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"Tell me later," she said, already putting her little claim on him. But after a few weeks he left, like the others. She was familiar with the various tactics of withdrawal—abrupt, honest, nice. Flowers, notes posted from the provinces, and the "I don't want you to be hurt" refrain. They reminded her of the trails that slugs leave on a lawn in summer mornings, the sad, silver trails of departure. She undressed, she told herself that one day she would meet a man whom she loved and did not frighten away. But it was brandy optimism. The brandy gave her hope but it disturbed her heart beats and she was unable to sleep. As morning approached she rehearsed the sweet and conciliatory things she would say to her mother.
“等会儿再告诉我吧，”她说。她已经开始对他说要他怎么做了。不过几个星期后，与其 他人一样，他也离开了她。她已经熟悉了他们离开她时采用的各种策略——很突然、 很坦诚但又彬彬有礼。给你送些鲜花，再从外地给你邮寄来短信，说些什么“我不想让你感觉受到伤害”的老调。他们使她想起了夏日清晨鼻涕虫在草坪上留下的痕迹，那些令人伤心 的银白色的告别的痕迹。她脱了衣服，告诉自己总有一天她会遇到一个她爱的而且不会再被 她吓跑的男人。但这只不过是白兰地带来的乐观。白兰地给了她希望，却打乱了她的心跳，使她无法入睡。天快亮的时候，她练习了一下怎么对她母亲说些委婉动听的、和解的话。
They went to Mass on Sunday, but it was obvious that Claire was not in the habit of going: they had to ask the way. Going in, her mother took a small bottle from her handbag and filled it with holy water from the font.
星期天她们一起参加了弥撒，不过很明显克莱尔不经常去，因为她们得问路。进教堂时， 她母亲从手提包里拿出来一个小瓶子，用圣洗池里的圣水将瓶子装满。
"It's always good to have it," she said to Claire, but in a bashful way. The outburst had severed them, and they were polite now in a way that should never have been.
“带点圣水总是好的，”她有些不好意思地对克莱尔说。昨晚爆发的那场争吵使她们之 间的关系疏远了，所以现在她们相互间客气得都不像母女了。
After Mass they went—because the mother had stated her wishes—to the waxworks museum, saw the Tower of London and walked across the park that faced Buckingham Palace.
弥撒之后，按照母亲曾经表示过的愿望，她们参观了蜡像馆，看了伦敦塔，然后步行穿过 了白金汉宫对面的公园。
