Next day Marguerite sent me away very early, saying that the duke was coming at an early hour, and promising to write to me the moment he went, and to make an appointment for the evening. —
第二天马格丽特早早地把我打发走，她说公爵会早早来，答应他一走就给我写信，并约好晚上见面。 —

In the course of the day I received this note:
在一天里我收到了这张便条：

“I am going to Bougival with the duke; be at Prudence’s to-night at eight.”
“我要和公爵去布吉瓦尔，今晚八点在普鲁登斯家见。”

At the appointed hour Marguerite came to me at Mme. Duvernoy’s. —
按约定时间，晚上八点马格丽特来到了我在杜弗诺伊夫人家的地方。 —

“Well, it is all settled,” she said, as she entered. —
“好了，一切都定妥了，”她一进门就说。 —

“The house is taken?” asked Prudence. —
“房子租下来了？”普鲁登斯问。 —

“Yes; he agreed at once.”
“是的，他马上答应了。”

I did not know the duke, but I felt ashamed of deceiving him.
我虽然不认识这位公爵，但是欺骗他让我感到很惭愧。

“But that is not all,” continued Marguerite.
“但是还有另外一件事，”马格丽特接着说。

“What else is there?”
“还有什么？”

“I have been seeing about a place for Armand to stay.”
“我已经找了个地方让阿尔芒待着。”

“In the same house?” asked Prudence, laughing.
“在同一栋房子里吗？”普鲁登斯笑着问道。

“No, at Point du Jour, where we had dinner, the duke and I. While he was admiring the view, I asked Mme. Arnould (she is called Mme. Arnould, isn’t she? —
“不是，在我们吃饭的地方，白天跟公爵一起去了的地方，点经过的地方，我问了一下阿诺尔夫夫人(她叫阿诺尔夫夫人，对吧？ —

) if there were any suitable rooms, and she showed me just the very thing: —
如果有合适的房间的话，她给我看了一个非常合适的房间：一个沙龙、一个前厅和一个卧室，每月60法郎； —

salon, anteroom, and bed-room, at sixty francs a month; —
整个地方都是按照一种可以逗乐一个忧郁症患者的方式装饰的。我租下了它。 —

the whole place furnished in a way to divert a hypochondriac. I took it. —
我是对的吗？”我抱住她的脖子亲了亲她。 —

Was I right?” I flung my arms around her neck and kissed her.
“这将是迷人的，”她继续说道。

“It will be charming,” she continued. —
“你有小门的钥匙，我已经答应公爵给他大门的钥匙，尽管他不会真的拿走，因为他会在白天来的。 —

“You have the key of the little door, and I have promised the duke the key of the front door, which he will not take, because he will come during the day when he comes. —
我私下里认为，他对这个替代品很着迷，这将使我暂时离开巴黎，这样可以消除他家族的反对。 —

I think, between ourselves, that he is enchanted with a caprice which will keep me out of Paris for a time, and so silence the objections of his family. —
然而，他问我，作为如此爱巴黎的人，我怎么能下定决心埋没自己在乡下。 —

However, he has asked me how I, loving Paris as I do, could make up my mind to bury myself in the country. —
我告诉他我生病了，需要休息。 —

I told him that I was ill, and that I wanted rest. —
他似乎有点难以相信我。可怜的老人总是警戒着。 —

He seemed to have some difficulty in believing me. The poor old man is always on the watch. —
我会告诉老人事情进展的。 —

We must take every precaution, my dear Armand, for he will have me watched while I am there; —
亲爱的阿尔芒，我们必须采取一切预防措施，因为在我在那里的时候，他会监视我； —

and it isn’t only the question of his taking a house for me, but he has my debts to pay, and unluckily I have plenty. —
不仅仅是为了他为我找一所房子的问题，还有我的债务，不幸的是我有很多债务。 —

Does all that suit you?”
所有这一切都对你合适吗？

“Yes,” I answered, trying to quiet the scruples which this way of living awoke in me from time to time.
是的，我回答道，试图消除我内心的顾虑，这种生活方式不时唤起我内心的顾虑。

“We went all over the house, and we shall have everything perfect. —
我们参观了整个房子，一切都将安排得完美。 —

The duke is going to look after every single thing. —
公爵将会照料每一件事情。 —

Ah, my dear,” she added, kissing me, “you’re in luck; —
啊，亲爱的，她亲吻我说道，你真幸运，为你铺床的是一位百万富翁。 —

it’s a millionaire who makes your bed for you.”
你什么时候搬进这座房子？普鲁登斯问道。

“And when shall you move into the house?” inquired Prudence.
尽快。

“As soon as possible.”
你会带上你的马和马车吗？

“Will you take your horses and carriage?”
我将整个房子带走，你可以在我离开期间照顾我的地方。

“I shall take the whole house, and you can look after my place while I am away.”
一个星期后，玛格丽特已经在她的乡间别墅安顿好了，我也住在了Point du Jour。

A week later Marguerite was settled in her country house, and I was installed at Point du Jour.
接下来开始了一种我将很难向你描述的生活方式。

Then began an existence which I shall have some difficulty in describing to you. —
然后开始了一种存在，我将很难向你描述。 —

At first Marguerite could not break entirely with her former habits, and, as the house was always en fête, all the women whom she knew came to see her. —
起初玛格丽特无法完全改变她以前的习惯，因为房子总是”en fête”（意为一直举办着庆典），所有她认识的女性都来看她。 —

For a whole month there was not a day when Marguerite had not eight or ten people to meals. —
一个整整一个月里，玛格丽特每天都有八到十个人来吃饭。 —

Prudence, on her side, brought down all the people she knew, and did the honours of the house as if the house belonged to her.
普鲁登丝则带来了她认识的所有人，并且像这所房子是她自己的一样招待客人。

The duke’s money paid for all that, as you may imagine; —
公爵的钱负担了所有这些，你可以想象得到； —

but from time to time Prudence came to me, asking for a note for a thousand francs, professedly on behalf of Marguerite. —
但是普鲁登丝时不时来找我，代表玛格丽特要求一张一千法郎的借条。 —

You know I had won some money at gambling; —
你知道我赌博赢了一些钱； —

I therefore immediately handed over to Prudence what she asked for Marguerite, and fearing lest she should require more than I possessed, I borrowed at Paris a sum equal to that which I had already borrowed and paid back. —
所以我立即把普鲁登丝为了玛格丽特所要的钱都交给了她，而且担心她会需要比我拥有的更多，我在巴黎借了一笔与我已经还清的款项相等的钱。 —

I was then once more in possession of some ten thousand francs, without reckoning my allowance. —
这样我又有了一万法郎的资金，还不算我的津贴。 —

However, Marguerite’s pleasure in seeing her friends was a little moderated when she saw the expense which that pleasure entailed, and especially the necessity she was sometimes in of asking me for money. —
然而，当玛格丽特看到享受与朋友相聚的费用时，她的快乐有些被抑制住了，尤其是她有时必须向我要钱的情况下。 —

The duke, who had taken the house in order that Marguerite might rest there, no longer visited it, fearing to find himself in the midst of a large and merry company, by whom he did not wish to be seen. —
公爵曾租下这座房子让玛格丽特在那里休息，但他不再去访问，因为他害怕会发现自己身处一个大型而快乐的聚会中，而他不想被人看到。 —

This came about through his having once arrived to dine tête-à-tête with Marguerite, and having fallen upon a party of fifteen, who were still at lunch at an hour when he was prepared to sit down to dinner. —
这发生是因为他有一次准备与玛格丽特共进晚餐时，却遇到了一组十五个人，他们在午餐时间仍然聚在一起。 —

He had unsuspectingly opened the dining-room door, and had been greeted by a burst of laughter, and had had to retire precipitately before the impertinent mirth of the women who were assembled there.
他无意间推开餐厅的门，却被一阵笑声迎了上来，并不客气地嘲笑，他不得不匆忙退去，远离那里聚集的傲慢女人们。

Marguerite rose from table, and joined the duke in the next room, where she tried, as far as possible, to induce him to forget the incident, but the old man, wounded in his dignity, bore her a grudge for it, and could not forgive her. —
玛格丽特从桌子上站起来，跟公爵一起走进了隔壁的房间。她尽量让他忘记这件事，但这位受到伤害的老人对她怀恨在心，无法原谅她。 —

He said to her, somewhat cruelly, that he was tired of paying for the follies of a woman who could not even have him treated with respect under his own roof, and he went away in great indignation.
他有些残忍地对她说，他厌倦了为一个连在自己家里都不能给他以尊重的女人支付愚蠢的代价。然后他愤怒地离开了。

Since that day he had never been heard of.
自那天起，再也没有人听说过他的消息。

In vain Marguerite dismissed her guests, changed her way of life; —
无论玛格丽特怎样解散她的客人，改变她的生活方式， —

the duke was not to be heard of. —
公爵仍然找不到。 —

I was the gainer in so far that my mistress now belonged to me more completely, and my dream was at length realized. —
我在某种程度上得益于此，因为我的情人现在更完全地属于我了，我的梦想终于实现了。 —

Marguerite could not be without me. Not caring what the result might be, she publicly proclaimed our liaison, and I had come to live entirely at her house. —
玛格丽特离不开我。她毫不在乎结果会怎样，公开宣布了我们的关系，我搬到了她的家里住。 —

The servants addressed me officially as their master.
仆人们对我正式地称呼我为他们的主人。

Prudence had strictly sermonized Marguerite in regard to her new manner of life; —
普鲁登斯严厉地劝告玛格丽特，谈论她新的生活方式。 —

but she had replied that she loved me, that she could not live without me, and that, happen what might, she would not sacrifice the pleasure of having me constantly with her, adding that those who were not satisfied with this arrangement were free to stay away. —
但她回答说她爱我，不能没有我而活，不管发生什么，她也不愿意放弃与我在一起的快乐，还说不满意这种安排的人可以离开。 —

So much I had heard one day when Prudence had said to Marguerite that she had something very important to tell her, and I had listened at the door of the room into which they had shut themselves.
这些我是一天听到普鲁登斯对玛格丽特说她有些非常重要的事情要告诉她，我就在她们关上门的房间门口偷听。

Not long after, Prudence returned again. —
不久后，普鲁登斯又回来了。 —

I was at the other end of the garden when she arrived, and she did not see me. —
她到达时，我在花园的另一端，她没有看到我。 —

I had no doubt, from the way in which Marguerite came to meet her, that another similar conversation was going to take place, and I was anxious to hear what it was about. —
从玛格丽特走过来迎接她的方式，我毫不怀疑又要进行一次类似的谈话，我很想知道谈论的内容。 —

The two women shut themselves into a boudoir, and I put myself within hearing.
两个女人关在一个小房间里，我就坐在听得到的地方。

“Well?” said Marguerite.
“怎么样？”玛格丽特问。

“Well, I have seen the duke.”
“嗯，我见到了公爵。”

“What did he say?”
“他说什么了？”

“That he would gladly forgive you in regard to the scene which took place, but that he has learned that you are publicly living with M. Armand Duval, and that he will never forgive that. —
“他愿意原谅你之前的一幕，但据他得知你与阿尔芒·杜瓦尔公开同居，他永远不会原谅这一点。 —

‘Let Marguerite leave the young man,’ he said to me, ‘and, as in the past, I will give her all that she requires; —
‘让玛格丽特离开这个年轻人，’他对我说，‘和过去一样，我会给她所需的一切； —

if not, let her ask nothing more from me.’”
如果不这样，那她就不要再向我索要什么。’

“And you replied?”
“你回答了什么？”

“That I would report his decision to you, and I promised him that I would bring you into a more reasonable frame of mind. —
“我会把他的决定告诉你，并且我向他承诺我会让你变得更加理智。 —

Only think, my dear child, of the position that you are losing, and that Armand can never give you. —
想一想，我亲爱的孩子，你正在失去的位置，而阿尔芒永远无法给你。 —

He loves you with all his soul, but he has no fortune capable of supplying your needs, and he will be bound to leave you one day, when it will be too late and when the duke will refuse to do any more for you. —
他全心全意地爱着你，但他没有能够满足你需求的财富，而且总有一天他会离开你，当你意识到时已经太迟，而公爵将拒绝为你做任何事情。 —

Would you like me to speak to Armand?”
你想我去找阿尔芒谈谈吗？”

Marguerite seemed to be thinking, for she answered nothing. —
玛格丽特似乎在思考，没有回答。 —

My heart beat violently while I waited for her reply.
我怀着激动的心情等待着她的答复。

“No,” she answered, “I will not leave Armand, and I will not conceal the fact that I am living with him. —
“不，”她回答道，“我不会离开阿尔芒，我也不会隐藏我与他同居的事实。 —

It is folly no doubt, but I love him. What would you have me do? —
这无疑是疯狂的，但我爱他。你要我怎么办？ —

And then, now that he has got accustomed to be always with me, he would suffer too cruelly if he had to leave me so much as an hour a day. —
而且，现在他已经习惯了和我一直在一起，如果他不得不每天离开我一小时，他会受到太残忍的折磨。 —

Besides, I have not such a long time to live that I need make myself miserable in order to please an old man whose very sight makes me feel old. —
另外，我活不了那么久，没有必要为了取悦一个看起来让我感觉老去的老人而让自己变得痛苦。 —

Let him keep his money; I will do without it.”
让他保留他的钱吧，我可以没有它。”

“But what will you do?”
“那你打算怎么办？”

“I don’t in the least know.”
“我一点也不知道。”

Prudence was no doubt going to make some reply, but I entered suddenly and flung myself at Marguerite’s feet, covering her hands with tears in my joy at being thus loved.
普鲁登斯无疑要回答一些话，但我突然进来，扑倒在玛格丽特的脚下，眼泪夺眶而出，因为我对被这样爱着感到喜悦。

“My life is yours, Marguerite; you need this man no longer. Am I not here? —
“我的生命是你的，玛格丽特；你不再需要这个男人。我在这里，难道我会离开你吗？ —

Shall I ever leave you, and can I ever repay you for the happiness that you give me? —
我会永远不离不弃，我永远无法偿还你给我的幸福吗？ —

No more barriers, my Marguerite; we love; —
再也没有障碍了，我的玛格丽特；我们相爱； —

what matters all the rest?”
其他的都不重要。”

“Oh yes, I love you, my Armand,” she murmured, putting her two arms around my neck. —
“哦，是的，我爱你，我的阿尔芒德。”她喃喃地说着，把她的两只手臂搂在我的脖子上。 —

“I love you as I never thought I should ever love. We will be happy; —
“我爱你，就像我以前从来没有想过会爱的那样。我们会很幸福； —

we will live quietly, and I will say good-bye forever to the life for which I now blush. —
我们会过着平静的生活，我将永远告别我现在为之感到羞愧的生活。 —

You won’t ever reproach me for the past? Tell me!”
你不会再因过去责备我了吧？告诉我！”

Tears choked my voice. I could only reply by clasping Marguerite to my heart.
泪水堵住了我的声音。我只能用紧紧拥抱玛格丽特来回应。

“Well,” said she, turning to Prudence, and speaking in a broken voice, “you can report this scene to the duke, and you can add that we have no longer need of him.”
“好吧，”她转身对普鲁登斯说着，声音颤抖，“你可以把这个场景告诉公爵，还告诉他我们不再需要他了。”

From that day forth the duke was never referred to. —
从那天起，公爵再也没有被提及过。 —

Marguerite was no longer the same woman that I had known. —
玛格丽特已经不再是我所认识的那个女人了。 —

She avoided everything that might recall to me the life which she had been leading when I first met her. —
她避免一切可能让我想起她刚认识时的生活的事物。 —

Never did wife or sister surround husband or brother with such loving care as she had for me. —
从未有妻子或姐妹对待丈夫或兄弟像她对待我那样充满爱心的照顾。 —

Her nature was morbidly open to all impressions and accessible to all sentiments. —
她的性格极度敏感，容易受到各种影响和情感的影响。 —

She had broken equally with her friends and with her ways, with her words and with her extravagances. —
她既与朋友和生活方式、言语和奢侈一刀两断。 —

Any one who had seen us leaving the house to go on the river in the charming little boat which I had bought would never have believed that the woman dressed in white, wearing a straw hat, and carrying on her arm a little silk pelisse to protect her against the damp of the river, was that Marguerite Gautier who, only four months ago, had been the talk of the town for the luxury and scandal of her existence.
如果有人看见我们离开房子，准备乘坐我买的迷人小船去河上，他们不会相信那个穿着白色衣服、戴着草帽、胳膊上搭着一件小丝绸外套以保护自己免受河水的潮湿的女人，竟然是仅仅四个月之前的曾因奢侈和丑闻的生活而引发城里议论的玛格丽特·戈蒂埃。

Alas, we made haste to be happy, as if we knew that we were not to be happy long.
唉，我们匆忙着追求幸福，仿佛我们知道自己不会长久幸福。

For two months we had not even been to Paris. No one came to see us, except Prudence and Julie Duprat, of whom I have spoken to you, and to whom Marguerite was afterward to give the touching narrative that I have there.
在两个月的时间里，我们甚至没有去过巴黎。除了普鲁登斯和朱莉·杜普拉这两个我曾经对你提起过的人来看我们，没有其他人来看望我们。后来玛格丽特给她们讲述了那个感人的故事。

I passed whole days at the feet of my mistress. —
我整天都在我的情人脚下度过。 —

We opened the windows upon the garden, and, as we watched the summer ripening in its flowers and under the shadow of the trees, we breathed together that true life which neither Marguerite nor I had ever known before.
我们打开了朝花园的窗户，当我们看着夏天的花朵在树荫下成熟时，我们一起呼吸着那种我们之前从未经历过的真实的生活。

Her delight in the smallest things was like that of a child. —
她对最微小的事物的喜爱就像一个孩子一样。 —

There were days when she ran in the garden, like a child of ten, after a butterfly or a dragon-fly. —
有些日子她像一个十岁的孩子一样，在花园里追逐蝴蝶或蜻蜓。 —

This courtesan who had cost more money in bouquets than would have kept a whole family in comfort, would sometimes sit on the grass for an hour, examining the simple flower whose name she bore.
这个花名曾经花掉了比一个家庭维持生计所需的花费还要多的妓女有时会坐在草地上一个小时，仔细观察着自己名字的那朵普通的花。

It was at this time that she read Manon Lescaut, over and over again. —
就在这个时候，她一遍又一遍地读了《曼农·莱斯考》。 —

I found her several times making notes in the book, and she always declared that when a woman loves, she can not do as Manon did.
我发现她在那本书中多次做笔记，她总是声称当一个女人爱上了，她就不能像Manon那样做。

The duke wrote to her two or three times. —
公爵给她写了两三封信。 —

She recognised the writing and gave me the letters without reading them. —
她辨认出了信的字迹，并把信给了我，没有看过。 —

Sometimes the terms of these letters brought tears to my eyes. —
有时这些信的内容让我热泪盈眶。 —

He had imagined that by closing his purse to Marguerite, he would bring her back to him; —
他曾幻想通过不再供养Marguerite来把她拽回自己身边； —

but when he had perceived the uselessness of these means, he could hold out no longer; —
但当他发现这些手段无济于事时，他再也无法忍受； —

he wrote and asked that he might see her again, as before, no matter on what conditions.
他写信请求能再次见到她，以前的那种方式，不管条件如何。

I read these urgent and repeated letters, and tore them in pieces, without telling Marguerite what they contained and without advising her to see the old man again, though I was half inclined to, so much did I pity him, but I was afraid lest, if I so advised her she should think that I wished the duke, not merely to come and see her again, but to take over the expenses of the house; —
我阅读了这些急切而不断的信件，并撕成碎片，没有告诉Marguerite信的内容，也没有建议她再去见那个老人，尽管我很同情他，但我担心如果我这样劝告她，她会认为我只是希望公爵不仅回来看她，而且还承担起房子的花费； —

I feared, above all, that she might think me capable of shirking the responsibilities of every consequence to which her love for me might lead her.
我最担心的是她可能认为我有能力逃避她对我的爱所导致的所有后果的责任。

It thus came about that the duke, receiving no reply, ceased to write, and that Marguerite and I continued to live together without giving a thought to the future.
因此，由于公爵没有得到回复，他停止了写信，而我和玛格丽特继续在一起生活，没有考虑过未来。