名著·茶花女 - 第56节

　　她没有回答我。

Once before she had not answered when I had said those selfsame words, and Count de G, as you will recall, had spent the night with her. But that time was so far off that it seemed to have been erased from my memory. If I had anything to fear, it was assuredly not that Marguerite was deceiving me.

　　对这句话不作回答，她以前也有过一次。而那一次，您还记得吧，G伯爵就在她家里过的夜；但那已经是很遥远的事情，我好像一点印象也没有了。如果说我害怕发生什么事的话，肯定也不会再是玛格丽特欺骗我这样的事了。

When I reached Paris, I hurried round to Prudence's to ask her to go down and see Marguerite. I hoped that her zest and good spirits would cheer her up.

　　到了巴黎，我直奔普律当丝家，请她去看看玛格丽特，希望她热情和快活的脾气能给玛格丽特解解闷。

I entered without waiting to be announced, and found Prudence getting dressed.

　　我未经通报就闯了进去，普律当丝正在梳妆间里。

'Ah!' she said anxiously, 'is Marguerite with you?'

　　“啊！”她不安地对我说，“玛格丽特跟您一起来的吗？”

　　“没有。”

'How is she?'

　　“她身体好吗？”

'She's not well.'

　　“她有些不舒服。”

'So she's not coming?'

　　“那么她今天不来了吗？”

'Was she supposed to?'

　　“她一定得来吗？”

　　迪韦尔诺瓦太太脸红了，她稍微有些尴尬地回答我说：

'What I meant was, now you've come to Paris, isn't she going to come and join you?'

　　“我是想说，既然您到巴黎来了，难道她就不来这儿和您会面了？”

'No.'

　　“她不来了。”

I stared at Prudence. She lowered her eyes, and from the way she looked, I had the feeling that she was afraid of seeing me stay much longer.

　　我瞧着普律当丝，她垂下眼睛，从她的神色上可以看出她似乎怕我赖着不走。

'As a matter of fact, my dear Prudence, I came to ask you, if you've nothing else to do, to go down and see Marguerite this evening. You could keep her company and stay the night. I've never seen her the way she was today, and I'm terrified she's going to be ill.'

　　“我就是来请您去陪她的，亲爱的普律当丝，如果您没有什么事，请您今晚去看看玛格丽特，您去陪陪她，您可以睡在那里。我从来也没有见到过她像今天这个样子，我真怕她要病倒了。”

　　“今天晚上我要在城里吃晚饭，”普律当丝回答我说，“不能去看玛格丽特了，不过我明天可以去看她。”

I said goodbye to Madame Duvernoy, who seemed to me as though she was almost as preoccupied as Marguerite, and went to call on my father who, from the start, gave me studied, searching looks.

　　我向迪韦尔诺瓦太太告辞，她仿佛跟玛格丽特一样心事重重；我到了父亲那儿，他第一眼就把我仔细端详了一番。

He held out his hand.

　　他向我伸出手来。

'You called twice to see me. That pleases me, Armand, ' he said. 'It's given me hope that you've reflected on your position, as I have on mine.'

　　“您两次来看我使我很高兴，阿尔芒，”他对我说，“这就使我有了希望，您大概像我为您一样也为我考虑过了。”

'May I ask, father, what the outcome of your reflections has been?'

　　“我可不可以冒昧地请问您，爸爸，您考虑的结果是什么？”

　　“结果是，我的孩子，我过于夸大了传闻的严重性，我答应对你稍许宽容一些。”

'Do you mean it, father!' I exclaimed, overjoyed.

　　“您说什么？爸爸！”我快乐地嚷着。

'What I mean, my dear boy, is that a young man needs a mistress and, after further enquiries, I would prefer to know that you were the lover of Mademoiselle Gautier than of some other woman.'

　　“我说，亲爱的孩子，每个年轻人都得有个情妇，而且根据我新近知道的情况，我宁愿知道你的情妇是戈蒂埃小姐而不是别人。

'Oh, thank you, father! You've made me so happy!'

　　“我多好的父亲！您使我多么快乐！”

We talked in this vein for a short while, and then sat down to dine. My father remained most affable throughout the meal.

　　我们就这样谈了一会儿，随后一起吃了饭。整个晚餐期间我父亲都显得很亲切。

　　我急于要回布吉瓦尔去把这个可喜的转变告诉玛格丽特。我一直在望着墙上的时钟。

'You've got your eye on the time, ' said my father, 'you can't wait to get away. Oh, you young people! always sacrificing genuine feelings for suspect attachments!'

　　“你在看时间，”我父亲对我说，“你急于想离开我。呵，年轻人啊！你们总是这样，牺牲真诚的感情去换取靠不住的爱情。”

'Don't say that, father! Marguerite loves me. I know she does.'

　　“别这样说，爸爸！玛格丽特爱我，这是我坚信不疑的。”

My father did not answer. His manner suggested that he neither believed nor disbelieved me.

　　我父亲没有回答，他看上去既不怀疑，也不相信。

He was very insistent that I should spend the entire evening with him so that I would not have to set off again until the following day. But I had left Marguerite feeling ill, said so, and asked his leave to go and join her soon, promising to return the following day.

　　他一直坚持要我跟他一起度过那个夜晚，让我第二天再走。但是我撇下的玛格丽特在生病，我把这个对他说了，接着我请求他同意我早些回去看她，并答应他第二天再来。