05-02-大卫·科波菲尔 [32]
hated hearing him say it，but I said nothing and drank my coffee．
‘You said once，Mr Copperfield，’continued Uriah，rubbing his hands together happily，‘that perhaps I'd be Mr Wickfield's partner one day．It was kind of you to say so．A humble person like me remembers things like that！And now it's true！I'm glad to think I've been able to help poor Mr Wickfield．Oh，how very careless he has been！If I hadn't been his assistant，he would certainly have lost his business，his house，and all his money by now．Of course，I'm helping him because I admire him—and not only him…’
Suddenly，although the room was warm，an icy coldness spread through my body，as I stared into his cruel little face．
‘Miss Agnes is looking beautiful at the moment，isn't she？’he went on，smiling horribly．‘Mr Copperfield，I trust you，because as you know，I've always liked you，although I'm so humble，and you're a gentleman．So I'd like to tell you my little secret．In spite of my low position，I love Miss Agnes！I've given my heart to her，and I hope to marry her one day！’
There was a purple mist in front of my eyes．I wanted to hit his ugly face，or stab a knife right into his wicked heart．I was almost mad with anger．But I thought of Agnes's request，and I managed to control myself．
‘Have—have you spoken to Agnes about your—your love？’I asked as calmly as I could．
‘Oh no，Mr Copperfield．I'm waiting for the right moment．Perhaps I'll ask her when I become her father's partner．She'll think kindly of me，you see，when she realizes how much her father needs me．She loves him so much！Ah，what a good daughter my Agnes is！And what an excellent wife she'll be to me！’
Dear，sweet Agnes，my adopted sister！I did not know any man good enough to be her husband．Could she ever marry this worthless insect？When Uriah left my flat，I spent a sleepless night worrying about what I should do．In the end I decided to say nothing to Agnes about Uriah's plan，as she already had enough to worry about．
A year had passed since I first started work in Mr Spenlow's firm．I often went to court with him，and began to understand the details of some of the most difficult cases．Mr Spenlow was kind to me，and occasionally talked to me，not only about law but also about other matters．I discovered that his wife had died，and that he lived in a large country house just outside London，with his only daughter and her paid companion．One day he invited me to his house for the weekend，and I accepted gratefully．So on Friday evening Mr Spenlow's coach and horses drove us to the house．
When I saw the Spenlows’home，I realized how rich Mr Spenlow must be．It was a lovely old building，with large gar dens．As soon as we entered，Mr Spenlow asked one of the servants，‘Where's Miss Dora？’
‘Dora！’I thought．‘What a beautiful name！’We went in to the sitting－room，and I suppose Mr Spenlow introduced me．I did not notice，because nothing mattered at that moment．I just stared stupidly at his daughter Dora，lost in wonder at her beauty，and unable to say anything．I had fallen in love in a second．
As I stared，I heard a voice speaking to me， but it was not Dora's．It was her companion，whom I had not noticed at all while Mr Spenlow was making the introductions．When I saw that the companion was Miss Murdstone，I was surprised，certainly，but nothing could take my attention away from Dora for more than a second or two．
Mr Spenlow explained that Miss Murdstone had been kind enough to come and look after his poor motherless daughter，and to be her confidential friend and companion．But it seemed to me that Dora was neither friendly nor confidential towards her stern companion．
As for me，the rest of the weekend passed in a kind of fog．We ate meals，and went for walks．People spoke to me，and I answered．But I have no idea what
‘You said once，Mr Copperfield，’continued Uriah，rubbing his hands together happily，‘that perhaps I'd be Mr Wickfield's partner one day．It was kind of you to say so．A humble person like me remembers things like that！And now it's true！I'm glad to think I've been able to help poor Mr Wickfield．Oh，how very careless he has been！If I hadn't been his assistant，he would certainly have lost his business，his house，and all his money by now．Of course，I'm helping him because I admire him—and not only him…’
Suddenly，although the room was warm，an icy coldness spread through my body，as I stared into his cruel little face．
‘Miss Agnes is looking beautiful at the moment，isn't she？’he went on，smiling horribly．‘Mr Copperfield，I trust you，because as you know，I've always liked you，although I'm so humble，and you're a gentleman．So I'd like to tell you my little secret．In spite of my low position，I love Miss Agnes！I've given my heart to her，and I hope to marry her one day！’
There was a purple mist in front of my eyes．I wanted to hit his ugly face，or stab a knife right into his wicked heart．I was almost mad with anger．But I thought of Agnes's request，and I managed to control myself．
‘Have—have you spoken to Agnes about your—your love？’I asked as calmly as I could．
‘Oh no，Mr Copperfield．I'm waiting for the right moment．Perhaps I'll ask her when I become her father's partner．She'll think kindly of me，you see，when she realizes how much her father needs me．She loves him so much！Ah，what a good daughter my Agnes is！And what an excellent wife she'll be to me！’
Dear，sweet Agnes，my adopted sister！I did not know any man good enough to be her husband．Could she ever marry this worthless insect？When Uriah left my flat，I spent a sleepless night worrying about what I should do．In the end I decided to say nothing to Agnes about Uriah's plan，as she already had enough to worry about．
A year had passed since I first started work in Mr Spenlow's firm．I often went to court with him，and began to understand the details of some of the most difficult cases．Mr Spenlow was kind to me，and occasionally talked to me，not only about law but also about other matters．I discovered that his wife had died，and that he lived in a large country house just outside London，with his only daughter and her paid companion．One day he invited me to his house for the weekend，and I accepted gratefully．So on Friday evening Mr Spenlow's coach and horses drove us to the house．
When I saw the Spenlows’home，I realized how rich Mr Spenlow must be．It was a lovely old building，with large gar dens．As soon as we entered，Mr Spenlow asked one of the servants，‘Where's Miss Dora？’
‘Dora！’I thought．‘What a beautiful name！’We went in to the sitting－room，and I suppose Mr Spenlow introduced me．I did not notice，because nothing mattered at that moment．I just stared stupidly at his daughter Dora，lost in wonder at her beauty，and unable to say anything．I had fallen in love in a second．
As I stared，I heard a voice speaking to me， but it was not Dora's．It was her companion，whom I had not noticed at all while Mr Spenlow was making the introductions．When I saw that the companion was Miss Murdstone，I was surprised，certainly，but nothing could take my attention away from Dora for more than a second or two．
Mr Spenlow explained that Miss Murdstone had been kind enough to come and look after his poor motherless daughter，and to be her confidential friend and companion．But it seemed to me that Dora was neither friendly nor confidential towards her stern companion．
As for me，the rest of the weekend passed in a kind of fog．We ate meals，and went for walks．People spoke to me，and I answered．But I have no idea what