Disgrace: 24(5)

On Saturday mornings, by agreement, he goes to Donkin Square to help Lucy at the market stall. Afterwards he takes her out to lunch.

每个周六上午，按照约定，他去当金广场的集市摊位给露西帮忙。然后带她去吃午饭。

Lucy is slowing down in her movements. She has begun to wear a self-absorbed, placid look. She is not obviously pregnant; but if he is picking up signs, how much longer before the eagle-eyed daughters of Grahamstown pick them up too?

露西行动上逐步有些迟缓。脸上也开始挂着一副专注而平和的神情。她的身孕还不明显；但倘若他正看到一些迹象，那这些迹象还能逃过格拉汉姆斯敦那些目光锐利的女人多久呢？

'How is Petrus getting on?' he asks.

‘帕切斯那边怎么样？’他问道。

'The house is finished, all but the ceilings and the plumbing. They are in the process of moving in.'

‘房子已经盖起来了，还差顶棚和水管安装。他们正着手往里搬呢。’

'And their child? Isn't the child just about due?'

‘他们的孩子呢？不是快出生了么？’

'Next week. All very nicely timed.'

‘下周。时间上很赶巧。’

'Has Petrus dropped any more hints?'

‘帕切斯有没有透露别的什么暗示？’

'Hints?'

‘暗示？’

'About you. About your place in the scheme.'

‘关于你。关于在他的计划中你的位置。’

'No.'

‘没有。’

'Perhaps it will be different once the child' - he makes the faintest of gestures toward his daughter, toward her body - 'is born. It will be, after all, a child of this earth. They will not be able to deny that.'

‘也许转机要等到孩子’——他向他的女儿，向她的身体做出最为微弱的手势——‘出生后。毕竟，孩子来到这个世上是实实在在的。他们否认不了。’

There is a long silence between them.

他们两人沉默不语好一阵。

Read Alps 2021年12月25日