"Perhaps the Beauforts don't know her," Janey suggested, with her artless malice.
“也许博福特夫妇不认识她,”詹尼带着不加掩饰的敌意推测说。
Mr. Jackson gave a faint sip, as if he had been tasting invisible Madeira.
杰克逊先生轻轻呷了一口,仿佛是在想象中品尝马德拉葡萄酒。
"Mrs. Beaufort may not--but Beaufort certainly does,
“博福特太太可能不认识,但博福特却肯定认识,
for she was seen walking up Fifth Avenue this afternoon with him by the whole of New York."
因为今天下午全纽约的人都看见她和他一起沿第五大街散步。”
"Mercy--" moaned Mrs. Archer, evidently perceiving the uselessness of trying to ascribe the actions of foreigners to a sense of delicacy.
“我的天——”阿切尔太太痛苦地呻吟道。她显然明白,想把外国人的这种行径与高雅的概念挂上钩简直是徒劳。
"I wonder if she wears a round hat or a bonnet in the afternoon," Janey speculated.
“不知下午她戴的是圆檐帽还是软帽,”詹尼猜测说。
"At the Opera I know she had on dark blue velvet, perfectly plain and flat-- like a night-gown."
“我知道她在着歌剧时穿的是深蓝色天鹅绒,普普通通的,就像睡衣一样。”
"Janey!" said her mother; and Miss Archer blushed and tried to look audacious.
“詹尼!”她母亲说;阿切尔小姐脸一红,同时想装出无所顾忌的样子。
"It was, at any rate, in better taste not to go to the ball," Mrs. Archer continued.
“不管怎么说,她没有去舞会,总算是知趣的了,”阿切尔太太接着说。
A spirit of perversity moved her son to rejoin:
一种乖僻的情绪,使做儿子的接腔道:
"I don't think it was a question of taste with her.
“我认为这不是她知趣不知趣的问题。
May said she meant to go, and then decided that the dress in question wasn't smart enough."
梅说她本来是打算去的,只是后来又觉得你们刚刚说到的那身衣服不够漂亮而已。”
Mrs. Archer smiled at this confirmation of her inference.
阿切尔太太见儿子用这样的方式证实她的推断,仅仅报之一笑。
"Poor Ellen," she simply remarked; adding compassionately:
“可怜的埃伦,”她只这么说了一句,接着又同情地补充道:
"We must always bear in mind what an eccentric bringing-up Medora Manson gave her.
“我们什么时候都不能忘记,梅多拉·曼森对她进行了什么稀奇古怪的培养教育。
What can you expect of a girl who was allowed to wear black satin at her coming-out ball?"
在进入社交界的舞会上,居然让她穿黑缎子衣服,你又能指望她会怎样呢?”
"Ah--don't I remember her in it!" said Mr. Jackson;
“哎呀——她穿的那身衣服我还记得呢!”杰克逊先生说。
adding: "Poor girl!" in the tone of one who, while enjoying the memory,
他接着又补一句:“可怜的姑娘!”那口气既表明他记着那件事,
had fully understood at the time what the sight portended.
又表明他当时就充分意识到那光景预兆着什么。
"It's odd," Janey remarked, "that she should have kept such an ugly name as Ellen.
“真奇怪,”詹尼说,“她竞一直沿用埃伦这么个难听的名字。
I should have changed it to Elaine."
假若是我早就改成伊莱恩了。”
She glanced about the table to see the effect of this.
她环顾一眼餐桌,看这句话产生了什么效果。
Her brother laughed. "Why Elaine?"
她哥哥失声笑了起来。“为什么要叫伊莱恩?”
"I don't know; it sounds more--more Polish," said Janey, blushing.
“不知道,听起来更——更有波兰味,”詹尼涨红了脸说。