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"Oh--" Mrs. Welland murmured, while the young man, smiling at his betrothed, replied:
“哦——”韦兰太太嗫嚅道。年轻人却朝未婚妻露出笑脸，回答说：
"As soon as ever it can, if only you'll back me up, Mrs. Mingott."
“越快越好，明戈特太太，只要你肯支持我。”
"We must give them time to get to know each other a little better, mamma,"
“妈妈，我们得给他们时问，让他们互相多了解一点。”
Mrs. Welland interposed, with the proper affectation of reluctance;
韦兰太太插言说，同时又恰如其分地装出一副不情愿的样子。
to which the ancestress rejoined:
老祖母回言道：
"Know each other? Fiddlesticks! Everybody in New York has always known everybody.
“互相了解？瞎说！在纽约，谁不了解谁！
Let the young man have his way, my dear;
让年轻人按他自己的方式去办吧，我亲爱的，
don't wait till the bubble's off the wine. Marry them before Lent;
可别等得美酒走了味。大斋节前就让他们成婚。
I may catch pneumonia any winter now, and I want to give the wedding-breakfast."
到了冬天我哪一天都可能染上肺炎，可我还想给他们举办婚礼喜宴呢。”
These successive statements were received with the proper expressions of amusement, incredulity and gratitude;
对她接二连三的表态，客人相宜作出了喜悦、怀疑、感激的反应。
and the visit was breaking up in a vein of mild pleasantry when the door opened to admit the Countess Olenska,
正在这时，门被打开，迎进来了奥兰斯卡伯爵夫人。温和愉悦的叙谈气氛中断了。
who entered in bonnet and mantle followed by the unexpected figure of Julius Beaufort.
她戴着帽子和面纱进了屋，身后还跟着个不期而至的朱利叶斯·博福特。
There was a cousinly murmur of pleasure between the ladies, and Mrs. Mingott held out Ferrigiani's model to the banker.
夫人与小姐愉快地说起表姐妹间的悄悄话，明戈特太太则把费里加尼款式的戒指拿给银行家看。
"Ha! Beaufort, this is a rare favour!" (She had an odd foreign way of addressing men by their surnames.)
“哈！博福特，这可是难得的优待！”她用奇特的异国方式直呼男士的姓。
"Thanks. I wish it might happen oftener," said the visitor in his easy arrogant way.
“多谢多谢，我希望这种事多有几次，”客人妄自尊大地从容说道。
"I'm generally so tied down;
“我老是脱不开身；
but I met the Countess Ellen in Madison Square, and she was good enough to let me walk home with her."
在麦迪逊广场遇上了埃伦伯爵夫人，她十分客气地要我陪她回家。”
"Ah--I hope the house will be gayer, now that Ellen's here!" cried Mrs. Mingott with a glorious effrontery.
“啊——既然埃伦回来了，我希望这个家热闹起来！”明戈特太太毫无顾忌地大声说。
"Sit down--sit down, Beaufort: push up the yellow armchair; now I've got you I want a good gossip.
“请坐——请坐，博福特：把那把黄扶手椅推过来；既然你来了，咱们就要好好聊一聊。
I hear your ball was magnificent;
听说你家的舞会可了不得，
and I understand you invited Mrs. Lemuel Struthers? Well--I've a curiosity to see the woman myself."
据我所知，你还邀请了勒姆尔·斯特拉瑟斯太太？哎——我倒很想亲自见见那个女人。”
She had forgotten her relatives, who were drifting out into the hall under Ellen Olenska's guidance.
她忘记了自己的亲眷，他们正在埃伦·奥兰斯卡带领下向外面的门厅移动。
Old Mrs. Mingott had always professed a great admiration for Julius Beaufort,
明戈特老太太一贯显得对朱利叶斯·博福特非常赞赏，
and there was a kind of kinship in their cool domineering way and their short-cuts through the conventions.
他们俩在专横无理及对待传统的删繁就简方面有某种相似之处。
