er was an elderly gentleman now, wealthy, one of the wealthy coal-owners who had had their hey-day in King Edward's time. King Edward had stayed more than once at Shipley, for the shooting. It was a handsome old stucco hall, very elegantly appointed, for Winter was a bachelor and prided himself on his style; but the place was beset by collieries. Leslie Winter was attached to Clifford, but personally did not entertain a great respect for him, because of the photographs in illustrated papers and the literature. The old man was a buck of the King Edward school, who thought life was life and the scribbling fellows were something else. Towards Connie the Squire was always rather gallant; he thought her an attractive demure maiden and rather wasted on Clifford, and it was a thousand pities she stood no chance of bringing forth an heir to Wragby. He himself had no heir.

“下不为例。”他回答。“那么，晚安，快点赶路！”他消失在深灰色暗沉的夜里。她发现侧门尚未上锁，就借道溜回自己房间，没被任何人察觉。刚刚掩上门，就听到开饭的锣声响起，尽管如此，她还是要洗个澡——她必须这样做。“可我不会再这么晚回来，”她告诫自己，“太让人手忙脚乱了。”第二天，她没去成树林。她而是陪克利福德去了趟乌斯维特。现在，他时常乘车外出，得雇个年轻强壮的司机，需要时还得靠他帮忙，将克利福德从车里搀扶下来。更重要的是拜望他的教父，莱斯利·温特，这位老先生住在史普利府，距离乌斯维特不远。温特是位家资殷实的老绅士，爱德华王（注：1841-1910，英国统治者）在位时，也曾是显赫一时的煤矿主。爱德华王外出游猎时，曾在数次史普利下榻。那是座气派的古老宅邸，用灰泥粉饰，布置得优雅华丽，因为温特至今独身，对自己的情调颇感骄傲。唯一的不足之处是，整座宅邸被煤矿所环抱。虽说两人关系匪浅，但因为对克利福德刊登于各类画报的照片以及文学作品不屑一顾，温特的态度有些不冷不热。这位老先生是位地道的纨绔子弟，秉承爱德华王在位时的社会风尚，认为生活就是生活，而舞文弄墨的家伙们则是另一回事。而对康妮，这位乡绅则总是殷勤备至。在他看来，她丰姿绰约，端庄秀丽，宛若处女，许配给克利福德，简直是鲜花插在牛粪上，她没能给拉格比生位小少爷，实在是令人扼腕。他自己就没有子嗣。

Connie wondered what he would say if he knew that Clifford's game-keeper had been having intercourse with her, and saying to her "tha mun come to th' cottage one time." he would detest and despise her, for he had come almost to hate the shoving forward of the working classes. A man of her own class he would not mind, for Connie was gifted from nature with this appearance of demure, submissive maidenliness, and perhaps it was part of her nature. Winter called her "dear child" and gave her a rather lovely miniature of an eighteenth-