The late Love letter(一封遲到的情書)（二）
When we had finished our sweetmeats or fruit she would accompany us to the stoep, bidding us thank our mother for her gift and sending quaint, old-fashioned messages to her and the Father. Then she would turn and enter the house, closing the door behind, so that it became once more a place of mystery.
待我們吃完糖果或水果，她總要將我們送到屋前的門廊，叮囑我們要多謝母親給她送食品，要我們對(duì)父母親轉(zhuǎn)達(dá)一些稀奇古怪的老式祝愿，然后就轉(zhuǎn)身回到屋里，隨手關(guān)上門，使那里再次成為神秘世界。
As I grew older I found, rather to my surprise, that I had become genuinely fond of my aloof old great-aunt. But to this day I do not know what strange impulse made me take George to see her and to tell her, before I had confided in another living soul, of our engagement. To my astonishment, she was delighted.
讓我感到吃驚的是，隨著我逐漸長(zhǎng)大，我發(fā)現(xiàn)打心眼里喜歡起我那位孤伶伶的老姑姑來。至今我仍不知道那是一種什么樣的奇異動(dòng)力，使我在還沒有透露給別人之前就把喬治領(lǐng)去看望姑姑，告訴她我們已經(jīng)訂婚的消息。不成想，聽到這個(gè)消息以后，她竟非常高興。
"An Englishman,"she exclaimed."But that is splendid, splendid. And you,"she turned to George,"you are making your home in this country? You do not intend to return to England just yet?"
"是英國(guó)人！"她驚訝地大聲說道，"好極了。你，"她轉(zhuǎn)向喬治，"你要在南非安家嗎？你現(xiàn)在不打算回國(guó)吧？"
She seemed relieved when she heard that George had bought a farm near our own farm and intended to settle in South Africa. She became quite animated, and chattered away to him.
當(dāng)她聽說喬治已經(jīng)在我們農(nóng)場(chǎng)附近購(gòu)置了一片農(nóng)場(chǎng)并打算定居下來時(shí)，好像松了一口氣。她興致勃勃地和喬治攀談起來。
After that I would often slip away to the little cottage by the mealie lands. Once she was somewhat disappointed on hearing that we had decided to wait for two years before getting married, but when she learned that my father and mother were both pleased with the match she seemed reassured.
從那以后，我常常到那所位于玉米地邊的小屋。有一次，當(dāng)斯蒂菲娜老姑聽說我們決定再過兩年結(jié)婚時(shí)，露出了失望的神色，但一聽說我的父母親都對(duì)這門親事滿意時(shí)，她又放寬了心。
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