04-02-02-织工马南 [23]
一定，你就没结过婚，对吧，爸爸？”
“是的，孩子，”西拉斯说，“在你来到我身边之前，我一直是一个孤独的人。”
“不过你不会再孤独了，爸爸，”埃比深情地说，“阿荣也这么说，他不想把我从你身边夺走，他想我们大家生活在一起，他干所有的活儿，你不用再工作了，他会像儿子那样孝敬你。”
“可是，我的孩子，你太小了还不该结婚，”西拉斯说，“可他确实是个好小伙子。咱们问问他妈妈，看看该怎么做。她总能帮我们。你看，埃比，我老了，我也希望你有个年轻强壮的丈夫来照顾你以后的生活。好吧，我们去问问多莉·温思罗普的意见。”
■ 9 Godfrey confesses at last
At the Red House Nancy was waiting patiently for God－frey to come home to tea．Suddenly one of the servants ran into the sitting-room，crying excitedly，'Madam，there are lots of people in the street！They're all running the same way，towards the quarry！Perhaps there's been an accident！'
'Jane，don't get so excited，'replied Nancy calmly．'I ex-pect it's nothing serious．Go and get the tea ready．Mr Godfrey will be back soon．'But secretly she was saying to herself，'I hope nothing's happened to Godfrey！'
So when he came into the room，a few minutes later，she was very relieved．'My dear，I'm so thankful you've come，'she said，going towards him．'I was beginning to think—'
She stopped suddenly when she saw Godfrey's shaking hands and white face．She put her hand on his arm，but he did not seem to notice，and threw himself into a chair．
'Sit down—Nancy，'he said with difficulty．'I came back as soon as I could，to prevent anyone telling you except me． It's terrible news for me， but I'm more worried about how you will feel about it．'
'It isn't father or Priscilla？'said Nancy，trying to control her trembling lips．
'No，it's nobody living，'said Godfrey．'It's Dunstan，my brother，who left home sixteen years ago and never came back．We've found him…found his body—all that's left of it—in the old quarry．
Nancy felt calmer now．That was not terrible news．
'You know the men have been draining our fields near the quarry．Well，as a result， the quarry has suddenly gone dry，and we've found him lying at the bottom． We know it's him be－cause he's wearing his watch and his rings．'
Godfrey paused．It was not easy to say what came next．
'Do you think he drowned himself？'asked Nancy，wonder－ing why her husband was so shaken by the death of a brother he had never loved．
'No，he fell in，'replied Godfrey in a low voice．'Dunstan was the man who robbed Silas Marner．The bags of gold were found with his body．'
'Oh Godfrey！I am sorry！'said Nancy．She understood how ashamed her husband must be．The Casses were so proud of their family name．
'I had to tell you．I couldn't keep it from you，'Godfrey continued，and then stopped，looking at the ground for two long minutes．Nancy knew that he had something more to say．Finally Godfrey lifted his eyes to her face，and said，'Every－body's secrets are discovered sooner or later，Nancy．I've lived with a secret ever since I married you，but I'm going to confess it now．I don't want you to discover it from someone else，or hear about it when I'm dead，I was weak and hesitating when I was younger—I'm going to be firm with myself now．'
Nancy could not speak．She stared at her husband in horror．What secret could he possibly have from her？
'Nancy，'said Godfrey slowly，'when I married you，I hid something from you—I was wrong not to tell you．That woman Silas Marner found dead in the snow—Eppie's moth er—that poor woman—was my wife．Eppie is my child．'
He paused，looking worriedly at Nancy．But she sat quite still，although her face looked rather white．
Perhaps you won't be able to love me any more，'he said，his voice trembling a little．
She was silent．
I was wrong，I know I was wrong to marry Molly and then to keep it a secret．But I loved you，Nancy，I only ever wanted to marry you．
Still Nancy was silent，looking down at her hands．And God frey almost expected her to get up and say she would leave him and go to live with her father and sister．She was so religious，and so firm in her ideas of right and wrong！
But at last she lifted her eyes to his and spoke．She did not sound angry，but only sad．'Oh Godfrey，why didn't you tell me this long ago？ I didn't know Eppie was yours and so I re fused to adopt her．Of course I'd accept your child into our home！But—oh，Godfrey—how sad to think we've spent all these years with no children
“是的，孩子，”西拉斯说，“在你来到我身边之前，我一直是一个孤独的人。”
“不过你不会再孤独了，爸爸，”埃比深情地说，“阿荣也这么说，他不想把我从你身边夺走，他想我们大家生活在一起，他干所有的活儿，你不用再工作了，他会像儿子那样孝敬你。”
“可是，我的孩子，你太小了还不该结婚，”西拉斯说，“可他确实是个好小伙子。咱们问问他妈妈，看看该怎么做。她总能帮我们。你看，埃比，我老了，我也希望你有个年轻强壮的丈夫来照顾你以后的生活。好吧，我们去问问多莉·温思罗普的意见。”
■ 9 Godfrey confesses at last
At the Red House Nancy was waiting patiently for God－frey to come home to tea．Suddenly one of the servants ran into the sitting-room，crying excitedly，'Madam，there are lots of people in the street！They're all running the same way，towards the quarry！Perhaps there's been an accident！'
'Jane，don't get so excited，'replied Nancy calmly．'I ex-pect it's nothing serious．Go and get the tea ready．Mr Godfrey will be back soon．'But secretly she was saying to herself，'I hope nothing's happened to Godfrey！'
So when he came into the room，a few minutes later，she was very relieved．'My dear，I'm so thankful you've come，'she said，going towards him．'I was beginning to think—'
She stopped suddenly when she saw Godfrey's shaking hands and white face．She put her hand on his arm，but he did not seem to notice，and threw himself into a chair．
'Sit down—Nancy，'he said with difficulty．'I came back as soon as I could，to prevent anyone telling you except me． It's terrible news for me， but I'm more worried about how you will feel about it．'
'It isn't father or Priscilla？'said Nancy，trying to control her trembling lips．
'No，it's nobody living，'said Godfrey．'It's Dunstan，my brother，who left home sixteen years ago and never came back．We've found him…found his body—all that's left of it—in the old quarry．
Nancy felt calmer now．That was not terrible news．
'You know the men have been draining our fields near the quarry．Well，as a result， the quarry has suddenly gone dry，and we've found him lying at the bottom． We know it's him be－cause he's wearing his watch and his rings．'
Godfrey paused．It was not easy to say what came next．
'Do you think he drowned himself？'asked Nancy，wonder－ing why her husband was so shaken by the death of a brother he had never loved．
'No，he fell in，'replied Godfrey in a low voice．'Dunstan was the man who robbed Silas Marner．The bags of gold were found with his body．'
'Oh Godfrey！I am sorry！'said Nancy．She understood how ashamed her husband must be．The Casses were so proud of their family name．
'I had to tell you．I couldn't keep it from you，'Godfrey continued，and then stopped，looking at the ground for two long minutes．Nancy knew that he had something more to say．Finally Godfrey lifted his eyes to her face，and said，'Every－body's secrets are discovered sooner or later，Nancy．I've lived with a secret ever since I married you，but I'm going to confess it now．I don't want you to discover it from someone else，or hear about it when I'm dead，I was weak and hesitating when I was younger—I'm going to be firm with myself now．'
Nancy could not speak．She stared at her husband in horror．What secret could he possibly have from her？
'Nancy，'said Godfrey slowly，'when I married you，I hid something from you—I was wrong not to tell you．That woman Silas Marner found dead in the snow—Eppie's moth er—that poor woman—was my wife．Eppie is my child．'
He paused，looking worriedly at Nancy．But she sat quite still，although her face looked rather white．
Perhaps you won't be able to love me any more，'he said，his voice trembling a little．
She was silent．
I was wrong，I know I was wrong to marry Molly and then to keep it a secret．But I loved you，Nancy，I only ever wanted to marry you．
Still Nancy was silent，looking down at her hands．And God frey almost expected her to get up and say she would leave him and go to live with her father and sister．She was so religious，and so firm in her ideas of right and wrong！
But at last she lifted her eyes to his and spoke．She did not sound angry，but only sad．'Oh Godfrey，why didn't you tell me this long ago？ I didn't know Eppie was yours and so I re fused to adopt her．Of course I'd accept your child into our home！But—oh，Godfrey—how sad to think we've spent all these years with no children