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It amused Newland Archer (who had secretly situated the love-scenes of "Monsieur de Camors" in Mrs. Mingott's bedroom)
纽兰·阿切尔觉得有件事颇为有趣，他暗中把《卡莫斯先生》中的爱情场面确定在明戈特太太的卧室里，
to picture her blameless life led in the stage-setting of adultery;
这件事就是想象她在通奸的舞台背景中过着白壁无瑕的生活，
but he said to himself, with considerable admiration, that if a lover had been what she wanted,
但与此同时，他又在心里津津有味地想道：假如有个情人符合她的要求，
the intrepid woman would have had him too.
这位刚毅的女人一定也会投入他的怀抱。
To the general relief, the Countess Olenska was not present in her grandmother's drawing-room during the visit of the betrothed couple.
令大家都感到宽慰的是，在这对订婚青年造访时，奥兰斯卡伯爵夫人并不在她祖母的客厅里。
Mrs. Mingott said she had gone out; which, on a day of such glaring sunlight, and at the "shopping hour,"
明戈特太太说她外出了。在这样一个阳光明媚的日子，又是在“购物时间”，
seemed in itself an indelicate thing for a compromised woman to do.
一个受过创伤的女子外出，本身虽不算得体，
But at any rate it spared them the embarrassment of her presence,
但不管怎样，却免去了他俩面对她的窘境，
and the faint shadow that her unhappy past might seem to shed on their radiant future.
还避免了她不幸的过去可能投到他们光辉前程上的淡淡阴影。
The visit went off successfully, as was to have been expected.
正如事前预料的那样，这次拜访进展十分顺利。
Old Mrs. Mingott was delighted with the engagement,
明戈特老太太对这桩婚事很中意，
which, being long foreseen by watchful relatives, had been carefully passed upon in family council;
留心的亲戚们早有预见，并在家族的会议上给予了认可。
and the engagement ring, a large thick sapphire set in invisible claws, met with her unqualified admiration.
那枚订婚戒指镶着一块很厚的大蓝宝石，嵌在几个隐形的爪内，得到了她毫无保留的赞赏。
"It's the new setting: of course it shows the stone beautifully, but it looks a little bare to old-fashioned eyes,"
“是新式镶嵌：宝石当然显得十分完美，不过老眼光的人觉得它有点秃，”
Mrs. Welland had explained, with a conciliatory side-glance at her future son-in-law.
韦兰太太解释说，一面用眼睛的余光安抚地看着她未来的女婿。
"Old-fashioned eyes? I hope you don't mean mine, my dear? I like all the novelties,"
“老眼光？我希望你不是指我吧，亲爱的？我喜欢一切新奇的东西，”
said the ancestress, lifting the stone to her small bright orbs, which no glasses had ever disfigured.
老祖母说着，把钻戒举到她那双明亮的小眼睛跟前，她的眼睛从未受过眼镜的损伤。
"Very handsome," she added, returning the jewel;
“非常漂亮，”她又说，一面把钻戒还回去，
"very liberal. In my time a cameo set in pearls was thought sufficient.
“非常独特。我年轻的时候，用一块彩玉镶在几颗珍珠之间就觉得很好了。
But it's the hand that sets off the ring, isn't it, my dear Mr. Archer?"
不过戒指是靠手来衬托的，对吧，亲爱的阿切尔先生？”
and she waved one of her tiny hands, with small pointed nails and rolls of aged fat encircling the wrist like ivory bracelets.
她挥动着一只留了尖指甲的小手说，老年肥胖形成的圈圈如象牙手镯一般环绕着她的手腕。
"Mine was modelled in Rome by the great Ferrigiani.
“我的戒指是罗马著名的费里加尼设计的。
You should have May's done: no doubt he'll have it done, my child.
你该找人为梅定做，毫无疑问他会的，我的孩子。
Her hand is large--it's these modern sports that spread the joints--but the skin is white.
她的手很大——现在的这些运动把人的关关节节都变大了——不过皮肤还是很白的。
And when's the wedding to be?"
可婚礼什么时候举行呢？”
she broke off, fixing her eyes on Archer's face.
她收住话头，两眼紧盯着阿切尔的脸。
