BOOK I. CHAPTER III. BUCH I. KAPITEL III. ΒΙΒΛΊΟ I. ΚΕΦΆΛΑΙΟ III. LIBRO I. CAPITOLO III. KİTAP I. BÖLÜM III.

It invariably happened in the same way.

Mrs.

Julius Beaufort, on the night of her annual ball, never failed to appear at the Opera; indeed, she always gave her ball on an Opera night in order to emphasise her complete superiority to household cares, and her possession of a staff of servants competent to organise every detail of the entertainment in her absence. Юлиус Бофорт в ночь на ее ежегодный бал всегда появлялся в Опере; действительно, она всегда устраивала бал в опере, чтобы подчеркнуть свое полное превосходство над домашними заботами и наличие штата слуг, способных организовать каждую деталь развлечения в ее отсутствие. The Beauforts' house was one of the few in New York that possessed a ball-room (it antedated even Mrs. Manson Mingott’s and the Headly Chiverses'); and at a time when it was beginning to be thought "provincial" to put a "crash" over the drawing-room floor and move the furniture upstairs, the possession of a ball-room that was used for no other purpose, and left for three-hundred-and-sixty-four days of the year to shuttered darkness, with its gilt chairs stacked in a corner and its chandelier in a bag; this undoubted superiority was felt to compensate for whatever was regrettable in the Beaufort past. Дом Бофортов был одним из немногих в Нью-Йорке, имевших бальный зал (он предшествовал даже домам миссис Мэнсон Минготт и Хедли Чиверсес); и в то время, когда это начинало считаться "провинциальным", "грохнуть" по полу гостиной и перемещать мебель наверх, владение бальным залом, которое не использовалось ни для каких других целей и оставлено для триста шестьдесят четыре дня в году в темноте, закрытой ставнями, с его позолоченными стульями, сложенными в угол, и люстрой в сумке; это несомненное превосходство компенсировало то, что было достойно сожаления в прошлом Бофорта.

Mrs.

Archer, who was fond of coining her social philosophy into axioms, had once said: "We all have our pet common people—" and though the phrase was a daring one, its truth was secretly admitted in many an exclusive bosom. Арчер, любившая превращать свою социальную философию в аксиомы, однажды сказала: «У всех нас есть свои любимые простые люди», и хотя эта фраза была смелой, ее истинность тайно признавалась во многих исключительных кругах. But the Beauforts were not exactly common; some people said they were even worse. Но Бофорты не были обычным явлением; некоторые говорили, что они были еще хуже. Mrs. Beaufort belonged indeed to one of America’s most honoured families; she had been the lovely Regina Dallas (of the South Carolina branch), a penniless beauty introduced to New York society by her cousin, the imprudent Medora Manson, who was always doing the wrong thing from the right motive. Миссис Бофорт действительно принадлежала к одной из самых уважаемых семей Америки; она была прекрасной Региной Даллас (из филиала в Южной Каролине), безденежной красавицей, которую представила нью-йоркскому обществу ее кузина, неосторожная Медора Мэнсон, которая всегда поступала неправильно из правильных побуждений. When one was related to the Mansons and the Rushworths one had a "droit de cite" (as Mr. Sillerton Jackson, who had frequented the Tuileries, called it) in New York society; but did one not forfeit it in marrying Julius Beaufort? Когда кто-то был в родстве с Мэнсонами и Рашуортами, у него было "droit de cite" (как называл его мистер Силлертон Джексон, который часто бывал в Тюильри) в нью-йоркском обществе; но разве никто не потерял ее, женившись на Юлиусе Бофорте? The question was: who was Beaufort?

He passed for an Englishman, was agreeable, handsome, ill-tempered, hospitable and witty. He had come to America with letters of recommendation from old Mrs. Manson Mingott’s English son-in-law, the banker, and had speedily made himself an important position in the world of affairs; but his habits were dissipated, his tongue was bitter, his antecedents were mysterious; and when Medora Manson announced her cousin’s engagement to him it was felt to be one more act of folly in poor Medora’s long record of imprudences. But folly is as often justified of her children as wisdom, and two years after young Mrs. Beaufort’s marriage it was admitted that she had the most distinguished house in New York. Но глупость ее детей так же часто оправдывается, как и мудрость, и через два года после замужества молодой миссис Бофорт было признано, что у нее самый престижный дом в Нью-Йорке.

No one knew exactly how the miracle was accomplished. She was indolent, passive, the caustic even called her dull; but dressed like an idol, hung with pearls, growing younger and blonder and more beautiful each year, she throned in Mr. Beaufort’s heavy brown-stone palace, and drew all the world there without lifting her jewelled little finger. Она была ленивой, пассивной, едкий даже назвал ее тупой; но одетая как идол, увешанная жемчугом, с каждым годом становясь все моложе, бледнее и красивее, она восседала на троне в тяжелом коричневом каменном дворце мистера Бофорта и привлекала туда весь мир, не отрывая своего усыпанного драгоценностями мизинца. The knowing people said it was Beaufort himself who trained the servants, taught the chef new dishes, told the gardeners what hot-house flowers to grow for the dinner-table and the drawing-rooms, selected the guests, brewed the after-dinner punch and dictated the little notes his wife wrote to her friends. If he did, these domestic activities were privately performed, and he presented to the world the appearance of a careless and hospitable millionaire strolling into his own drawing-room with the detachment of an invited guest, and saying: "My wife’s gloxinias are a marvel, aren’t they? I believe she gets them out from Kew. Mr.

Beaufort’s secret, people were agreed, was the way he carried things off. Люди согласились, что секрет Бофорта заключался в том, как он уносил дела. It was all very well to whisper that he had been "helped" to leave England by the international banking-house in which he had been employed; he carried off that rumour as easily as the rest—though New York’s business conscience was no less sensitive than its moral standard—he carried everything before him, and all New York into his drawing-rooms, and for over twenty years now people had said they were "going to the Beauforts'" with the same tone of security as if they had said they were going to Mrs. Manson Mingott’s, and with the added satisfaction of knowing they would get hot canvas-back ducks and vintage wines, instead of tepid Veuve Clicquot without a year and warmed-up croquettes from Philadelphia. Mrs.

Beaufort, then, had as usual appeared in her box just before the Jewel Song; and when, again as usual, she rose at the end of the third act, drew her opera cloak about her lovely shoulders, and disappeared, New York knew that meant that half an hour later the ball would begin. The Beaufort house was one that New Yorkers were proud to show to foreigners, especially on the night of the annual ball.

The Beauforts had been among the first people in New York to own their own red velvet carpet and have it rolled down the steps by their own footmen, under their own awning, instead of hiring it with the supper and the ball-room chairs. Beaufort'lar New York'ta kendi kırmızı kadife halılarına sahip olan ve bunu akşam yemeği ve balo salonu sandalyeleriyle birlikte kiralamak yerine kendi uşakları tarafından merdivenlerden aşağı, kendi tentelerinin altına serdiren ilk insanlar arasındaydı. They had also inaugurated the custom of letting the ladies take their cloaks off in the hall, instead of shuffling up to the hostess’s bedroom and recurling their hair with the aid of the gas-burner; Beaufort was understood to have said that he supposed all his wife’s friends had maids who saw to it that they were properly coiffees when they left home. Ayrıca hanımların ev sahibesinin yatak odasına gidip gaz ocağının yardımıyla saçlarını düzeltmek yerine pelerinlerini salonda çıkarmalarına izin verme geleneğini de başlatmışlardı; Beaufort'un, karısının tüm arkadaşlarının evden çıktıklarında düzgün giyinmelerini sağlayan hizmetçileri olduğunu düşündüğünü söylediği anlaşılıyordu. Then the house had been boldly planned with a ball-room, so that, instead of squeezing through a narrow passage to get to it (as at the Chiverses') one marched solemnly down a vista of enfiladed drawing-rooms (the sea-green, the crimson and the bouton d’or), seeing from afar the many-candled lustres reflected in the polished parquetry, and beyond that the depths of a conservatory where camellias and tree-ferns arched their costly foliage over seats of black and gold bamboo. Sonra ev cesurca bir balo salonuyla birlikte planlanmıştı, böylece oraya ulaşmak için (Chiverses'lerde olduğu gibi) dar bir geçitten geçmek yerine, ağırbaşlı bir şekilde kapalı salonlardan (deniz yeşili) oluşan bir manzaraya doğru yürünüyordu, kıpkırmızı ve bouton d'or), uzaktan cilalı parkelere yansıyan çok mumlu parıltıları ve bunun ötesinde kamelyaların ve ağaç sarmaşıklarının pahalı yapraklarını siyah ve altın bambu koltukların üzerine yaydığı bir kış bahçesinin derinliklerini görüyordu.

Newland Archer, as became a young man of his position, strolled in somewhat late.

He had left his overcoat with the silk-stockinged footmen (the stockings were one of Beaufort’s few fatuities), had dawdled a while in the library hung with Spanish leather and furnished with Buhl and malachite, where a few men were chatting and putting on their dancing-gloves, and had finally joined the line of guests whom Mrs. Beaufort was receiving on the threshold of the crimson drawing-room. Paltosunu ipek çoraplı uşaklara bırakmış (çoraplar Beaufort'un birkaç huyundan biriydi), birkaç erkeğin sohbet edip dans eldivenlerini giydiği İspanyol derisiyle kaplı, Buhl ve malakitle döşenmiş kütüphanede biraz oyalanmış ve sonunda Bayan Beaufort'un kıpkırmızı salonun eşiğinde kabul ettiği konuklar arasına katılmıştı. Archer was distinctly nervous.

He had not gone back to his club after the Opera (as the young bloods usually did), but, the night being fine, had walked for some distance up Fifth Avenue before turning back in the direction of the Beauforts' house. Opera'dan sonra (genç kanların genellikle yaptığı gibi) kulübüne dönmemişti, ama gece güzel olduğu için Beaufort'ların evine doğru geri dönmeden önce Beşinci Cadde'de biraz yürümüştü. He was definitely afraid that the Mingotts might be going too far; that, in fact, they might have Granny Mingott’s orders to bring the Countess Olenska to the ball. Mingott'ların çok ileri gidebileceğinden kesinlikle korkuyordu; aslında Kontes Olenska'yı baloya getirmek için Büyükanne Mingott'un emirlerini almış olabilirlerdi. From the tone of the club box he had perceived how grave a mistake that would be; and, though he was more than ever determined to "see the thing through," he felt less chivalrously eager to champion his betrothed’s cousin than before their brief talk at the Opera. По тону дубинки он понял, насколько серьезной ошибкой будет это; и, хотя он более чем когда-либо был полон решимости «довести дело до конца», он чувствовал меньшее рыцарское желание защитить кузена своей невесты, чем перед их кратким выступлением в Опере.

Wandering on to the bouton d’or drawing-room (where Beaufort had had the audacity to hang "Love Victorious," the much-discussed nude of Bouguereau) Archer found Mrs. Welland and her daughter standing near the ball-room door. Пройдя в гостиную bouton d'or (где Бофор имел наглость повесить «Победоносную любовь», широко обсуждаемую обнаженную фигуру Бугро) Арчер обнаружил миссис Велланд и ее дочь стоящими у двери бального зала. Beaufort'un Bouguereau'nun çok tartışılan nü tablosu "Muzaffer Aşk "ı asma cüretini gösterdiği salonda dolaşan Archer, Bayan Welland ile kızını balo salonunun kapısının yanında dururken buldu.

Couples were already gliding over the floor beyond: the light of the wax candles fell on revolving tulle skirts, on girlish heads wreathed with modest blossoms, on the dashing aigrettes and ornaments of the young married women’s coiffures, and on the glitter of highly glazed shirt-fronts and fresh glace gloves. Пары уже скользили по полу: свет восковых свечей падал на вращающиеся тюлевые юбки, на девичьи головы, увитые скромными цветами, на лихие эгретки и украшения причесок молодых замужних женщин и на сияние блестящей рубахи. -фронты и перчатки fresh glace. Miss Welland, evidently about to join the dancers, hung on the threshold, her lilies-of-the-valley in her hand (she carried no other bouquet), her face a little pale, her eyes burning with a candid excitement. Мисс Велланд, очевидно собираясь присоединиться к танцорам, висела на пороге, держа в руке свои ландыши (другого букета у нее не было), ее лицо было немного бледным, а глаза горели искренним возбуждением.

A group of young men and girls were gathered about her, and there was much hand-clasping, laughing and pleasantry on which Mrs. Welland, standing slightly apart, shed the beam of a qualified approval. Вокруг нее собралась группа молодых людей и девушек, и было много рукоплесканий, смеха и шуток, на которые миссис Велланд, стоя немного поодаль, излила луч квалифицированного одобрения. It was evident that Miss Welland was in the act of announcing her engagement, while her mother affected the air of parental reluctance considered suitable to the occasion. Было очевидно, что мисс Велланд объявляла о своей помолвке, в то время как ее мать производила впечатление родительского нежелания, которое считалось подходящим для этого случая. Archer paused a moment.

It was at his express wish that the announcement had been made, and yet it was not thus that he would have wished to have his happiness known. Объявление было сделано по его явному желанию, и все же он не хотел, чтобы его счастье было известно. To proclaim it in the heat and noise of a crowded ball-room was to rob it of the fine bloom of privacy which should belong to things nearest the heart. Провозгласить его в жаре и шуме переполненного бального зала значило лишить его прекрасного цвета уединения, который должен принадлежать вещам, близким сердцу. His joy was so deep that this blurring of the surface left its essence untouched; but he would have liked to keep the surface pure too. It was something of a satisfaction to find that May Welland shared this feeling. Her eyes fled to his beseechingly, and their look said: "Remember, we’re doing this because it’s right. Она умоляюще посмотрела на него, и их взгляд сказал: «Помни, мы делаем это, потому что это правильно. No appeal could have found a more immediate response in Archer’s breast; but he wished that the necessity of their action had been represented by some ideal reason, and not simply by poor Ellen Olenska. Никакой призыв не мог найти более немедленного отклика в груди Арчера; но ему хотелось, чтобы необходимость их действий была представлена какой-то идеальной причиной, а не просто бедной Эллен Оленской.

The group about Miss Welland made way for him with significant smiles, and after taking his share of the felicitations he drew his betrothed into the middle of the ball-room floor and put his arm about her waist. "Now we shan’t have to talk," he said, smiling into her candid eyes, as they floated away on the soft waves of the Blue Danube.

She made no answer.

Her lips trembled into a smile, but the eyes remained distant and serious, as if bent on some ineffable vision. "Dear," Archer whispered, pressing her to him: it was borne in on him that the first hours of being engaged, even if spent in a ball-room, had in them something grave and sacramental. «Дорогая», - прошептал Арчер, прижимая ее к себе: он понял, что первые часы помолвки, даже если они были проведены в бальном зале, содержали в себе что-то серьезное и священное. What a new life it was going to be, with this whiteness, radiance, goodness at one’s side! The dance over, the two, as became an affianced couple, wandered into the conservatory; and sitting behind a tall screen of tree-ferns and camellias Newland pressed her gloved hand to his lips.

"You see I did as you asked me to," she said.

"Yes: I couldn’t wait," he answered smiling.

After a moment he added: "Only I wish it hadn’t had to be at a ball. "Yes, I know.

She met his glance comprehendingly. "But after all—even here we’re alone together, aren’t we? "Oh, dearest—always!

Archer cried. Evidently she was always going to understand; she was always going to say the right thing.

The discovery made the cup of his bliss overflow, and he went on gaily: "The worst of it is that I want to kiss you and I can’t." Это открытие переполнило чашу его блаженства, и он весело продолжил: «Хуже всего то, что я хочу поцеловать тебя, но не могу». As he spoke he took a swift glance about the conservatory, assured himself of their momentary privacy, and catching her to him laid a fugitive pressure on her lips. Говоря это, он быстро окинул взглядом консерваторию, убедился, что они на мгновение уединятся, и, поймав ее к себе, слегка надавил на ее губы. To counteract the audacity of this proceeding he led her to a bamboo sofa in a less secluded part of the conservatory, and sitting down beside her broke a lily-of-the-valley from her bouquet. Чтобы противодействовать дерзости этого поступка, он подвел ее к бамбуковой софе в менее уединенной части зимнего сада и, сев рядом с ней, сорвал с ее букета ландыш. She sat silent, and the world lay like a sunlit valley at their feet. "Did you tell my cousin Ellen?

she asked presently, as if she spoke through a dream. He roused himself, and remembered that he had not done so.

Some invincible repugnance to speak of such things to the strange foreign woman had checked the words on his lips. Какое-то непреодолимое отвращение говорить о таких вещах незнакомой иностранке сдерживало слова на его губах. "No—I hadn’t the chance after all," he said, fibbing hastily.

"Ah.

She looked disappointed, but gently resolved on gaining her point. Она выглядела разочарованной, но мягко решила добиться своей цели. "You must, then, for I didn’t either; and I shouldn’t like her to think—" «Тогда ты должен, потому что я тоже; и я не должен, чтобы она думала…» "Of course not.

But aren’t you, after all, the person to do it? She pondered on this. Она задумалась над этим.

"If I’d done it at the right time, yes: but now that there’s been a delay I think you must explain that I’d asked you to tell her at the Opera, before our speaking about it to everybody here. «Если бы я сделал это в нужное время, да: но теперь, когда произошла задержка, я думаю, вы должны объяснить, что я просил вас рассказать ей в Опере, прежде чем мы поговорим об этом со всеми здесь. Otherwise she might think I had forgotten her. You see, she’s one of the family, and she’s been away so long that she’s rather—sensitive. Archer looked at her glowingly.

"Dear and great angel! Of course I’ll tell her." He glanced a trifle apprehensively toward the crowded ball-room. Он с опаской взглянул на переполненный бальный зал. "But I haven’t seen her yet. Has she come? "No; at the last minute she decided not to.

"At the last minute?

he echoed, betraying his surprise that she should ever have considered the alternative possible. - повторил он, выдавая свое удивление по поводу того, что она когда-либо должна была рассматривать альтернативу возможной. "Yes.

She’s awfully fond of dancing," the young girl answered simply. "But suddenly she made up her mind that her dress wasn’t smart enough for a ball, though we thought it so lovely; and so my aunt had to take her home. "Oh, well—" said Archer with happy indifference.

Nothing about his betrothed pleased him more than her resolute determination to carry to its utmost limit that ritual of ignoring the "unpleasant" in which they had both been brought up. Ничто в его невесте не радовало его больше, чем ее решительная решимость довести до предела тот ритуал игнорирования «неприятного», в котором они оба были воспитаны. "She knows as well as I do," he reflected, "the real reason of her cousin’s staying away; but I shall never let her see by the least sign that I am conscious of there being a shadow of a shade on poor Ellen Olenska’s reputation. «Она знает, как и я, - размышлял он, - настоящую причину того, что ее кузина держится подальше; но я никогда не позволю ей увидеть ни малейшего признака того, что я замечаю тень тени на бедной Елене Оленской. репутация.