that is beginning to turn yellow at the edges of the petals, and then suddenly she was a rose in full bloom. Her starry eyes gained a more significant expression; her skin (that feature which had always been her greatest pride and most anxious care) was dazzling: it could not be compared to the peach or to the flower; it was they that demanded comparison with it. She looked eighteen once more. She was at the height of her glowing loveliness. It was impossible not to remark it and her women friends asked her in little friendly asides if she was going to have a baby. The indifferent who had said she was just a very pretty woman with a long nose admitted that they had misjudged her. She was what Charlie had called her the first time he saw her, a raging beauty.

They managed their intrigue with skill. He had a broad back, he told her (“I will not have you swank about your figure,” she interrupted lightly), and it did not matter about him; but for her sake they mustn't take the smallest risk. They could not meet often alone, not half often enough for him, but he had to think of her first, sometimes in the curio shop, now and then after luncheon in her house when no one was about; but she saw him a good deal here and there. It amused her then to see the formal way he spoke to her, jovial, for he was always that, with the same manner he used with every one. Who could imagine when they heard him chaff her with that charming humor of his that so lately he had held her in his passionate arms?

She worshipped him. He was splendid, in his smart top boots and his white breeches, when he played polo. In tennis clothes he looked a mere boy. Of course he was proud of his figure: it was the best figure she had ever seen. He took pains to keep it. He never ate bread or potatoes or butter. And he took a great deal of exercise. She liked the care he took of his hands; he was manicured once a week. He was a wonderful athlete and the year before he had won the local tennis championship. Certainly he was the best dancer she had ever danced with; it was a dream to dance with him. No one would think he was forty. She told him she did not believe it.

“I believe it's all bluff and you're really twenty-five.”

He laughed. He was well pleased.

“Oh, my dear, I have a boy of fifteen. I'm a middle-aged gent. In another two or three years I shall just be a fat old party.”

“You'll be adorable when you're a hundred.”

She liked his black, bushy eyebrows. She wondered whether it was they that gave his blue eyes their disturbing expression.

He was full of accomplishments. He could play the piano quite well, rag-time, of course, and he could sing a comic song with a rich voice and good humor. She did not believe there was anything he could not do: He was very clever at his work too and she shared his pleasure when he told her that the Governor had particularly congratulated him on the way he had done some difficult job.

“Although it's I as says it,” he laughed, his eyes charming with the love he bore her, “there's not a fellow in the Service who could have done it better.”

Oh, how she wished that she were his wife rather than Walter's!

第十六章

她的喜悅，有時幾乎讓她無法抑制，讓她又重新?lián)碛辛嗣利?。她就在結婚之前，開始失去光鮮靚麗，看上去疲憊又憔悴。心懷惡意的人說她的青春正在逝去。這就是一個二十五歲的女孩和一個已婚婦人的不同，她猶如一朵玫瑰的花蕾，花瓣的邊緣已經開始變黃了，但恰恰就在這時她像一朵盛開的玫瑰突然綻放了。她閃亮的雙眸更加風情萬種，她的皮膚（本來是她最值得驕傲也是小心呵護的地方）更加光潔，你甚至不好把它比作鮮嫩的桃子或者花朵，因為話應該反過來說，鮮桃和花朵才能和凱蒂的皮膚相媲美。她看上去重新回到了十八歲，回到了正當青春煥發(fā)的年華。對于這一點無人不看在眼里，她的女友們有一搭無一搭地問她是否打算要一個孩子。那些對她愛答不理的人，曾經評論她還算漂亮，不過鼻子太長，現(xiàn)在都不得不承認，他們誤判了她，她就像查理第一次見到她時所說的那樣，是個大美人。

他們想方設法地維持著這種曖昧關系，他告訴她他的靠山[1]很硬。“我不想聽你賣弄你的身材?！彼p松地打斷他的話。對他來說沒有什么大不了的，但考慮到她的原因，他們不能冒哪怕是最小的風險。他們不能經常單獨見面，他想天天見到她，但他不得不首先為她著想。有時他們在古董店見面，有時在午飯后她家里沒人時見面。但是她經常能在公開場合見到他，讓她感到好笑的是，在這些場合他總是一本正經地跟她說話，雖然顯得很愉快，但實際上他總是用這種方式和身邊的每個人說話。誰能想象得到就在剛才，他還用雙臂緊緊地抱著她，在她的耳邊說著情話和逗趣的話呢？

她崇拜他。在打馬球時，他腳蹬錚亮的名牌馬靴，身著白色馬褲，氣宇軒昂；在打網球時，他身穿網球衣，看上去就像個大男孩。顯然，他對自己的身材還是引以為傲的，這是她所見過的最好的身材。為保持這個身材，他也是煞費苦心，他從不吃面包、土豆或者黃油，而且還經常鍛煉。她喜歡他對自己的雙手精心保養(yǎng)的方式，每周他都要修剪一次指甲。他還是一名出色的運動員，去年曾獲得當?shù)氐木W球冠軍。當然，他還是她遇到過的舞跳得最好的舞伴，她做夢都想和他一起翩翩起舞。沒人會想到他已經四十歲出頭了，她告訴他她就不相信他已人到中年了。

“我看你完全是在唬人，你看上去真的只有二十五歲。”

他笑了，很是開心。

“哦，親愛的，我兒子都十五歲了，我已經是個中年人了，再過上個兩三年，我就變成一個胖老頭了?！?/p>

“你就是到了一百歲，也會人見人愛的?！?/p>

她喜歡他濃黑的眉毛，也好奇是否就是這些濃眉讓他的藍眼睛有著讓人意亂情迷的魅力。

他充滿才情，鋼琴彈得相當好，當然，最拿手的是爵士樂，他還能用高亢男聲和幽默舉止唱一首詼諧的歌曲。她相信他無所不能，他能非常聰明地處理工作，當他告訴她，在他解決完某個難題后總督向他表示特別祝賀時，她分享他的喜悅。

“提起這種事，只有我能辦到。”他笑著說，眼里帶著對她迷人的愛意，“在政府里，沒有人能比我干得更好了?！?/p>

噢，她多么希望能成為他的妻子，而不是沃爾特的呀！

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[1]此處用了雙關語，broad back既可以理解為字面上的“寬肩膀”，也可以理解為引申義“有靠山”。