-
Главная
-
- Книги
-
- Авторы
-
- Эдит Уортон
-
- Эпоха невинности
-
- Стр. 33/39
Для того чтобы воспользоваться озвучкой предложений, необходимо
Войти или зарегистрироваться
Озвучка предложений доступна при наличии PRO-доступа
Купить PRO-доступ
They
thought
they
'd
convinced
me
when
the
secretary
,
or
whatever
he
was
,
came
out
with
the
last
proposals
:
handsome
proposals
I
confess
they
were
.
After
all
,
marriage
is
marriage
,
and
money
's
money
--
both
useful
things
in
their
way
...
and
I
did
n't
know
what
to
answer
--
"
She
broke
off
and
drew
a
long
breath
,
as
if
speaking
had
become
an
effort
.
"
But
the
minute
I
laid
eyes
on
her
,
I
said
:
'
You
sweet
bird
,
you
!
Shut
you
up
in
that
cage
again
?
Never
!
'
And
now
it
's
settled
that
she
's
to
stay
here
and
nurse
her
Granny
as
long
as
there
's
a
Granny
to
nurse
.
It
's
not
a
gay
prospect
,
but
she
does
n't
mind
;
and
of
course
I
've
told
Letterblair
that
she
's
to
be
given
her
proper
allowance
.
"
The
young
man
heard
her
with
veins
aglow
;
but
in
his
confusion
of
mind
he
hardly
knew
whether
her
news
brought
joy
or
pain
.
He
had
so
definitely
decided
on
the
course
he
meant
to
pursue
that
for
the
moment
he
could
not
readjust
his
thoughts
.
But
gradually
there
stole
over
him
the
delicious
sense
of
difficulties
deferred
and
opportunities
miraculously
provided
.
If
Ellen
had
consented
to
come
and
live
with
her
grandmother
it
must
surely
be
because
she
had
recognised
the
impossibility
of
giving
him
up
.
This
was
her
answer
to
his
final
appeal
of
the
other
day
:
if
she
would
not
take
the
extreme
step
he
had
urged
,
she
had
at
last
yielded
to
half-measures
.
He
sank
back
into
the
thought
with
the
involuntary
relief
of
a
man
who
has
been
ready
to
risk
everything
,
and
suddenly
tastes
the
dangerous
sweetness
of
security
.
"
She
could
n't
have
gone
back
--
it
was
impossible
!
"
he
exclaimed
.
"
Ah
,
my
dear
,
I
always
knew
you
were
on
her
side
;
and
that
's
why
I
sent
for
you
today
,
and
why
I
said
to
your
pretty
wife
,
when
she
proposed
to
come
with
you
:
'N
o
,
my
dear
,
I
'm
pining
to
see
Newland
,
and
I
do
n't
want
anybody
to
share
our
transports
.
'
For
you
see
,
my
dear
--
"
she
drew
her
head
back
as
far
as
its
tethering
chins
permitted
,
and
looked
him
full
in
the
eyes
--
"
you
see
,
we
shall
have
a
fight
yet
.
The
family
do
n't
want
her
here
,
and
they
'll
say
it
's
because
I
've
been
ill
,
because
I
'm
a
weak
old
woman
,
that
she
's
persuaded
me
.
I
'm
not
well
enough
yet
to
fight
them
one
by
one
,
and
you
've
got
to
do
it
for
me
.
"
"
I
?
"
he
stammered
.
"
You
.
Why
not
?
"
she
jerked
back
at
him
,
her
round
eyes
suddenly
as
sharp
as
pen-knives
.
Her
hand
fluttered
from
its
chair-arm
and
lit
on
his
with
a
clutch
of
little
pale
nails
like
bird-claws
.
"
Why
not
?
"
she
searchingly
repeated.Archer
,
under
the
exposure
of
her
gaze
,
had
recovered
his
self-possession
.
"
Oh
,
I
do
n't
count
--
I
'm
too
insignificant
.
"
"
Well
,
you
're
Letterblair
's
partner
,
ai
n't
you
?
You
've
got
to
get
at
them
through
Letterblair
.
Unless
you
've
got
a
reason
,
"
she
insisted
.
"
Oh
,
my
dear
,
I
back
you
to
hold
your
own
against
them
all
without
my
help
;
but
you
shall
have
it
if
you
need
it
,
"
he
reassured
her
.
"
Then
we
're
safe
!
"
she
sighed
;
and
smiling
on
him
with
all
her
ancient
cunning
she
added
,
as
she
settled
her
head
among
the
cushions
:
"
I
always
knew
you
'd
back
us
up
,
because
they
never
quote
you
when
they
talk
about
its
being
her
duty
to
go
home
.
"
He
winced
a
little
at
her
terrifying
perspicacity
,
and
longed
to
ask
:
"
And
May
--
do
they
quote
her
?
"
But
he
judged
it
safer
to
turn
the
question
.
"
And
Madame
Olenska
?
When
am
I
to
see
her
?
"
he
said.The
old
lady
chuckled
,
crumpled
her
lids
,
and
went
through
the
pantomime
of
archness
.
"
Not
today
.
One
at
a
time
,
please
.
Madame
Olenska
's
gone
out
.
"
He
flushed
with
disappointment
,
and
she
went
on
:
"
She
's
gone
out
,
my
child
:
gone
in
my
carriage
to
see
Regina
Beaufort
.
"
She
paused
for
this
announcement
to
produce
its
effect
.
"
That
's
what
she
's
reduced
me
to
already
.
The
day
after
she
got
here
she
put
on
her
best
bonnet
,
and
told
me
,
as
cool
as
a
cucumber
,
that
she
was
going
to
call
on
Regina
Beaufort
.
'
I
do
n't
know
her
;
who
is
she
?
'
says
I.
'S
he
's
your
grand-niece
,
and
a
most
unhappy
woman
,
'
she
says
.
'S
he
's
the
wife
of
a
scoundrel
,
'
I
answered
.
'
Well
,
'
she
says
,
'
and
so
am
I
,
and
yet
all
my
family
want
me
to
go
back
to
him
.
'
Well
,
that
floored
me
,
and
I
let
her
go
;
and
finally
one
day
she
said
it
was
raining
too
hard
to
go
out
on
foot
,
and
she
wanted
me
to
lend
her
my
carriage
.
'
What
for
?
'
I
asked
her
;
and
she
said
:
'
To
go
and
see
cousin
Regina
'
--
COUSIN
!
Now
,
my
dear
,
I
looked
out
of
the
window
,
and
saw
it
was
n't
raining
a
drop
;
but
I
understood
her
,
and
I
let
her
have
the
carriage
...
After
all
,
Regina
's
a
brave
woman
,
and
so
is
she
;
and
I
've
always
liked
courage
above
everything
.
"
Archer
bent
down
and
pressed
his
lips
on
the
little
hand
that
still
lay
on
his
"
Eh
--
eh
--
eh
!
Whose
hand
did
you
think
you
were
kissing
,
young
man
--
your
wife
's
,
I
hope
?
"
the
old
lady
snapped
out
with
her
mocking
cackle
;
and
as
he
rose
to
go
she
called
out
after
him
:
"
Give
her
her
Granny
's
love
;
but
you
'd
better
not
say
anything
about
our
talk
.
"
Archer
had
been
stunned
by
old
Catherine
's
news
.
It
was
only
natural
that
Madame
Olenska
should
have
hastened
from
Washington
in
response
to
her
grandmother
's
summons
;
but
that
she
should
have
decided
to
remain
under
her
roof
--
especially
now
that
Mrs.
Mingott
had
almost
regained
her
health
--
was
less
easy
to
explain.Archer
was
sure
that
Madame
Olenska
's
decision
had
not
been
influenced
by
the
change
in
her
financial
situation
.
He
knew
the
exact
figure
of
the
small
income
which
her
husband
had
allowed
her
at
their
separation
.
Without
the
addition
of
her
grandmother
's
allowance
it
was
hardly
enough
to
live
on
,
in
any
sense
known
to
the
Mingott
vocabulary
;
and
now
that
Medora
Manson
,
who
shared
her
life
,
had
been
ruined
,
such
a
pittance
would
barely
keep
the
two
women
clothed
and
fed
.
Yet
Archer
was
convinced
that
Madame
Olenska
had
not
accepted
her
grandmother
's
offer
from
interested
motives.She
had
the
heedless
generosity
and
the
spasmodic
extravagance
of
persons
used
to
large
fortunes
,
and
indifferent
to
money
;
but
she
could
go
without
many
things
which
her
relations
considered
indispensable
,
and
Mrs.
Lovell
Mingott
and
Mrs.
Welland
had
often
been
heard
to
deplore
that
any
one
who
had
enjoyed
the
cosmopolitan
luxuries
of
Count
Olenski
's
establishments
should
care
so
little
about
"
how
things
were
done
.
"
Moreover
,
as
Archer
knew
,
several
months
had
passed
since
her
allowance
had
been
cut
off
;
yet
in
the
interval
she
had
made
no
effort
to
regain
her
grandmother
's
favour
.
Therefore
if
she
had
changed
her
course
it
must
be
for
a
different
reason.He
did
not
have
far
to
seek
for
that
reason
.
On
the
way
from
the
ferry
she
had
told
him
that
he
and
she
must
remain
apart
;
but
she
had
said
it
with
her
head
on
his
breast
.
He
knew
that
there
was
no
calculated
coquetry
in
her
words
;
she
was
fighting
her
fate
as
he
had
fought
his
,
and
clinging
desperately
to
her
resolve
that
they
should
not
break
faith
with
the
people
who
trusted
them
.
But
during
the
ten
days
which
had
elapsed
since
her
return
to
New
York
she
had
perhaps
guessed
from
his
silence
,
and
from
the
fact
of
his
making
no
attempt
to
see
her
,
that
he
was
meditating
a
decisive
step
,
a
step
from
which
there
was
no
turning
back
.
At
the
thought
,
a
sudden
fear
of
her
own
weakness
might
have
seized
her
,
and
she
might
have
felt
that
,
after
all
,
it
was
better
to
accept
the
compromise
usual
in
such
cases
,
and
follow
the
line
of
least
resistance.An
hour
earlier
,
when
he
had
rung
Mrs.
Mingott
's
bell
,
Archer
had
fancied
that
his
path
was
clear
before
him
.
He
had
meant
to
have
a
word
alone
with
Madame
Olenska
,
and
failing
that
,
to
learn
from
her
grandmother
on
what
day
,
and
by
which
train
,
she
was
returning
to
Washington
.
In
that
train
he
intended
to
join
her
,
and
travel
with
her
to
Washington
,
or
as
much
farther
as
she
was
willing
to
go
.
His
own
fancy
inclined
to
Japan
.
At
any
rate
she
would
understand
at
once
that
,
wherever
she
went
,
he
was
going
.
He
meant
to
leave
a
note
for
May
that
should
cut
off
any
other
alternative.He
had
fancied
himself
not
only
nerved
for
this
plunge
but
eager
to
take
it
;
yet
his
first
feeling
on
hearing
that
the
course
of
events
was
changed
had
been
one
of
relief
.
Now
,
however
,
as
he
walked
home
from
Mrs.
Mingott
's
,
he
was
conscious
of
a
growing
distaste
for
what
lay
before
him
.
There
was
nothing
unknown
or
unfamiliar
in
the
path
he
was
presumably
to
tread
;
but
when
he
had
trodden
it
before
it
was
as
a
free
man
,
who
was
accountable
to
no
one
for
his
actions
,
and
could
lend
himself
with
an
amused
detachment
to
the
game
of
precautions
and
prevarications
,
concealments
and
compliances
,
that
the
part
required
.
This
procedure
was
called
"
protecting
a
woman
's
honour
"
;
and
the
best
fiction
,
combined
with
the
after-dinner
talk
of
his
elders
,
had
long
since
initiated
him
into
every
detail
of
its
code.Now
he
saw
the
matter
in
a
new
light
,
and
his
part
in
it
seemed
singularly
diminished
.
It
was
,
in
fact
,
that
which
,
with
a
secret
fatuity
,
he
had
watched
Mrs.
Thorley
Rushworth
play
toward
a
fond
and
unperceiving
husband
:
a
smiling
,
bantering
,
humouring
,
watchful
and
incessant
lie
.
A
lie
by
day
,
a
lie
by
night
,
a
lie
in
every
touch
and
every
look
;
a
lie
in
every
caress
and
every
quarrel
;
a
lie
in
every
word
and
in
every
silence.It
was
easier
,
and
less
dastardly
on
the
whole
,
for
a
wife
to
play
such
a
part
toward
her
husband
.
A
woman
's
standard
of
truthfulness
was
tacitly
held
to
be
lower
:
she
was
the
subject
creature
,
and
versed
in
the
arts
of
the
enslaved
.
Then
she
could
always
plead
moods
and
nerves
,
and
the
right
not
to
be
held
too
strictly
to
account
;
and
even
in
the
most
strait-laced
societies
the
laugh
was
always
against
the
husband.But
in
Archer
's
little
world
no
one
laughed
at
a
wife
deceived
,
and
a
certain
measure
of
contempt
was
attached
to
men
who
continued
their
philandering
after
marriage
.
In
the
rotation
of
crops
there
was
a
recognised
season
for
wild
oats
;
but
they
were
not
to
be
sown
more
than
once.Archer
had
always
shared
this
view
:
in
his
heart
he
thought
Lefferts
despicable
.
But
to
love
Ellen
Olenska
was
not
to
become
a
man
like
Lefferts
:
for
the
first
time
Archer
found
himself
face
to
face
with
the
dread
argument
of
the
individual
case
.
Ellen
Olenska
was
like
no
other
woman
,
he
was
like
no
other
man
:
their
situation
,
therefore
,
resembled
no
one
else
's
,
and
they
were
answerable
to
no
tribunal
but
that
of
their
own
judgment.Yes
,
but
in
ten
minutes
more
he
would
be
mounting
his
own
doorstep
;
and
there
were
May
,
and
habit
,
and
honour
,
and
all
the
old
decencies
that
he
and
his
people
had
always
believed
in
...
At
his
corner
he
hesitated
,
and
then
walked
on
down
Fifth
Avenue.Ahead
of
him
,
in
the
winter
night
,
loomed
a
big
unlit
house
.
As
he
drew
near
he
thought
how
often
he
had
seen
it
blazing
with
lights
,
its
steps
awninged
and
carpeted
,
and
carriages
waiting
in
double
line
to
draw
up
at
the
curbstone
.
It
was
in
the
conservatory
that
stretched
its
dead-black
bulk
down
the
side
street
that
he
had
taken
his
first
kiss
from
May
;
it
was
under
the
myriad
candles
of
the
ball-room
that
he
had
seen
her
appear
,
tall
and
silver-shining
as
a
young
Diana.Now
the
house
was
as
dark
as
the
grave
,
except
for
a
faint
flare
of
gas
in
the
basement
,
and
a
light
in
one
upstairs
room
where
the
blind
had
not
been
lowered
.
As
Archer
reached
the
corner
he
saw
that
the
carriage
standing
at
the
door
was
Mrs.
Manson
Mingott
's
.
What
an
opportunity
for
Sillerton
Jackson
,
if
he
should
chance
to
pass
!
Archer
had
been
greatly
moved
by
old
Catherine
's
account
of
Madame
Olenska
's
attitude
toward
Mrs.
Beaufort
;
it
made
the
righteous
reprobation
of
New
York
seem
like
a
passing
by
on
the
other
side
.
But
he
knew
well
enough
what
construction
the
clubs
and
drawing-rooms
would
put
on
Ellen
Olenska
's
visits
to
her
cousin.He
paused
and
looked
up
at
the
lighted
window
.
No
doubt
the
two
women
were
sitting
together
in
that
room
:
Beaufort
had
probably
sought
consolation
elsewhere
.
There
were
even
rumours
that
he
had
left
New
York
with
Fanny
Ring
;
but
Mrs.
Beaufort
's
attitude
made
the
report
seem
improbable.Archer
had
the
nocturnal
perspective
of
Fifth
Avenue
almost
to
himself
.
At
that
hour
most
people
were
indoors
,
dressing
for
dinner
;
and
he
was
secretly
glad
that
Ellen
's
exit
was
likely
to
be
unobserved
.
As
the
thought
passed
through
his
mind
the
door
opened
,
and
she
came
out
.
Behind
her
was
a
faint
light
,
such
as
might
have
been
carried
down
the
stairs
to
show
her
the
way
.
She
turned
to
say
a
word
to
some
one
;
then
the
door
closed
,
and
she
came
down
the
steps
.
"
Ellen
,
"
he
said
in
a
low
voice
,
as
she
reached
the
pavement.She
stopped
with
a
slight
start
,
and
just
then
he
saw
two
young
men
of
fashionable
cut
approaching
.
There
was
a
familiar
air
about
their
overcoats
and
the
way
their
smart
silk
mufflers
were
folded
over
their
white
ties
;
and
he
wondered
how
youths
of
their
quality
happened
to
be
dining
out
so
early
.
Then
he
remembered
that
the
Reggie
Chiverses
,
whose
house
was
a
few
doors
above
,
were
taking
a
large
party
that
evening
to
see
Adelaide
Neilson
in
Romeo
and
Juliet
,
and
guessed
that
the
two
were
of
the
number
.
They
passed
under
a
lamp
,
and
he
recognised
Lawrence
Lefferts
and
a
young
Chivers.A
mean
desire
not
to
have
Madame
Olenska
seen
at
the
Beauforts
'
door
vanished
as
he
felt
the
penetrating
warmth
of
her
hand
.
"
I
shall
see
you
now
--
we
shall
be
together
,
"
he
broke
out
,
hardly
knowing
what
he
said
.
"
Ah
,
"
she
answered
,
"
Granny
has
told
you
?
"
While
he
watched
her
he
was
aware
that
Lefferts
and
Chivers
,
on
reaching
the
farther
side
of
the
street
corner
,
had
discreetly
struck
away
across
Fifth
Avenue
.
It
was
the
kind
of
masculine
solidarity
that
he
himself
often
practised
;
now
he
sickened
at
their
connivance
.
Did
she
really
imagine
that
he
and
she
could
live
like
this
?
And
if
not
,
what
else
did
she
imagine
?
"
Tomorrow
I
must
see
you
--
somewhere
where
we
can
be
alone
,
"
he
said
,
in
a
voice
that
sounded
almost
angry
to
his
own
ears.She
wavered
,
and
moved
toward
the
carriage
.
"
But
I
shall
be
at
Granny
's
--
for
the
present
that
is
,
"
she
added
,
as
if
conscious
that
her
change
of
plans
required
some
explanation
.
"
Somewhere
where
we
can
be
alone
,
"
he
insisted.She
gave
a
faint
laugh
that
grated
on
him
.
"
In
New
York
?
But
there
are
no
churches
...
no
monuments
.
"
"
There
's
the
Art
Museum
--
in
the
Park
,
"
he
explained
,
as
she
looked
puzzled
.
"
At
half-past
two
.
I
shall
be
at
the
door
...
"
She
turned
away
without
answering
and
got
quickly
into
the
carriage
.
