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IV
In a non-smoking carriage Miss Emily Brent sat very upright as was her custom. She was sixty-
five and she did not approve of lounging. Her father, a Colonel of the old school, had been
particular about deportment.
The present generation was shamelessly lax—in their carriage, and in every other way….
crowded third-class carriage and triumphed over its discomfort2 and its heat. Everyone made
such a fuss over things nowadays! They wanted injections before they had teeth pulled—they
took drugs if they couldn’t sleep—they wanted easy chairs and cushions and the girls allowed
their figures to slop about anyhow and lay about half naked on the beaches in summer.
Miss Brent’s lips set closely. She would like to make an example of certain people.
She remembered last year’s summer holiday. This year, however, it would be quite
different. Soldier Island….
Mentally she re-read the letter which she had already read so many times.
“Dear Miss Brent,
I do hope you remember me? We were together at Belhaven Guest House in August
some years ago, and we seemed to have so much in common.
I am starting a guest house of my own on an island off the coast of Devon. I think
there is really an opening for a place where there is good plain cooking and a nice old-
fashioned type of person. None of this nudity and gramophones half the night. I shall be
very glad if you could see your way to spending your summer holiday on Soldier Island—
quite free—as my guest. Would early in August suit you? Perhaps the 8th.
Yours sincerely,
U.N.O—.”
What was the name? The signature was rather difficult to read. Emily Brent thought
She let her mind run back over the people at Belhaven. She had been there two summers
running. There had been that nice middle-aged4 woman—Miss—Miss—now what was her
name?—her father had been a Canon. And there had been a Mrs. Olton—Ormen—No, surely it
was Oliver! Yes—Oliver.
Soldier Island! There had been things in the paper about Soldier Island—something about
a film star—or was it an American millionaire?
Of course often those places went very cheap—islands didn’t suit everybody. They thought
the idea was romantic but when they came to live there they realized the disadvantages and
were only too glad to sell.
Emily Brent thought to herself: “I shall be getting a free holiday at any rate.”
something to take into consideration. If only she could remember a little more about Mrs.—or
was it Miss—Oliver?
4
禁烟车厢里，埃米莉·布伦特小姐像往常一样挺直腰板坐着。虽说她已经六十五岁了，
可还是看不惯那种懒懒散散的人。她那位古板老派的上校父亲对举止做派的要求最为严
格。
看看现在这代人！瞧瞧这个车厢里的人！其实他们在哪儿都一样：懒散，不知道害
臊……
布伦特小姐满脑子都是各种愤世嫉俗的念头，对于看不惯的事物，向来毫不妥协。虽
然坐在拥挤不堪的三等车厢里，她却表现出完全不受拥挤和闷热干扰的姿态。现代人活得
太矫情！拔牙要打麻药，睡不着觉就要吃安眠药，椅子要坐有软垫、有靠背的，女孩子走
路居然把身子扭来扭去，夏天还半裸躺在沙滩上！
布伦特小姐紧闭双唇。她要让这些没教养的人好好瞧瞧！
她还记得去年暑假。不过，这个暑假肯定完全不一样。士兵岛……
她把那封已经读过不知多少遍的信又在心里默念了一遍：
亲爱的布伦特小姐，
你还记得我吗？几年前的八月，我们一起住进贝尔黑文的旅馆，相处得非常愉快。
现在我自己经营一家旅馆，就在德文郡海岸的一座小岛上。在我这里，你可以品尝到
清淡的饮食，与那些气质高贵古典的人交往。我这里没有袒胸露体的人，也没有深更半夜
唱歌喧哗的讨厌鬼。如果你有时间，作为我的贵客来士兵岛轻松度假，我将深感荣幸。八
月初合适吗？就定在八日吧！
你真诚的
尤·纳·……
落款是什么？签名太难认了。埃米莉·布伦特不耐烦地想：“很多人签名总是不认真。”
她回想在贝尔黑文见过的人。她连续两年夏天去过那里，有一个挺不错的中年女人
——叫什么——叫什么太太的人，她父亲是大教堂里的牧师。还有一位奥尔顿小姐——要
不就是奥曼——不，叫奥利弗！对，就是奥利弗。
士兵岛！报纸上提过。这座岛是不是和一个电影明星有关？还是和一个美国百万富翁
有关？
这种地方的房价一般挺便宜的——小岛并非任何人都能住。一开始的想法可能很浪
漫，但是等住在岛上就会发现，这也不方便，那也不称心，所以就尽快脱手了。
埃米莉·布伦特心想：总之，我是去那儿白住一个假期。
近期她的收入迅速减少，碰到这家公司欠债、那家停发股息的情况，她不得不考虑节
俭度日。要是能回忆起这位叫什么夫人，或者叫奥利弗小姐的人是谁就好了，哪怕再想起
一丁点儿也好。
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