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"'That's not the same string you had on a few moments ago,' he said.
“‘这和你刚才戴的那串项链不是同一串，’他说。
"She shook her head and smiled mysteriously. We were all intrigued. I don't know that Sophie Livingstone was so very much pleased at her governess making herself the centre of interest like that and I thought there was a suspicion of tartness in her manner when she suggested that Miss Robinson had better explain. Well, Miss Robinson said that when she went into the hall she found two men who said they'd come from Jarrot's Stones. She'd bought her string there, as she said, for fifteen shillings, and she'd taken it back because the clasp was loose and had only fetched it that afternoon. The men said they had given her the wrong string. Someone had left a string of real pearls to be restrung and the assistant had made a mistake. Of course I can't understand how anyone could be so stupid as to take a really valuable string to Jarrot's, they aren't used to dealing with that sort of thing, and they wouldn't know real pearls from false; but you know what fools some women are. Anyhow it was the string Miss Robinson was wearing and it was valued at fifty thousand pounds. She naturally gave it back to them—she couldn't do anything else, I suppose, though it must have been a wrench— and they returned her own string to her; then they said that although of course they were under no obligation—you know the silly, pompous way men talk when they're trying to be businesslike—they were instructed, as a solatium or whatever you call it, to offer her a check for three hundred pounds. Miss Robinson actually showed it to us. She was as pleased as Punch."
“她摇了摇头，神秘地笑了。我们都感到好奇。我不知道索菲•利文斯通对于自己的家庭女教师这样把自己置于众人之中是否感到非常高兴，我觉得她在暗示罗宾逊小姐最好解释清楚这件事时，态度有点刻薄。然后，罗宾逊小姐说她到大厅时看见两个自称来自雅罗珠宝店的人。她说她就是在那儿花了15先令买的她那串项链，因为项链的扣环松了，她把项链送回店里修理，然后那天下午刚去店里取的。那两个人说他们给错了项链。有人把一串真的珍珠项链留在店里重新串线，店员给搞错了。当然，我不理解怎么会有人如此愚蠢把一串贵重的项链送去雅罗珠宝店，他们不习惯处理那样的事情，并且不能分辨珍珠的真假；但是你也知道有些女人就是这么愚蠢。不管怎么说，那串真的珍珠项链就是罗宾逊小姐戴的那串，价值50,000英镑。她自然将那串项链还给了他们——我觉得她别无选择，尽管这一定是件痛苦的事情——他们也将她的项链还给了她；然后他们说尽管他们当然没有责任——你知道当那些人试图表现得工作认真而又有条理时那种愚蠢、浮夸的说话方式——但他们得到指示，给她300英镑的支票作为抚慰金或者随便什么名目。罗宾逊小姐确实给我们看了支票。她十分高兴。”
