单身贵族案 14勋爵驾到(6)

"And who is her maid?"

"她的女佣人是什么人？"

"Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California with her."

"她名叫艾丽丝，是个美国人，从加利福尼亚和她一起来的。"

"A confidential¹ servant?"

"一名心腹佣人？"

"A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed her to take great liberties.

"这么说也许有点过份。在我看来似乎她的女主人对她非常随便，不拘礼仪。

Still, of course, in America they look upon these things in a different way."

可是，当然在美国他们对这一类事情有不同看法。"

"How long did she speak to this Alice?"

"她和这位艾丽丝谈了多久？"

"Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of."

"哦，几分钟。当时我正在考虑一些别的事。"

"You did not overhear what they said?"

"你没有听到她们说些什么？"

"Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.'

"圣西蒙夫人谈到些'强占别人土地'的话，

She was accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she meant."

她总是惯于说这一类的俚语。我不理解她指的是什么。"

"American slang is very expressive² sometimes. And what did your wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?"

"美国的俚语有时是很形象化的。你的妻子和女佣人谈过话后做了些什么事？"

"She walked into the breakfast-room." "On your arm?"

"她走进吃早餐的房间。""你挽着她走进去的吗？"

"No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that.

"不，她一个人。象这一类小节，她是一向不讲究的。

Then, after we had sat down for ten minutes or so,

接着，在我们就座大约十分钟以后，

she rose hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She never came back."

她急急忙忙地站起身来，咕哝了几句道歉的话，就离开了房间。她就这样一去不复返了。"

"But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes³ that she went to her room,

"但是，据我了解，那位女佣人艾丽丝作证说，女主人走进自己的房间，

covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a bonnet⁴, and went out."

用一件长外套罩在新娘的礼服上，戴上一顶软帽，就出去了。"

"Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in company with Flora⁵ Millar,

"正是这样。过后，有人看到她和弗洛拉·米勒一道走进海德公园。

a woman who is now in custody⁶, and who had already made a disturbance⁷ at Mr. Doran's house that morning."

弗洛拉·米勒就是现在被拘留的那个女人，那天早上，她曾经在多兰的寓所里惹起一场风波。"

"Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, and your relations to her."

"啊，是的。关于这位年轻的妇女，我想知道她的一点具体情况，还有你和她的关系。"

1 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

2 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

3 deposes   

v.罢免( depose的第三人称单数 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The gens deposes the sachem and war-chief at will. 氏族可以任意罢免酋长和酋帅。 来自互联网

4 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

5 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

6 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

7 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。