should dare to presume!" "Dare to presume! How absurd! But I hope to God she won't turn up. And how was her tea?” "Oh, Lipton's and very strong. But Clifford, do you realize you are the Roman de la rose of Miss Bentley and lots like her?” "I'm not flattered, even then.” "They treasure up every one of your pictures in the illustrated papers, and probably pray for you every night. It's rather wonderful.” She went upstairs to change.

“我猜你大概说我正精力焕发吧？”“没错！她听得如痴如醉，好像我告诉她天堂的门已经为你打开一样。我跟她说，如果她来特弗沙尔，务必要来看望你。”“我！无缘无故的！来看望我！”“那当然，克利福德。人家那样爱慕你，你总得稍微有所表示吧。在她眼中，卡帕多西亚的圣乔治根本无法跟你相提并论。”“那你觉得她会来吗？”“噢，她羞得脸都红了！那个瞬间真是楚楚动人，可怜的人儿！男人们干嘛不娶那些真正爱慕自己的女人呢？”“女人们的爱恋总是来得太迟。她说她要来吗？”“啊！”康妮模仿起本特利小姐娇喘的样子，“夫人，我哪敢造次呀！”“造次！真是可笑！不过，我还是希望她别来。她家的茶味道如何？”“哦，地道的利普顿红茶，味道香浓。不过，克利福德，你可晓得，在本特利小姐和许多老处女心里，你可是地道的梦中情人呢？”“即使如此，我也没有受宠若惊的感觉。”“她们珍藏着你登在画报上的每张照片，或许每晚还为你祈祷呢。真是不可思议。”她上楼换衣服去了。

That evening he said to her: "You do think, don't you, that there is something eternal in marriage?” She looked at him.

当晚，克利福德对妻子说：“你是否觉得，婚姻中存在着某种东西，能够天长地久？”她望着他。

"But Clifford, you make eternity sound like a lid or a long, long chain that trailed after one, no matter how far one went." He looked at her, annoyed.

“可克利福德，你口中的天长地久，听起来像是某种罩子，或者长长的锁链，即使走到天涯海角，也还是被牵绊着。”他盯着她，面有愠色。

"What I mean," he said, "is that if you go to Venice, you won't go in the hopes of some love affair that you can take au grand sérieux, will you?” "A love affair in Venice AU GRAND S ÉRIEUX? No. I assure you! No, I'd never take a love affair in Venice more than au très petit sérieux.” She spoke with a queer kind of contempt. He knitted his brows, looking at her.

“我的意思是，”他说，“如果你去威尼斯，可别抱着寻找艳遇的企图。”“威尼斯艳遇？不会的。你大可放心！我在威尼斯不会去找任何艳遇，就连逢场作戏的行为都不会有。”她说这番话时，带有吊诡而轻蔑的口吻。他看着她，眉头紧锁。

Coming downstairs in the morning, she found the keeper's dog Flossie sitting in the corridor outside Clifford's room, and whimpering very faintly.

次日清晨，康妮下楼时，发觉守林人的猎犬弗洛西伏在克利福德门外的走廊上，低声呜咽着。

"Why, Flossie!" She said softly. "What are you doing here?"