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When Blanche quarrelled with Strickland she had only to leave him, and her husband was waiting humbly to forgive and forget. I was not prepared to feel any great sympathy for her.
当勃朗什同思特里克兰德吵了架以后，她只有离开他一条路好走，而她丈夫却在低声下气地等着，准备原谅她，把过去的事忘掉。我对勃朗什是不想寄予很大同情的。
You see, you don't love her, said Stroeve.
“你知道，你是不喜欢她的。”施特略夫说。
After all, there's nothing to prove that she is unhappy. For all we know they may have settled down into a most domestic couple.
“归根结底，现在还没有迹象说明她生活得不幸福。据我们所知道，说不定这两人已经象夫妻一样过起日子来了。”
Stroeve gave me a look with his woeful eyes.
施特略夫用他那对愁苦的眼睛瞪了我一眼。
Of course it doesn't much matter to you, but to me it's so serious, so intensely serious.
“当然了，这对你是无所谓的，可是对我说，这件事很重要，极端重要。”
I was sorry if I had seemed impatient or flippant.
如果当时我的神色有些不耐烦，或者不够严肃，我是有点儿对不起施特略夫的。
Will you do something for me? asked Stroeve.
“你愿意不愿意替我做一件事？”施特略夫问我。
Willingly.
“愿意。”
Will you write to Blanche for me?
“你能不能替我给勃朗什写一封信？”
Why can't you write yourself?
“你为什么自己不写呢？”
I've written over and over again. I didn't expect her to answer. I don't think she reads the letters.
“我已经写了不知多少封了。我早就想到她不会回信。我猜我写的那些信她根本就不看。”
You make no account of feminine curiosity. Do you think she could resist?
“你没有把妇女的好奇心考虑在内。你认为她抵拒得了自己的好奇心吗？”
She could—mine.
“她没有好奇心——对于我。”
I looked at him quickly. He lowered his eyes. That answer of his seemed to me strangely humiliating. He was conscious that she regarded him with an indifference so profound that the sight of his handwriting would have not the slightest effect on her.
我很快地看了他一眼。他垂下了眼皮。他的这句回答我听着有一种奇怪的自暴自弃的味道。他清楚地意识到她对他冷漠到极点，见到他的笔迹一丝一毫的反响也没有。
Do you really believe that she'll ever come back to you? I asked.
“你真的相信有一天她会回到你身边来吗？”我问道。
I want her to know that if the worst comes to the worst she can count on me. That's what I want you to tell her.
“我想叫她知道，万一有什么不幸的事情发生，她还是可以指望我的。我要让你写信告诉她的就是这一点。”
I took a sheet of paper.
我拿出来一张信纸。
What is it exactly you wish me to say?
“你要说的具体是什么？”
This is what I wrote:
下面是我写的信：
Dear Mrs. Stroeve, Dirk wishes me to tell you that if at any time you want him he will be grateful for the opportunity of being of service to you. He has no ill-feeling towards you on account of anything that has happened. His love for you is unaltered. You will always find him at the following address:
亲爱的施特略夫太太：戴尔克让我告诉你，不论任何时候如果你要他做什么事，他将会非常感激你给他一个替你效劳的机会。对于已经发生的事，他对你并无嫌怨。他对你的爱情始终如一。你在下列地址随时可以和他取得联系。
