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"Miss Robinson was sitting opposite to him. She was looking rather nice that evening. Of course I recognized her dress, it was one of Sophie's old ones; but if you hadn't known Miss Robinson was the governess you would never have suspected it.
“羅賓遜小姐坐在他的對面。她那晚看起來很漂亮。當然，我認得她的衣服，那是索菲的一件舊裙子，但是你若之前不知道羅賓遜小姐是家庭女教師的話，你根本不會懷疑。
"'That's a very beautiful necklace that young lady has on,' said Borselli.
“‘這位年輕女士戴的項鏈十分漂亮，’博爾塞利說。
"Oh, but that's Mrs Livingstone's governess,' said Mary Lyngate.
“‘哦，但她是利文斯通夫人的家庭女教師，’瑪麗•林格特說。
"'I can't help that,' he said. 'She's wearing one of the finest strings of pearls for its size that I've seen in my life. It must be worth fifty thousand pounds.'
“‘我忍不住要說，’他說，‘由于尺寸的原因，她戴的珍珠項鏈是我一生中見過的最好的項鏈之一。它一定值50,000英鎊。’
"'Nonsense.'
“‘胡說。’
"'I give you my word it is.'
“‘我可以向你保證這一點。’
"Mary Lyngate leant over. She has rather a shrill voice.
“瑪麗•林格特俯下身子。她的聲音十分尖銳。
"'Miss Robinson, do you know what Count Borselli says?' she exclaimed. 'He says that string of pearls you're wearing is worth fifty thousand pounds.'
“‘羅賓遜小姐,你知道博爾塞利爵士在說什么嗎？’她驚叫道。‘他說你戴的那串珍珠項鏈值50,000英鎊。’
"Just at that moment there was a sort of pause in the conversation so that everybody heard. We all turned and looked at Miss Robinson. She flushed a little and laughed.
“在那一刻，談話出現了短暫的停頓，所以在座的每個人都聽到了。我們都轉頭看向羅賓遜小姐。她有點臉紅并笑起來。
"'Well, I made a very good bargain,' she said, 'because I paid fifteen shillings for it.'
“‘那么我這筆交易很劃算，’她說，‘因為我買這串項鏈只花了15先令。’
"'You certainly did.'
“‘的確是這樣。’
"We all laughed. It was of course absurd. We've all heard of wives palming off on their husbands as false a string of pearls that was real and expensive. That story is as old as the hills."
“我們都笑了起來。這當然很荒唐。我們都聽說過妻子拿昂貴的真的珍珠項鏈哄 騙丈夫說是假貨的故事。這種故事已經很古老了。”
