绿玉皇冠案 21来到费尔班寓所(2)

We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and a young lady came in.

当我们正沉默地坐着的时候，房门被人推开，一位年轻的女士走了进来。

She was rather above the middle height, slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against the absolute pallor of her skin.

她身高在中等以上，身材苗条，漆黑的头发和眼睛，在她十分苍白的皮肤衬托下似乎显得分外地黑。

I do not think that I have ever seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face.

我想不起几时曾经见到过脸色如此苍白的妇女。

Her lips, too, were bloodless, but her eyes were flushed with crying.

她的嘴唇也是毫无血色，她的眼睛却因哭泣而红肿。

As she swept silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of grief than the banker had done in the morning,

她静悄悄地走进来，给我的印象似乎她的痛苦更甚于银行家今早所感受的，

and it was the more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong character, with immense capacity for self-restraint.

因为她显然是一位个性很强、并且具有极大的自制力的妇女，这就显得更加引人注目。

Disregarding my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand over his head with a sweet womanly caress¹.

她不顾我在座，径直走向她叔父跟前，以妇女的温情抚摸着他的头。

"You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated², have you not, dad?" she asked.

"你已经命令将阿瑟释放了，是吗。爹？"她问。

"No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom."

"没有，没有，我的姑娘，这件事必须追查到底的。"

"But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's instincts are.

"但是我确实相信他是无罪的。你懂得女人们的本能是怎么回事。

I know that he has done no harm and that you will be sorry for having acted so harshly."

我知道他没有做什么错事，这样严厉地对待他，你是要后悔的。"

"Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?"

"那么，如果他是无辜的话，他为什么默不作声？"

"Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should suspect him."

"谁知道？也许他是因为你竟会这样怀疑他而感到恼怒。"

"How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with the coronet in his hand?"

"我怎么能不怀疑他呢？当时我确实看见那顶皇冠在他手里拿着。"

"Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take my word for it that he is innocent.

"哎，他只不过是将它拾起来看看。哦，相信我的话吧！他是无罪的。

Let the matter drop and say no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in prison!"

这件事就这样算了吧，不要再提它了。想到我们亲爱的阿瑟被投进了监狱是多么可怕啊！"

1 caress   

vt./n.爱抚，抚摸

参考例句：

• She gave the child a loving caress.她疼爱地抚摸着孩子。
• She feasted on the caress of the hot spring.她尽情享受着温泉的抚爱。

2 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。