Philip woke early next morning, and his first thought was of Mildred. It struck him that he might meet her at Victoria Station and walk with her to the shop. He shaved quickly, scrambled into his clothes, and took a bus to the station. He was there by twenty to eight and watched the incoming trains. Crowds poured out of them, clerks and shop-people at that early hour, and thronged up the platform: they hurried along, sometimes in pairs, here and there a group of girls, but more often alone. They were white, most of them, ugly in the early morning, and they had an abstracted look; the younger ones walked lightly, as though the cement of the platform were pleasant to tread, but the others went as though impelled by a machine: their faces were set in an anxious frown.At last Philip saw Mildred, and he went up to her eagerly.‘Good-morning,’ he said. ‘I thought I’d come and see how you were after last night.’She wore an old brown ulster and a sailor hat. It was very clear that she was not pleased to see him.‘Oh, I’m all right. I haven’t got much time to waste.’
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"让我陪你沿维多利亚街走一程,你不介意吧?"
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‘D’you mind if I walk down Victoria Street with you?’
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"时间不早了,我得抓紧赶路,"说着,朝菲利普的跛足望了一眼。
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‘I’m none too early. I shall have to walk fast,’ she answered, looking down at Philip’s club-foot.
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菲利普刷地红了脸。 "对不起,那我就不耽搁你了。"
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He turned scarlet .‘I beg your pardon. I won’t detain you.’
‘You can please yourself.’She went on, and he with a sinking heart made his way home to breakfast. He hated her. He knew he was a fool to bother about her; she was not the sort of woman who would ever care two straws for him, and she must look upon his deformity with distaste. He made up his mind that he would not go in to tea that afternoon, but, hating himself, he went. She nodded to him as he came in and smiled.‘I expect I was rather short with you this morning,’ she said. ‘You see, I didn’t expect you, and it came like a surprise.’‘Oh, it doesn’t matter at all.’He felt that a great weight had suddenly been lifted from him. He was infinitely grateful for one word of kindness.‘Why don’t you sit down?’ he asked. ‘Nobody’s wanting you just now.’
He looked at her, but could think of nothing to say; he racked his brains anxiously, seeking for a remark which should keep her by him; he wanted to tell her how much she meant to him; but he did not know how to make love now that he loved in earnest.
‘Where’s your friend with the fair moustache? I haven’t seen him lately."‘Oh, he’s gone back to Birmingham. He’s in business there. He only comes up to London every now and again.’
They seemed to be always on the verge of a quarrel. The fact was that he hated himself for loving her. She seemed to be constantly humiliating him, and for each snub that he endured he owed her a grudge . But she was in a friendly mood that evening, and talkative: she told him that her parents were dead; she gave him to understand that she did not have to earn her living, but worked for amusement.
‘My aunt doesn’t like my going to business. I can have the best of everything at home. I don’t want you to think I work because I need to.’ Philip knew that she was not speaking the truth. The gentility of her class made her use this pretence to avoid the stigma attached to earning her living.
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"我们家的亲戚也都是体体面面的,"她说。
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‘My family’s very well-connected,’ she said.
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菲利普淡然一笑,哪知未能逃过米尔德丽德的眼睛。
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Philip smiled faintly, and she noticed it.
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"你笑什么?"她当即责问说,"你以为我讲的不是实话?"
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‘What are you laughing at?’ she said quickly. ‘Don’t you believe I’m telling you the truth?’
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"我当然相信你说的,"他回答道。
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‘Of course I do,’ he answered.
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米尔德丽德用怀疑的目光打量着菲利普。过了一会儿,她又忍不住要向菲利普炫耀一下自己往昔的荣华。
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She looked at him suspiciously, but in a moment could not resist the temptation to impress him with the splendour of her early days.