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Now she was eagerly curious to know what had decided the Beauforts to invite (for the first time) Mrs. Lemuel Struthers,
此时她急于了解是什么原因促使博福特夫妇下决心（首次）邀请了勒姆尔·斯特拉瑟斯太太，
the widow of Struthers's Shoe-polish,
也就是斯特拉瑟斯的“鞋油”寡妇。
who had returned the previous year from a long initiatory sojourn in Europe to lay siege to the tight little citadel of New York.
她一年前刚结束在欧洲漫长的启蒙侨居，回来围攻纽约这个坚固的小城堡。
"Of course if you and Regina invite her the thing is settled.
“当然，如果你和里吉纳请了她，事情就成定局了。
Well, we need new blood and new money--and I hear she's still very good-looking," the carnivorous old lady declared.
嗯，我们需要新鲜血液和新鲜钱——而且我听说她依然十分漂亮，”这位爱吃肉的老夫人断言说。
In the hall, while Mrs. Welland and May drew on their furs,
门厅里，韦兰太太与梅在穿毛皮外衣的时候，
Archer saw that the Countess Olenska was looking at him with a faintly questioning smile.
阿切尔见奥兰斯卡伯爵夫人略有疑问地对他微笑着。
"Of course you know already--about May and me," he said, answering her look with a shy laugh.
“当然你已经知道了——我和梅的事，”他说，并腼腆地一笑回答她的注视。
"She scolded me for not giving you the news last night at the Opera:
“她责备我昨晚在歌剧院没把消息告诉你：
I had her orders to tell you that we were engaged--but I couldn't, in that crowd."
她曾嘱咐我把我们订婚的事告诉你——但守着那么多人，我未能办到。”
The smile passed from Countess Olenska's eyes to her lips:
笑容从奥兰斯卡夫人的眼睛传到她的双唇，
she looked younger, more like the bold brown Ellen Mingott of his boyhood.
她看上去更年轻了，更像他孩提时那个大胆的棕发小姑娘埃伦·明戈特。
"Of course I know; yes. And I'm so glad. But one doesn't tell such things first in a crowd."
“是的，我当然知道，而且非常高兴。不过这样的事是不会在拥挤的人群中首先宣布的。”
The ladies were on the threshold and she held out her hand.
另两位女士已经到了门口，她伸出手来。
"Good-bye; come and see me some day," she said, still looking at Archer.
“再见。改日过来看我，”她说，眼睛依然看着阿切尔。
In the carriage, on the way down Fifth Avenue, they talked pointedly of Mrs. Mingott, of her age, her spirit, and all her wonderful attributes.
沿第五大街下行，他们在马车里重点谈论的是明戈特太太：她的年纪，她的精神，以及她那些不可思议的性情。
No one alluded to Ellen Olenska; but Archer knew that Mrs. Welland was thinking:
没有人提及埃伦·奥兰斯卡；然而阿切尔知道韦兰太太心里正在想：
"It's a mistake for Ellen to be seen, the very day after her arrival, parading up Fifth Avenue at the crowded hour with Julius Beaufort--"
“埃伦的露面是个错误，就在她刚回来的第二天，在拥挤时刻与朱利叶斯·博福特一起沿第五大街大摇大摆地走——”
and the young man himself mentally added:
而年轻人心里补充道：
"And she ought to know that a man who's just engaged doesn't spend his time calling on married women.
“她还应当知道，一个刚订婚的男人一般是不会花时间去拜访已婚女子的。
But I daresay in the set she's lived in they do--they never do anything else."
不过我敢说，在她生活过的那个圈子里，他们一定是那样做的——保准没错。”
And, in spite of the cosmopolitan views on which he prided himself,
而且，尽管他自夸了解那些大都市人的观点，
he thanked heaven that he was a New Yorker, and about to ally himself with one of his own kind.
却谢天谢地自己是个纽约人，而且就要与他的一位同类联姻。
