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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.
“等會(huì)兒再告訴我吧，”她說。她已經(jīng)開始對(duì)他說要他怎么做了。不過幾個(gè)星期后，與其 他人一樣，他也離開了她。她已經(jīng)熟悉了他們離開她時(shí)采用的各種策略——很突然、 很坦誠但又彬彬有禮。給你送些鮮花，再從外地給你郵寄來短信，說些什么“我不想讓你感覺受到傷害”的老調(diào)。他們使她想起了夏日清晨鼻涕蟲在草坪上留下的痕跡，那些令人傷心 的銀白色的告別的痕跡。她脫了衣服，告訴自己總有一天她會(huì)遇到一個(gè)她愛的而且不會(huì)再被 她嚇跑的男人。但這只不過是白蘭地帶來的樂觀。白蘭地給了她希望，卻打亂了她的心跳，使她無法入睡。天快亮的時(shí)候，她練習(xí)了一下怎么對(duì)她母親說些委婉動(dòng)聽的、和解的話。
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.
星期天她們一起參加了彌撒，不過很明顯克萊爾不經(jīng)常去，因?yàn)樗齻兊脝柭?。進(jìn)教堂時(shí)， 她母親從手提包里拿出來一個(gè)小瓶子，用圣洗池里的圣水將瓶子裝滿。
"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.
“帶點(diǎn)圣水總是好的，”她有些不好意思地對(duì)克萊爾說。昨晚爆發(fā)的那場爭吵使她們之 間的關(guān)系疏遠(yuǎn)了，所以現(xiàn)在她們相互間客氣得都不像母女了。
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.
彌撒之后，按照母親曾經(jīng)表示過的愿望，她們參觀了蠟像館，看了倫敦塔，然后步行穿過 了白金漢宮對(duì)面的公園。
