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“是不是要等回信？”约瑟夫--我的仆人像所有的仆人一样都叫约瑟夫--问我。 'If you are asked whether a reply is expected, you will say that you don't know, and you will wait.' “如果有人问您要不要回信，您就说您什么也不知道，但您要等着。” I clung to hope that she would answer. 我希望她会给我回信。 Poor, weak creatures that we are! 我们这些人是多么可怜，多么软弱啊！ The whole of the time my servant was out, I remained in a state of extreme agitation. At some moments, recalling how completely Marguerite had given herself to me, I asked myself by what right had I written her an impertinent letter when she could quite well reply that it was not Monsieur de G who was deceiving me but I who was deceiving Monsieur de G ? which is an argument which allows many a woman to have more than one lover. At other moments, recalling the hussy's solemn oaths, I tried to convince myself that my letter had been far too mild and that there were no words strong enough to scourge a woman who could laugh at love as sincere as mine. Then again, I told myself that it would have been better not to write at all, but to have called on her during the day: in this way, I would have been there to enjoy the tears I made her weep. 在约瑟夫去送信的那段时间内，我心情激动到了顶点。一会儿我想起了玛格丽特是怎样委身于我的，我自问我究竟有什么权利写这样一封唐突无礼的信给她，她可以回答我说不是G先生欺骗了我，而是我欺骗了G先生，一些情人众多的女人都是这样为自己辩解的；一会儿我又想起了这个姑娘的誓言，我要使自己相信我的信写得还是太客气，那里面并没有什么严厉的字句足以惩罚一个玩弄我纯洁的爱情的女人。随后，我又想还是不给她写信，而是在白天到她家里去的好，这样我就会因为看到她掉眼泪而感到痛快。 
最后我寻思她将怎样答复我，我已经准备接受她即将给我的解释。 Joseph returned. 约瑟夫回来了。 'Well?' I said. “怎么样？”我问他。 'Sir, ' he answered, 'Madame had not risen and was still asleep, but the moment she rings, the letter will be given to her and if there is a reply, it will be brought.' “先生，”他回答我说，“夫人在睡觉，还没有醒，但是只要她拉铃叫人，就会有人把信给她，如果有回信，他们会送来的。” Asleep! 她还睡着哪！ 
有多少次我几乎要派人去把这封信取回来，但是我总是这样想： 'Perhaps someone has already given it to her, in which case I would look as though I was sorry I'd sent it.' “信可能已经交给她了，如果我派人去取信的话，就显得我在后悔了。” The nearer it got to the time when it seemed most likely that she would give me an answer, the more I regretted having written. 越是接近应该收到她回信的时刻，我越是后悔不应该写那封信。 Ten o'clock, eleven o'clock, midday stuck. 十点，十一点，十二点都敲过了。 At noon, I was on the point of setting off for our rendezvous, as though nothing had happened. I was a complete loss for a way of a way of breaking out of iron ring that held me fast. 十二点的时候，我几乎要像什么事也没有发生过似的去赴约会了，最后我左思右想不知如何来挣脱这个使我窒息的束缚。 
像有些心中有所期待的人一样，我也有一种迷信的想法，认为只要我出去一会儿，回来时就会看到回信。因为人们焦急地等待着的回信总是在收信人不在家的时候送到的。 I went out, ostensibly to lunch. 我借口吃午饭上街去了。 Instead of lunching at the Cafe Foy, on the corner of the Boulevard, as was my custom, I thought I would have lunch in the Palais-Royal and go via the rue d'Antin. Every time I saw a woman in the distance, I thought it was Nanine bringing me a reply. I walked the length of the rue d'Antin without coming across any sort of messenger. I arrived at the Palais- Royal and went into Very's. The waiter gave me something to eat, or, more accurately, served me whatever he wished, for I ate nothing. 我平时习惯在街角的富瓦咖啡馆用午餐，今天我却没有去，而宁愿穿过昂坦街，到王宫大街去吃午饭。每逢我远远看到一个妇人，就以为是纳尼娜给我送回信来了。我经过昂坦街，却没有碰到一个送信人。我到了王宫大街，走进了韦利饭店，侍者侍候我吃饭，更可以说他把能想到的菜全给我端来了，因为我没有吃。 Despite myself, my eyes remained fixed on the clock. 我的眼睛不由自主地一直盯着墙上的时钟看。 I returned home, convinced that I would find a letter from Marguerite. 我回到家里，深信马上就会收到玛格丽特的回信。 
看门人什么也没有收到。我还希望信已经交给仆人，但是他在我出门后没有看到有谁来过。 If Marguerite was going to give me an answer, she would have done so long before. 如果玛格丽特给我写回信的话，她早就该给我写了。 I began to regret the terms of my letter; I should have remained totally silent, since this would doubtless have made her uneasy, and spurred her to make a move; for, seeing that I had not kept our appointment the previous day, she would have asked the reason for my absence and only then should I have given it. In this way, she would have had no alternative but to establish her innocence, and I wanted her to establish her innocence. I already sensed that whatever the excuses she gave me, I would have believed her, and I knew that I should have preferred anything than never to see her again. 于是，我对那封信里的措辞感到后悔了，我本来应该完全保持缄默，这样她可能会感到不安而有所行动；因为她看到我没有去赴上一天讲好的约会就会问我失约的原因，只有在这时候我才能把原因告诉她；这样一来，她除了为自己辩解以外，没有其他的办法。而我所要的也就是她的辩解。我已经觉得，不管她提出什么辩解的理由，我都会相信的，只要能再见到她，我什么都愿意。 In the end, I fell to thinking that she would come herself, but the hours ticked by, and she did not come. 我还以为她会亲自登门，但是时间一小时一小时地过去，她并没有来。 Marguerite was clearly quite unlike other women, for there are not many who, on receiving a letter like the one I had just written, do not send some sort of reply. 玛格丽特的确与别的女人不一样，因为很少女人在收到像我刚才写的那样一封信以后会毫无反应。 
五点钟，我奔向香榭丽舍大街。 'If I meet her, ' I thought, 'I shall appear unconcerned, and she will see that I have stopped thinking about her already.' “如果我遇到她的话，”我心里想，“我要装出一副满不在乎的样子，那么她就会相信我已经不再想她了。” On the corner of the rue Royale, I saw her drive past in her carriage. The encounter happened so suddenly that I felt myself grow pale. I have no idea if she noticed my reaction, for I was so taken aback that I saw only her carriage. 在王宫大街拐角上，我看见她乘着车子经过，这次相遇是那么突然，我的脸都发白了，我不知道她是否看出我内心的激动；我是那么慌张，只看到了她的车子。 I did not continue with my stroll to the Champs-Elysees. I looked at the theatre bills, for I still had one chance left of seeing her. 我不再继续在香榭丽舍大街散步，而去浏览剧院的海报： 我还有一个看到她的机会。 There was a first night at the Palais-Royal. Marguerite would obviously be there. 在王宫剧院，有一次首场演出，玛格丽特是必去无疑的。 
我七点钟到了剧院。 All the boxes filled up, but Marguerite did not appear. 所有的包厢都坐满了，但是玛格丽特没有来。 After a while, I left the Palais-Royal and did the rounds of all the theatres where she went most often ?to the Vaudeville, the Varietes and the Opera- Comique. 于是，我离开了王宫剧院，凡是她经常去的剧院我一家一家都跑遍了：歌舞剧院、杂耍剧院、喜剧歌剧院。 She was not at any of them. 到处都找不到她的影踪。 Either my letter had hurt her too much for her to be able to think of going to the theatre, or she was afraid of coming across me and wanted to avoid having things out. 要么我的信使她过于伤心，她连戏都不想看了；要么她怕跟我见面，免得作一次解释。 
这些都是我走在大街上时由虚荣心引起的想法。突然我碰到了加斯东，他问我从哪儿来。
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