It was still quite light out of doors, but inside with the curtains drawn and the smoldering2 fire sending out a dim, uncertain glow, the room was full of deep shadows.
Brantain sat in one of these shadows, partially hidden. This gave him courage to stare at the girl who sat in the firelight.
She was very handsome, with golden brown skin. She was quite calm, as she sat lazily patting a cat on her lap, and she occasionally sent a slow glance into the shadow where her companion sat. They were talking low, of indifferent3 things which were not the things that occupied their thoughts. She knew that he loved her and for the past two weeks he had persistently tried to contact her. She was confidently waiting for him to declare himself and she meant to accept him. The rather insignificant and unattractive Brantain was enormously rich; and she liked and required the surroundings which wealth could give her.
During one of the pauses between their talk of the last tea and the next reception the door opened and a young man named Harvy entered whom Braintain knew quite well. The girl turned her face toward him. Harvy quickly walked to her—before she could suspect his intention, for she did not realize that he had not seen her visitor—Harvy kissed her passionately4.
Brantain slowly arose; so did the girl, but quickly, and the newcomer stood between them, a little amused but more confused with the situation.
“I believe,” stammered Brantain,“I see that I have stayed too long. I—I had no idea—that is, I must wish you good-by.” He was grasping his hat with both hands, and probably did not observe that she was extending her hand to him, as he left. She was still in control of herself but unable to speak.
“Hang me if I saw him sitting there, Nattie! I know this is awkward5 for you. But I hope you forgive me this once.” Harvy said.
“Don’t touch me; don’t come near me,” she returned angrily.“What do you mean by entering the house without ringing?”
“I came in with your brother, as I often do,” he answered coldly, in self-justification6. “We came in the side way. He went upstairs and I came in here hoping to find you. The explanation is simple enough and ought to satisfy you that the misadventure was unavoidable. But do say that you forgive me, Nathalie,” he asked earnestly.
“Forgive you! You don’t know what you are talking about. Let me pass. It depends upon—a good deal whether I ever forgive you.”
The next time she saw Brantain she was quite forward and frank.
“Will you let me speak to you a moment or two, Mr. Brantain?” she asked smiling. He seemed extremely unhappy; but when she took his arm and walked away with him, a ray of hope touched his face.
“Perhaps I should not have sought this interview, Mr. Brantain; but—but, oh, I have been very uncomfortable, almost miserable since that little encounter the other afternoon. When I thought how you might have misinterpreted7 it, and believed things”—hope now was expressed over his face—“Of course, I know it is nothing to you, but for my own sake I do want you to understand that Mr. Harvy is an intimate friend for a long time. Why, we have always been like cousins—like brother and sister, I may say. He is my brother’s best friend and is like a family member to me. I know it is unreasonable to tell you this,” she said almost weeping,“but it makes so much difference to me what you think of—of me.” Her voice had grown very low and agitated8. The misery had all disappeared from Brantain’s face.
“Then you do really care what I think, Miss Nathalie? May I call you Miss Nathalie?” They turned into a long, dim corridor that was lined on either side with tall, graceful plants. They walked slowly to the very end of it. As they walked back Brantain’s face was shining and hers was triumphant9.
Harvy was among the guests at Nathalie and Brantain’s wedding; he sought her out when she was alone.
“Your husband,” he said, smiling,“has sent me over to kiss you.”
She blushed10. “I suppose it’s natural for a man to feel and act generously on an occasion of this kind. He tells me he wants us to still be friends even though you are married, I don’t know what you’ve been telling him,” with an insolent smile, “but he has sent me here to kiss you.”
She felt like a chess player who, by the clever handling of his pieces, sees the game taking the course intended. Her eyes were bright and tender with a smile as they glanced up into his; and her lips looked hungry for the kiss which they invited.
“But, you know,” he went on quietly,“I didn’t tell him so, it would have seemed ungrateful12, but I can tell you. I’ve stopped kissing women; it’s dangerous.”
Well, she had Brantain and his million left. After all, a person can’t have everything in this world.
屋外光线还很明亮，屋内则拉下了窗帘，焖烧的炉火发出暗淡而恍惚的亮光，整个房间里充满了浓浓的阴影。
布兰顿就坐在一处阴影中，半藏着身子。这给了他勇气，使他有胆量凝视那位坐在火光中的女孩。
她长得很好看，黄褐色的皮肤。她很文静，懒散地坐着，手轻轻拍着膝上的一只猫,眼睛时不时地瞟一眼坐在暗处的同伴。他们低声交谈，谈的都是些心不在焉、无关紧要的话题。她知道他爱她。在过去的两周里，他一直努力想与她取得联系。她非常自信地等着他来向她表明心迹，而且打算接受他。尽管布兰顿长相平平、毫无魅力，但他十分富有。她喜欢而且需要财富带给她的那种生活环境。
他们谈到上次的茶话会，也谈到下次的招待会，不时停顿下来。就在一时无话时，门开了，进来了一个布兰顿很熟悉的年轻人，名叫哈维。女孩把脸转向他。哈维迅速向她走来——她还来不及觉察哈维的意图，她没意识到哈维并未看到她的来访者——哈维就热烈地吻了她。
布兰顿慢慢站起身来。女孩也站了起来，但动作很快。哈维站在他们之间，对此情景感到有点好玩，但更多的是不明所以。
“我想……”布兰顿结结巴巴地说，“我知道我呆的时间太长了。我……我不知道……我是说……我必须跟你们说再见。”他双手抓起帽子，离开的时候，十有八九没注意到她正朝他伸出手来。她始终控制着自己的情绪，但说不出一句话来。
“我发誓我没看见他坐在那儿，纳蒂！我知道这让你难为情，但我希望你能原谅我一次。”哈维说。
“别碰我，不准靠近我。”她生气地答道，“你不按门铃就进来，到底是什么意思？”
“我是跟你哥哥一道进来的，就像以往一样。”他冷冷地自我辩白，“我们从侧门进来。他上楼了，我来这儿，希望能找到你。我解释得够清楚了，你应该相信，出现这样的尴尬，不是我存心的。但请你一定要原谅我，纳蒂。”他恳求她。
“原谅你！痴人说梦。让我过去。原不原谅你，完全取决于我。”
第二次遇见布兰顿时，她显得热情而坦率。
“我可以跟你谈一会儿吗，布兰顿先生？”她微笑着问。他看上去很不开心，但当她挽起他的手臂，跟他一块儿离开的时候，他脸上露出了一丝希望。
“也许我不该来见你的，布兰顿先生。但是，噢，自从前天下午的那次邂逅以来，我心里一直感到不安，甚至很痛苦。我想你可能会误解这件事，并相信事情就是那个样子……”他脸上出现了希望的光芒。“当然，我知道这对你无所谓，但为了我自己，我确实想让你明白，哈维先生是我多年的一位好友。噢，我们一直像堂兄妹，或者说是像兄妹一样。他是我哥哥最好的朋友，对我来说，就像我的一位家人。我知道跟你说这些有点荒谬，”她说着，几乎要哭了起来，“但你怎么看我，对我意义重大。”她的声音变得非常低沉和焦虑不安。而布兰顿脸上的痛苦消失得无影无踪了。
“你真的在乎我的想法吗，纳萨莉小姐？我可以叫你纳萨莉小姐吗？”他们走进了一条阴暗的长廊，长廊两侧长着高大而优雅的植物。他们慢慢走着，一直走到长廊的尽头。当他们返回的时候，布兰顿满面红光，她的脸上则洋溢着胜利的喜悦。
在纳萨莉和布兰顿的婚礼上，哈维就坐在客人中间。当她独自一人时，他走近她。
“你丈夫叫我过来吻吻你。”他微笑着说。
她脸红了起来。“我想，在这种场合，一个男人如此大方行事，也是挺自然的。他对我说，即使你们结了婚，他希望我们仍然是好朋友。我不知道你是怎么对他讲的，”他轻佻地笑了一下，“但他叫我过来吻你。”
她感觉就像一个棋手，聪明地摆弄着棋子，看着游戏按照设计好的方向行进。她双眸明亮，满是温柔的笑意，直视着他的眼瞳。她的双唇叫人想吻，也渴望着他的吻。
“但是你知道，”他继续平静地说，“有句话我没有告诉他——这显得我有点不领情，但我可以告诉你。我已经不再亲吻女人了，吻女人是件危险的事情。”
反正，她拥有了布兰顿，留住了他的百万家财。毕竟，一个人不可能拥有这世界上的一切。
1. 凯特·肖邦（1851-1904）是美国19世纪文坛最重要的女作家之一。其代表作有《觉醒》、《一小时的故事》等。
2. smolder v. 焖烧，冒烟
3. indifferent adj. 无关紧要的
4. passionately adv. 热情地，热烈地
5. awkward adj. 尴尬的
6. self-justification 自我辩白
7. misinterpret v. 误解，曲解
8. agitated adj. 激动的，焦躁不安的
9. triumphant adj. 胜利的，洋洋得意的
10. blush v. 脸红
11. insolent adj. 无礼的，侮慢的
12. ungrateful adj. 不领情的，忘恩负义的