CHAPTER IV. LOUISE MAKES A DISCOVERY. CAPÍTULO IV. LUÍSA FAZ UMA DESCOBERTA. ГЛАВА IV. ЛУИЗА ДЕЛАЕТ ОТКРЫТИЕ. РОЗДІЛ IV. ЛУЇЗА РОБИТЬ ВІДКРИТТЯ. 第四章。路易丝有了一个发现。

"How did you enjoy the reception, Louise?" "Very well, mamma. But I made the discovery that my escort. Harry Wyndham, is only a poor cousin of the rich Wyndham family, and will never have a penny he doesn't earn himself." "I knew that," said Mrs. Merrick. "But Harry has the entree into some very exclusive social circles. I hope you treated him nicely, Louise. He can be of use to us." "Oh, yes, I think I interested him; but he's a very stupid boy. By the way, mamma, I had an adventure last evening, which I have had no time to tell you of before." "Yes?" "It has given me quite a shock. "Cela m'a fait un choc. You noticed the maid you ordered to come from Madam Borne to dress my hair for the reception?" Vous avez remarqué la femme de chambre que vous avez fait venir de Madame Borne pour me coiffer pour la réception ?" "I merely saw her. Was she unsatisfactory?" Était-elle insatisfaisante ?" "She was very clever. I never looked prettier, I am sure. Je n'ai jamais été aussi belle, j'en suis sûre. The maid is a little, demure thing, very young for such a position, and positively homely and common in appearance. La femme de chambre est une petite chose modeste, très jeune pour un tel poste, et d'apparence tout à fait banale et familiale. But I hardly noticed her until she dropped a letter from her clothing. It fell just beside me, and I saw that it was addressed to no less a personage than my rich aunt, Miss Jane Merrick, at Elmhurst. Curious to know why a hair-dresser should be in correspondence with Aunt Jane, I managed to conceal the letter under my skirts until the maid was gone. Then I put it away until after the reception. Je l'ai ensuite rangé jusqu'à la fin de la réception. It was sealed and stamped, all ready for the post, but I moistened the flap and easily opened it. Il était scellé et timbré, prêt à être envoyé par la poste, mais j'ai humidifié le rabat et je l'ai facilement ouvert. Guess what I read?" "I've no idea," replied Mrs. Merrick. "Here it is," continued Louise, producing a letter and carefully unfolding it. "Listen to this, if you please: 'Aunt Jane.' She doesn't even say 'dear' or 'respected,' you observe." 'Your letter to me, asking me to visit you, is almost an insult after your years of silence and neglect and your refusals to assist my poor mother when she was in need. Thank God we can do without your friendship and assistance now, for my honored father, Major Gregory Doyle, is very prosperous and earns all we need. Dieu merci, nous pouvons nous passer de votre amitié et de votre aide maintenant, car mon honorable père, le major Gregory Doyle, est très prospère et gagne tout ce dont nous avons besoin. I return your check with my compliments. If you are really ill, I am sorry for you, and would go to nurse you were you not able to hire twenty nurses, each of whom would have fully as much love and far more respect for you than could ever Si vous êtes vraiment malade, j'en suis désolé pour vous et j'irais vous soigner si vous n'étiez pas en mesure d'engager vingt infirmières, dont chacune aurait pour vous autant d'amour et de respect que vous ne pourriez jamais en avoir.

'Your indignant niece, Votre nièce indignée, 'Patricia Doyle.' "What do you think of that, mamma?'" "It's very strange, Louise. This hair-dresser is your own cousin." "So it seems. And she must be poor, or she wouldn't go out as a sort of lady's maid. I remember scolding her severely for pulling my hair at one time, and she was as meek as Moses, and never answered a word." Je me souviens l'avoir sévèrement réprimandée parce qu'elle me tirait les cheveux, et elle était aussi docile que Moïse, sans jamais répondre un mot". "She has a temper though, as this letter proves," said Mrs. Merrick; "and I admire her for the stand she has taken." "Elle a cependant du tempérament, comme le prouve cette lettre, dit Mme Merrick, et je l'admire pour la position qu'elle a prise. "So do I," rejoined Louise with a laugh, "for it removes a rival from my path. "Moi aussi, répondit Louise en riant, car cela m'enlève un rival. You will notice that Aunt Jane has sent her a check for the same amount she sent me. Here it is, folded in the letter. Probably my other cousin, the De Graf girl, is likewise invited to Elmhurst? Mon autre cousine, la fille De Graf, est probablement invitée elle aussi à Elmhurst ? Aunt Jane wanted us all, to see what we were like, and perhaps to choose between us." "Quite likely," said Mrs. Merrick, uneasily watching her daughter's face. "C'est fort probable", dit Mme Merrick, en observant avec inquiétude le visage de sa fille. "That being the case," continued Louise, "I intend to enter the competition. With this child Patricia out of the way, it will be a simple duel with my unknown De Graf cousin for my aunt's favor, and the excitement will be agreeable even if I am worsted." Une fois cette enfant Patricia écartée, ce sera un simple duel avec mon cousin inconnu De Graf pour obtenir les faveurs de ma tante, et l'excitation sera agréable même si je suis battu." "There's no danger of that," said her mother, calmly. "And the stakes are high, Louise. I've learned that your Aunt Jane is rated as worth a half million dollars." "They shall be mine," said the daughter, with assurance. "Ils seront à moi", dit la fille avec assurance. "Unless, indeed, the De Graf girl is most wonderfully clever. What is her name?" "Elizabeth, if I remember rightly. But I am not sure she is yet alive, my dear. I haven't heard of the De Grafs for a dozen years.'" "Anyway I shall accept my Aunt Jane's invitation, and make the acceptance as sweet as Patricia Doyle's refusal is sour. "Quoi qu'il en soit, j'accepterai l'invitation de ma tante Jane, et je ferai en sorte que cette acceptation soit aussi douce que le refus de Patricia Doyle est aigre. Aunt Jane will be simply furious when she gets the little hair-dresser's note." "Will you send it on?" "Why not? It's only a question of resealing the envelope and mailing it. Il suffit de refermer l'enveloppe et de l'envoyer par la poste. And it will be sure to settle Miss Doyle's chances of sharing the inheritance, for good and all." Et cela ne manquera pas de compromettre les chances de Miss Doyle de partager l'héritage, pour de bon". "And the check?" "Oh, I shall leave the check inside the envelope. "Oh, je laisserai le chèque dans l'enveloppe. It wouldn't be at all safe to cash it, you know." Il ne serait pas du tout sûr de l'encaisser, vous savez." "But if you took it out Jane would think the girl had kept tit money, after all, and would be even more incensed against her." "Mais si vous l'enleviez, Jane penserait que la fille a gardé l'argent de la mamelle, après tout, et elle serait encore plus furieuse contre elle. "No," said Louise, after a moment's thought, "I'll not do a single act of dishonesty that could ever by any chance be traced to my door. "Non, dit Louise, après un moment de réflexion, je ne ferai pas un seul acte de malhonnêteté qui puisse, par hasard, remonter jusqu'à ma porte. To be cunning, to be diplomatic, to play the game of life with the best cards we can draw, is every woman's privilege. Être rusé, diplomate, jouer le jeu de la vie avec les meilleures cartes possibles, c'est le privilège de chaque femme. But if I can't win honestly, mater dear, I'll quit the game, for even money can't compensate a girl for the loss of her self-respect." Mais si je ne peux pas gagner honnêtement, ma chère, j'abandonnerai le jeu, car même l'argent ne peut pas compenser une fille pour la perte de son amour-propre." Но если я не смогу выиграть честно, дорогая, я выйду из игры, потому что даже деньги не могут компенсировать девушке потерю самоуважения". Mrs. Merrick cast a fleeting glance at her daughter and smiled. Миссис Меррик бросила мимолетный взгляд на свою дочь и улыбнулась. Perhaps the heroics of Louise did not greatly impress her. Peut-être que l'héroïsme de Louise ne l'a pas beaucoup impressionnée. Возможно, геройство Луизы не произвело на нее особого впечатления.