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"Oh, necessarily; Beaufort is a vulgar man," said Mrs. Archer.
“嗯，那是自然啰；博福特是个粗人嘛，”阿切尔太太说，
"My grandfather Newland always used to say to my mother:
“我外公纽兰过去老对我母亲说：
'Whatever you do, don't let that fellow Beaufort be introduced to the girls.'
‘你干什么都成，可千万别把博福特那个家伙介绍给姑娘们。’
But at least he's had the advantage of associating with gentlemen; in England too, they say.
可他起码在结交绅士方面已占据了优势；在英国的时候据说也是如此。
It's all very mysterious--" She glanced at Janey and paused.
事情非常神秘——”她瞥了詹尼一眼，收住话头。
She and Janey knew every fold of the Beaufort mystery,
她与詹尼对博福特的秘密了如指掌，
but in public Mrs. Archer continued to assume that the subject was not one for the unmarried.
不过在公开场合，阿切尔太太却继续装出这话题不适合未婚女子的样子。
"But this Mrs. Struthers," Mrs. Archer continued; "what did you say SHE was, Sillerton?"
“不过那位斯特拉瑟斯太太，”阿切尔太太接着说，“你说她是干什么的，西勒顿？”
"Out of a mine: or rather out of the saloon at the head of the pit.
“她来自矿区：或者不如说来自矿井口上一个酒馆。
Then with Living Wax-Works, touring New England.
后来跟随‘活蜡像’剧团在新英格兰巡回演出，
After the police broke THAT up, they say she lived--"
剧团被警方解散之后，人们说她跟——”
Mr. Jackson in his turn glanced at Janey, whose eyes began to bulge from under her prominent lids.
这次轮到杰克逊先生朝詹尼瞥了一眼，她的两眼开始从突起的眼睑底下向外膨胀。
There were still hiatuses for her in Mrs. Struthers's past.
对她来说，斯特拉瑟斯太太的历史仍有若干空白之处。
"Then," Mr. Jackson continued
“后来，”杰克逊先生接着说
(and Archer saw he was wondering why no one had told the butler never to slice cucumbers with a steel knife),
（阿切尔发现他正纳闷为什么没有人吩咐仆人决不能用钢刀切黄瓜），
"then Lemuel Struthers came along.
“后来勒姆尔·斯特拉瑟斯出现了。
They say his advertiser used the girl's head for the shoe-polish posters;
人们说，他的广告商用那姑娘的头做鞋油广告画，
her hair's intensely black, you know--the Egyptian style.
她的头发漆黑，你知道——是埃及型的。
Anyhow, he-- eventually--married her."
总之他——最后终于——娶了她。”
There were volumes of innuendo in the way the "eventually" was spaced, and each syllable given its due stress.
他在给“最后终于”几个字留出的间隔中，隐含着丰富的寓意，每一个音节都作了充分的强调。
"Oh, well--at the pass we've come to nowadays, it doesn't matter," said Mrs. Archer indifferently.
“唉，可这——按我们如今面临的尴尬局面来说，也算不了什么，”阿切尔太太冷淡地说、
The ladies were not really interested in Mrs. Struthers just then;
此刻两位女士真正感兴趣的并非斯特拉瑟斯太太，
the subject of Ellen Olenska was too fresh and too absorbing to them.
因为埃伦·奥兰斯卡的话题对她们太新鲜、太有魅力了。
