Lady Ascot suddenly loomed¹ in front of Alice. Her sharp face leaned down, her features pinched.

"Alice dear," she said smoothly², "shall we take a leisurely³ stroll through the garden? Just you and me?" She seized Alice's elbow and propelled her away from Margaret. Alice cast a pleading look back over her shoulder, but Margaret only smiled and waved. Her face seemed to say: that's your future mother-in-law! You'd better get used to it!

Alice was out of breath by the time they entered the maze⁴ of rose gardens. Pink, red, and white roses bloomed all around her, filling the air with their sweet perfume. Lady Ascot kept them moving at a fast clip, and Alice wondered what the hurry was. Her long blond hair was coming unpinned. She thought of how Hamish would disapprove⁵ and then gave her head a shake to dislodge a few more pins.

Lady Ascot spoke⁶ suddenly. "Do you know what I've always dreaded⁷?"

"The decline of the aristocracy?" Alice suggested, but Lady Ascot did not acknowledge the joke. She carried on as if Alice had not spoken.

"Ugly grandchildren," she said, answering her own question. "But you are lovely." She beamed at Alice's porcelain⁸ skin, her lustrous⁹ hair, her elfin features. "You're bound to produce little … imbeciles!"

Alice jumped. That wasn't where she'd expected that sentence to go. But then she realized that Lady Ascot had gotten distracted in the middle of her speech. The aristocratic lady had stopped to glare furiously at an innocent-looking bush of beautiful pearly white roses.

The rosebush shook as Lady Ascot tore off one of the roses and peered at it. "The gardeners planted white roses when I specifically asked for red!"

A glimmer¹⁰ of a dream-memory tiptoed through Alice's mind. "You could always paint the roses red," she offered.

Lady Ascot gave her a strange look. "What an odd thing to say." She pushed Alice forward again along the neat gravel¹¹ path. "Come along."

As they hurried forward, Alice lifted her head. Was that … jingling¹² that she'd heard? It was hard to tell over the incessant¹³ sound of Lady Ascot's voice.

"You should know that my son has extremely delicate digestion¹⁴," she was saying, but Alice missed the rest of the sentence as something large and white darted¹⁵ past them. She whirled around, blinking, but it was gone again.

"Did you see that?" Alice asked.

Lady Ascot looked displeased¹⁶ at the interruption. "See what?"

Alice gazed around at the dark leaves and brightly colored flowers of the rose garden. "It was a rabbit, I think." She felt a strange prickle along her skin.

"Nasty things." Lady Ascot sniffed¹⁷. "I do enjoy setting the dogs on them. Don't dawdle¹⁸." She dragged Alice toward the gazebo, but the younger woman didn't notice. She was still looking for the rabbit as Lady Ascot continued her lecture about Hamish's digestion. "If you serve Hamish the wrong foods," his mother said, "he could get a blockage¹⁹."

This time it was unmistakable. A large white rabbit was just off the path, standing²⁰ on its hind²¹ legs and staring directly at Alice.

And it was most definitely wearing a waistcoat.

Alice blinked. The rabbit darted behind a tree.

"Did you see it that time?" Alice asked.

"See what?" Lady Ascot said again.

"The rabbit!" Alice cried, getting frustrated²².

"Don't shout!" Lady Ascot said snootily. "Pay attention. Hamish said you were easily distracted." She patted her forehead with a white silk handkerchief. "What was I saying?"

"Hamish has a blockage," Alice said, edging away. "I couldn't be more interested, but you'll have to excuse me." She dove into the wooded area off the path, escaping Lady Ascot's clutches. For a moment she blundered through a thick cove²³ of trees, but she saw no sign of the white rabbit. She stopped, her mind reeling.

A hand landed on her shoulder, and she jumped. But it was only Aunt Imogene, her bright pink cheeks disturbingly close to Alice's face.

"Aunt Imogene!" Alice said, leaning back a little. "I think I'm going mad. I keep seeing a rabbit in a waistcoat."

"I can't be bothered with your fancy rabbit now," Imogene said, patting her ridiculous curls. "I'm waiting for my fiancé."

This was strange enough to distract Alice from the rabbit for a moment. "You have a fiancé?"

A sudden flash of white darted past her and she whirled around. "There! Did you see it?" she cried. Her gaze searched the tangled²⁴ shrubbery frantically²⁵, but everything was still again.

"He's a prince," Imogene simpered, ignoring Alice's last question to go back to the story of her fiancé. "But, alas²⁶, he cannot marry me unless he renounces²⁷ his throne. It's tragic²⁸, isn't it?"

Alice gave her a skeptical²⁹ look. "Very." Perhaps Imogene had lost her mind. She certainly sounded madder than Alice right now. Alice smiled and nodded politely, backing away from her aunt. Imogene had her hands clasped under her chin and was gazing off into the distance, waiting for her imaginary fiancé to appear. Alice was able to duck behind a tree, and she ran right into her sister's husband, Lowell.

To her surprise, Lowell had his arms around a woman and was kissing her passionately³⁰. That woman, however, was not his wife, Margaret. Whoever she was, she took one look at Alice, let out a little shriek³¹, and ran off into the woods.

"Lowell?" Alice said disbelievingly.

"Alice," he said, highly flustered³². "We were just … uh, Hattie's an old friend."

Alice lifted her eyebrows³³. "I can see you're very close." Not ten minutes earlier, Margaret had been extolling³⁴ the virtues³⁵ of married life and explaining how being married to Hamish would make Alice's life as perfect as her own, married to Lowell. Was this what she meant? Did she really have no idea what was happening behind her back? Could Margaret be happy with a man like this?

Lowell adjusted his cravat³⁶. His face was bright red.

"Look, you won't mention this to your sister, will you?" he asked.

"I don't know," Alice said, stepping back. She didn't want to cause Margaret pain—but shouldn't she know the truth about her husband? She didn't know what the right thing to do was. "I'm confused. I need time to think."

"Well, think about Margaret," Lowell said, halfpleading, half-commanding. "She would never trust me again. You don't want to ruin her marriage, do you?" He ended with a threatening tone in his voice.

"Me?" Alice protested. "But I'm not the one who's sneaking³⁷ around behind her back… ."

"There you are!" Hamish's voice interrupted. He popped out of the trees and seized Alice's hand. Without a word to Lowell, he dragged her away.

Alice stumbled on the rough ground. It seemed far too soon to find herself standing with Hamish under the statuesque gazebo that adorned³⁸ the garden. The shadows of the pillars fell on her like prison bars. She shifted uncomfortably, feeling cornered. As she glanced around, she spotted³⁹ a string quartet discreetly⁴⁰ positioned in the shadows. Their bows were already lifted and poised⁴¹ to play … just waiting for her to say yes before they added some swelling⁴² music to the dramatic moment.

Hamish dropped to one knee. Alice's heart sank with him. She'd been hoping that Margaret was somehow wrong, that this wasn't really about to happen.

"Alice Kingsleigh …" he said, taking her hand.

"Hamish," Alice interrupted him.

"What is it?" he asked, frowning.

"You have a caterpillar⁴³ on your shoulder."

Hamish jerked backward and began frantically brushing at his shoulder, wriggling⁴⁴ in disgust.

"Don't hurt it!" Alice cried. She stepped forward and let the caterpillar crawl onto her finger. Then she lifted it gently onto a tree branch.

Hamish curled his lip at her hands as she came back to stand in front of him again. "You'll want to wash that finger," he said, edging away from her. Alice didn't mind. She much preferred it when he wasn't touching⁴⁵ her.

Someone cleared her throat nearby, and the two young people in the gazebo glanced around to see Hamish's mother gesturing eagerly at them. In fact, a whole crowd of people was watching them. Alice felt the weight of all their eyes on her, and apparently⁴⁶ Hamish did, too, for he blurted⁴⁷ out: "Alice Kingsleigh, will you be my wife?"

The question hung in the air for a long moment.

Unsure of herself, unsure of her future, unsure of her own sanity⁴⁸ in that moment, Alice began to stammer⁴⁹. "Well, everyone expects me to … and you're a Lord … and my face won't last … and I don't want to end up like … but this is happening so quickly … I, I … think … I …"

Something caught her eye.

It was the white rabbit, leaning against a pillar of the gazebo, glaring at her with undisguised impatience⁵⁰.

Maybe she was crazy. But she couldn't exactly ignore him.

"I need a moment," she explained, backing away. She seized the skirts of her long dress, turned, and ran.

Cries and murmurs⁵¹ from the crowd bubbled up behind her, but she didn't look back. She ran with her golden hair flying out behind her, chasing the rabbit, just as she had in her dream, over and over again.

They ran across the manicured garden, into a thicket⁵² of woods, and out into an open meadow that Alice didn't recognize. Small yellow butterflies darted over the tall grass, and hedgerows rose up along the edges.

Alice ran as fast as she could, but she'd lost sight of the rabbit in the grass. Gasping⁵³ for breath, she stopped and looked around. She peeked⁵⁴ over the hedgerow. The rabbit was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, a white paw reached up and grabbed her by the ankle. With a quick jerk, it yanked her off her feet. Alice threw out her arms and screamed.

She was falling

Down

the rabbit hole.

 

阿斯科特夫人的身影突然耸立在爱丽丝面前。她轮廓鲜明的脸庞一点点向爱丽丝靠近，面部表情极不自然。

“亲爱的爱丽丝，”她平和地说，“我们能去花园走走吗？就你和我？”说完便挽起爱丽丝的胳膊，将她从玛格丽特身边拉走。爱丽丝扭过头用乞求的眼神看着玛格丽特，但玛格丽特只是微微一笑然后挥挥手，好像在说：那可是你未来的婆婆呀！你还是尽快习惯的好！

他们走进宛如迷宫般的玫瑰园时，爱丽丝已经是上气不接下气。粉的、红的、白的玫瑰在花园里竞相争放，空气中弥漫着淡淡的芳香。阿斯科特夫人一路都走得很快，爱丽丝真想不通有什么好着急的。她的金色长发又慢慢散开了。她想象着哈米什看到她现在的样子会有多不高兴，然后他会抱着她的脑袋摇几下，干脆让更多的发夹掉下来。

阿斯科特夫人突然说道：“你知道我一直在担心什么吗？”

“家族的衰败？”爱丽丝打趣地答道，然而阿斯科特夫人并没理会这个笑话。她接着说下去，仿佛没有听到爱丽丝刚才说的话。

“难看的孙子，”她自问自答道，“但是你很可爱。”她满脸堆笑地看着爱丽丝宛如凝脂的肌肤，光泽柔亮的秀发和俏皮可爱的容颜。“你肯定会生个小……一帮蠢货！”

爱丽丝听到后惊讶地跳了起来。她可从没想到阿斯科特夫人接下来会说出这样的话，随后才注意到阿斯科特夫人话讲到一半就分神了。这位贵妇人停下了脚步，怒气冲冲地瞪着无辜的、珠玉般美丽的白玫瑰花丛。

阿斯科特夫人从枝头扯下一朵玫瑰花盯着它时，整片玫瑰花丛都颤动着。“我特意叮嘱园丁要种红玫瑰，结果还是种了白玫瑰！”

梦中模糊的记忆悄悄从爱丽丝脑海中闪过。“你可以把这些玫瑰涂成红色的。”她提议。

阿斯科特夫人奇怪地看了爱丽丝一眼。“你这话真奇怪！”接着又推着爱丽丝沿着一条整洁的碎石路往前走，继续说，“快点！”

她们急急忙忙往前走时，爱丽丝突然抬起头来。那是……她曾经听到过的铃铛声吗？阿斯科特夫人一直喋喋不休，这让她很难去辨别那个声音。

“你应该知道我儿子的消化系统特别弱。”阿斯科特夫人说。剩下的话爱丽丝没听清，因为一个又大又白的东西从她身边蹿过。她猛地转身去找，眨了眨眼，但那东西已经不见了。

“你看到了吗？”爱丽丝问。

被打断的阿斯科特夫人不悦地问道：“看到什么？”

爱丽丝扫视着玫瑰园里墨绿的叶子和颜色鲜艳的花朵。“我想是只兔子吧。”她刚说完，一阵奇怪的刺痛感传遍全身。

“讨厌的东西！”阿斯科特夫人对此嗤之以鼻。“我真希望找些狗看着它们。噢，别浪费时间。”她拉着爱丽丝往凉亭走去，但是这位年轻的姑娘还是没有察觉。阿斯科特夫人继续絮絮叨叨地谈论着哈米什的消化系统时，她还在寻找那只兔子。“如果你给哈米什吃了什么不该吃的食物，他可是会消化不良的！”阿斯科特夫人说。

这次绝对没看错。一只大白兔刚刚跑到路边，然后用后腿支撑着身体站了起来，双眼直勾勾地盯着爱丽丝。

千真万确，它穿着一件马甲！

爱丽丝眨了眨眼睛，兔子蹿到了一棵树后面。

“这次你看到了吗？”爱丽丝问。

“看到什么？”阿斯科特夫人再次问道。

“那只兔子啊！”爱丽丝失望地叫了起来。

“别一惊一乍的！”阿斯科特夫人傲慢地说。“仔细听我说。哈米什说你很容易走神。”她用一块白色的丝帕轻轻地擦了擦爱丽丝的额头，问道：“我说到哪儿了？”

“哈米什容易消化不良，”爱丽丝边说边往后退，“其实我对您说的很感兴趣，但是很抱歉我得先离开一下。”爱丽丝躲过阿斯科特夫人的手，蹿进小路旁的灌木丛里。不一会儿，她跌跌撞撞穿过一片茂密的树林，然而连白兔子的影子都没看到。她停下脚步，大脑一片眩晕。

一只手突然搭在爱丽丝的肩上，她吓了一跳。回头一看才发现是伊莫金姑妈，她亮粉色的脸颊差点碰到爱丽丝的脸，这让爱丽丝感到不安。

“伊莫金姑妈！”爱丽丝往后退了几步对她叫道，“我觉得我可能疯了，我总是看见一只穿着马甲的兔子。”

“我现在可不想在你这只奇特的兔子身上费心，”伊莫金姑妈边说边拍了拍自己可笑的卷发，“我在等我的未婚夫。”

这条稀奇的消息足以让爱丽丝暂时忘掉那只兔子。她好奇地问：“您有未婚夫？”

一个白色的影子突然从眼前蹿过，爱丽丝跟着它转过身去。“在那儿！看到了吗？”她大叫。她焦急的目光在乱糟糟的灌木丛里搜来搜去，但一切又恢复了平静。

“他是一位王子。”伊莫金傻笑着，完全忽略了爱丽丝刚刚的问题又回到她未婚夫的话题上来。“但是，哎，除非他放弃王位才能娶我。真可悲，不是吗？”

爱丽丝怀疑地看着伊莫金姑妈，说：“太可悲了。”伊莫金姑妈可能是疯了吧。她这话现在听起来可跟爱丽丝的疯劲儿有得一拼。爱丽丝礼貌地点点头，笑了笑，然后离开了伊莫金姑妈。伊莫金姑妈双手交叉放到下巴下面，呆呆地望着远方，痴痴地等待着幻想中的未婚夫。爱丽丝这才得以脱身躲到一棵树后面，却恰好撞见了她姐夫，罗威尔。

让她惊讶的是，罗威尔正搂着一个女人吻得难舍难分。然而，那个女人却不是他的妻子，玛格丽特。不管这个女人是谁，她看了一眼爱丽丝，惊讶地小声尖叫了起来，然后跑进树林里。

“罗威尔？”爱丽丝难以置信地喊道。

“爱丽丝，”罗威尔十分慌张地回答，“我们只是……呃，哈蒂是老朋友了。”

爱丽丝挑起眉毛说，“我可看见你们亲密得很呢。”还不到十分钟前，玛格丽特还在颂扬婚姻生活的美好，极力劝说爱丽丝嫁给哈米什后她的生活就会像自己嫁给罗威尔一样完美。这就是她所谓的完美？她难道真的不知道自己的丈夫背着她做的那些事吗？玛格丽特和这样的男人在一起会幸福吗？

罗威尔整了整自己的领结，他的脸由于困窘而涨得通红。

“听着，你不会把这事告诉你姐姐的，对吧？”罗威尔问道。

“我不知道，”爱丽丝边说边往后退。她不想让玛格丽特痛苦——但是，难道她不该知道自己丈夫的真面目吗？这会儿她不知道该怎么做才好。“我有点迷茫，需要时间好好想想。”

“好吧，想想玛格丽特，”罗威尔说道，像是在请求，又像是在命令，“她知道这事就再也不会相信我了。你总不想毁了她的婚姻吧？”他最后一句话带着几分威胁的语气。

“我？”爱丽丝反驳道，“背着她偷偷摸摸干些见不得人的勾当的人又不是我……”

“你在这儿啊！”哈米什突然插了进来。他冷不丁地从树林里钻了出来，抓起爱丽丝的手，连招呼都没跟罗威尔打一声，就把爱丽丝给拽走了。

爱丽丝跌跌撞撞地走在高低不平的路面上。还没等她缓过神来，就发现自己已经和哈米什站在宏伟的、令花园生色不少的凉亭下。立柱的影子就像监狱的铁栏杆般落在她身上。她不安地挪动着身子，感觉被困得走投无路。环顾四周，发现一个不起眼的弦乐四重奏乐团早已在树荫下做好准备。他们的弓已搭在弦上，时刻准备着演奏……只等着她说“我愿意”，他们就会在那激动人心的时刻演奏一些增添声势的音乐。

哈米什单膝跪地，爱丽丝的心也跟着往下沉。不管怎么样，她一直希望玛格丽特说的都不是真的，这一切都不会发生。

“爱丽丝·金斯利……”哈米什拉起她的手说道。

“哈米什。”爱丽丝打断他。

“怎么了？”哈米什皱着眉头问。

“你的肩膀上有一只毛毛虫。”

哈米什猛地向后一看，发了疯似的拂着他的肩膀，一脸厌恶地扭动着身体。

“别伤着它！”爱丽丝大喊。她走上前去，伸出手让毛毛虫爬上她的手指，然后轻轻地把它放到树枝上。

爱丽丝折回来再次站在哈米什面前，哈米什看着她的手撇着嘴说，“你应该去洗洗手。”他边说边往后挪。爱丽丝一点也不在乎。她倒宁愿哈米什离自己远点。

有人在一旁清了清嗓子，凉亭中的两个年轻人同时向四周扫了一眼，发现哈米什的母亲急切地用手势暗示他们抓紧时间。事实上，在场的所有人都注视着他们。爱丽丝在无数目光的注视下，感受到了巨大的压力，很明显哈米什也感觉到了，因为他马上脱口而出：“爱丽丝·金斯利，你愿意嫁给我吗？”

哈米什的声音久久地回荡在空中。

那一刻，爱丽丝对她自己、对她的未来，甚至对她自己的神智都缺乏信心，她结结巴巴地说：“呃，所有人都希望我成为……况且你是个勋爵……我也不能青春永驻……我也不想自己的下场像……但是这一切来得太快了……我，我……想……我……”

突然有什么东西引起了她的注意。

是那只白色的兔子，它靠在凉亭的一根柱子上，毫不掩饰地用不耐烦的眼神盯着爱丽丝。

也许她疯了，但她却无法完全忽视他。

“我需要点时间。”爱丽丝边解释边往后退。她拎起长裙的裙摆，转身跑开了。

身后的人群中爆发出尖叫声和窃窃私语声，但她并没有回头。她追着白兔子跑，金色的长发在身后飞舞。这场景就像她一遍又一遍做过的梦一样。

他们跑过那精心打理过的花园，进入浓密的树林，来到了一片开阔的草地，爱丽丝并没认出这片草地。黄色的小蝴蝶在细长的青草间飞来窜去，草地边缘耸立着一排排树篱。

爱丽丝以最快的速度跑着，但那只兔子一到草地里就不见了。爱丽丝停下来喘了口气，环视着四周。她仔细地在树篱间搜寻，但兔子已经消失得无影无踪。

突然，一个白色的爪子伸了过来抓住她的脚踝。猛地一拉，爱丽丝被绊倒在地，她甩着胳膊尖叫着。

她不停地坠落

掉进了

兔子洞。

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