双语·面纱 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

她的喜悦，有时几乎让她无法抑制，让她又重新拥有了美丽。她就在结婚之前，开始失去光鲜靓丽，看上去疲惫又憔悴。心怀恶意的人说她的青春正在逝去。这就是一个二十五岁的女孩和一个已婚妇人的不同，她犹如一朵玫瑰的花蕾，花瓣的边缘已经开始变黄了，但恰恰就在这时她像一朵盛开的玫瑰突然绽放了。她闪亮的双眸更加风情万种，她的皮肤（本来是她最值得骄傲也是小心呵护的地方）更加光洁，你甚至不好把它比作鲜嫩的桃子或者花朵，因为话应该反过来说，鲜桃和花朵才能和凯蒂的皮肤相媲美。她看上去重新回到了十八岁，回到了正当青春焕发的年华。对于这一点无人不看在眼里，她的女友们有一搭无一搭地问她是否打算要一个孩子。那些对她爱答不理的人，曾经评论她还算漂亮，不过鼻子太长，现在都不得不承认，他们误判了她，她就像查理第一次见到她时所说的那样，是个大美人。

他们想方设法地维持着这种暧昧关系，他告诉她他的靠山[1]很硬。“我不想听你卖弄你的身材。”她轻松地打断他的话。对他来说没有什么大不了的，但考虑到她的原因，他们不能冒哪怕是最小的风险。他们不能经常单独见面，他想天天见到她，但他不得不首先为她着想。有时他们在古董店见面，有时在午饭后她家里没人时见面。但是她经常能在公开场合见到他，让她感到好笑的是，在这些场合他总是一本正经地跟她说话，虽然显得很愉快，但实际上他总是用这种方式和身边的每个人说话。谁能想象得到就在刚才，他还用双臂紧紧地抱着她，在她的耳边说着情话和逗趣的话呢？

她崇拜他。在打马球时，他脚蹬铮亮的名牌马靴，身着白色马裤，气宇轩昂；在打网球时，他身穿网球衣，看上去就像个大男孩。显然，他对自己的身材还是引以为傲的，这是她所见过的最好的身材。为保持这个身材，他也是煞费苦心，他从不吃面包、土豆或者黄油，而且还经常锻炼。她喜欢他对自己的双手精心保养的方式，每周他都要修剪一次指甲。他还是一名出色的运动员，去年曾获得当地的网球冠军。当然，他还是她遇到过的舞跳得最好的舞伴，她做梦都想和他一起翩翩起舞。没人会想到他已经四十岁出头了，她告诉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岁。”

他笑了，很是开心。

“哦，亲爱的，我儿子都十五岁了，我已经是个中年人了，再过上个两三年，我就变成一个胖老头了。”

“你就是到了一百岁，也会人见人爱的。”

她喜欢他浓黑的眉毛，也好奇是否就是这些浓眉让他的蓝眼睛有着让人意乱情迷的魅力。

他充满才情，钢琴弹得相当好，当然，最拿手的是爵士乐，他还能用高亢男声和幽默举止唱一首诙谐的歌曲。她相信他无所不能，他能非常聪明地处理工作，当他告诉她，在他解决完某个难题后总督向他表示特别祝贺时，她分享他的喜悦。

“提起这种事，只有我能办到。”他笑着说，眼里带着对她迷人的爱意，“在政府里，没有人能比我干得更好了。”

噢，她多么希望能成为他的妻子，而不是沃尔特的呀！

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[1]此处用了双关语，broad back既可以理解为字面上的“宽肩膀”，也可以理解为引申义“有靠山”。