第五章

馬蹄聲和周遭融合為一，莎拉看著飛馳過窗外的風景，鄉村的景緻多變，讓她想起家鄉的莊園－蒙特莊園是她總小成長的地方，雖然父親是一名鄉紳，沒什麼錢與地位，但家中家庭關係緊密，而且父親頗受當地人敬重；母親的賢慧與溫順，更受地方津津樂道。對於自己父母的掌上明珠，莎拉要求自己的一言一行絕不可以辱沒伍德家的名聲，且一定要合乎禮儀。

而身為一名淑女，莎拉也不願因為傳統而自我束縛，盲目的束縛與一般女子無異，而她雖年輕，總對世事有各種想法及好奇心。

由於從小受到良好的教導，她從母親伍德夫人那裏學得各種女紅、鋼琴更傳承自母親的努力鞭策；至於學識上，父親並不因為她是女生而過分寵溺，反而教導了很多知識及馬術。

莎拉雖然個性較為害臊，對知識的追求上也比一般女孩執著，也因為這樣，有機會時她總是多看多學，這一次因為懷特全家人到倫敦郊外別墅渡假，莎拉又多了一些可以增長見聞的機會。

培頓莊園是懷特家族擁有歷史最久的古宅，雖然有一百多年的歷史，但依舊維持得很好。莎拉雖然第一次來，卻對這兒有著熟悉的感覺，或許是因為莎拉喜歡古老的東西－古老的東西，維持著一股對過去歲月的神祕感，想讓人一探究竟其中的故事，優遊在有歷史意義的古物中，總讓人有種新鮮而莫名的喜悅。

莎拉被莊園內的管家安排在一個華麗的房間中，比在倫敦教師房還更為講究的房間內，多處看到時間走過的痕跡，莎拉驚喜地看著眼前的一事一物，若不是有僕人來通知她下去用餐，她還想沉浸連視野也都稍嫌華麗的房間中。

晚餐的菜色也不太一樣，或許是因為在鄉郊的關係，多了很多蔬菜和水果，莎拉很喜歡這樣的菜式，各種顏色相間的蔬果，讓人聯想到鎮上小販偶而傳來的叫賣聲－人生充買各種顏色，就像眼前這菜式一樣，這裡的廚師忽然讓莎拉有拜訪的衝動。

餐後她回房休息，莎拉在滿是蠟燭的走道上並不害怕－滿是光亮的走道，映襯著夜晚特有的風情，儘管一個人走著，也覺得自在；有些人會害怕古老的東西，對於她而言，眼前是極度有趣的一切，她已經迫不及待想開始探險。可惜到了鄉下來，孩子們的教導依然必須持續，幸運的是，這莊園至少有腹地廣大的花園及田野，而騎馬是莎拉極度喜歡的另一項休閒活動，每當莎拉從自己的房間望向窗外，那片綠野總是像在召喚她一樣，她想有機會的話，一定要去騎騎馬。

馬廄那邊有許多匹馬，看起來就像很能馳騁在風中，享受飛翔般的樂趣。有一次，趁著男女主人出外拜訪朋友的機會，莎拉事先徵得同意後，便向馬廄管理人要了一匹馬，騎在馬背上，迎風而來的空氣滿是淡淡的花香，好天氣加上一匹好馬，此刻的莎拉真是覺得無比暢快。

騎了一陣後，莎拉牽著馬步行，這邊看來並不複雜，也不至於會迷路，倒是天氣似乎變得有點奇怪，烏雲漸漸聚攏起來。

莎拉有點心急，怕還沒到莊園前便被淋濕了，只好又騎上馬，一路向莊園回去－果真，半路下起大雨，不知不覺，莎拉誤騎到其他小路。

眼見雨越下越大，附近又沒有其他地方躲雨，莎拉正不知如何是好時，旁邊突然竄出一匹馬，把她的馬給嚇壞了，瞬間莎拉被拋飛在地上，她努力想坐起來，卻覺得手臂有點異樣與痛楚。

那匹馬上的人趕緊跑過來將莎拉扶起「抱歉小姐，因視線不佳，讓你的馬受到驚嚇」也沒有問莎拉的去處，便將莎拉扶上他那匹馬，再將莎拉那匹馬的鞍繩，綁在自己的鞍繩邊，他自己則跟著坐在後面。

兩人一路淋雨，很快便看到一間房子。男子將莎拉攙扶下來，先將莎拉帶至屋內，屋內馬上有人從椅子上站起來：「查爾斯你還是淋濕了」那個叫查爾斯．摩爾的人笑了笑，然後顯然想要介紹莎拉給從另一頭房間走過來的女士：「這位是……」莎拉自己說：「您好，我是莎拉．伍德」旁邊的人馬上便介紹是屋子的男女主人，而這位年輕的男子便被介紹是男女主人的兒子。

莎拉一一行禮致意，然後查爾斯．摩爾便向自己的父母親說明自己如何莽撞地害莎拉被馬拋在地上，男主人趕忙叫僕人去找附近的醫生過來。醫生過來後，檢查了莎拉的傷勢。醫生向站在一旁等著知道情況的一家人說明了莎拉的傷勢並無其他大礙，但手臂很顯然骨折了，這讓莎拉不知如何是好，但是查爾斯．摩爾很果斷，立即問了莎拉的來處，並派人向懷特男爵的莊園通知受傷的莎拉將在明天回去。莎拉原本想直接騎馬回去，但天色昏暗她有點擔心；加上雨勢雖然稍歇，一個人在路上還是有點害怕，查爾斯．摩爾如此的安排讓她感激萬分。

在醫生為莎拉做了適當的治療，並用過晚餐後，查爾斯．摩爾家人便為莎拉安排一間房間好好休息，隔日便讓輕便馬車送她回家。莎拉看著自己的左手臂被夾板與繃帶給纏著，好在傷得是左手臂，而且按照醫生的說法，只要多加休息，很快便會復原而且不會影響到手臂的功能。

在這樣一個不熟悉的地方，讓原本已受傷在擔心著的莎拉多點不自在的感覺，但明天就能回到培頓莊園，莎拉強迫自己別胡思亂想應該好好休息。

但是腦子雖沉甸甸，身體卻不想休息－查爾斯．摩爾曾怕她無聊，給了她一本書，那本書很有趣，寫的是兩個男子如何爭辯真裡的故事，莎拉心想，怎麼沒有女士們爭論真理呢？難道真理只存在於男士們的腦袋裡？身為一個人類，儘可能發覺世間的真理才能為後人鋪路，讓他們少走冤枉路。不過真理究竟是不是真理？還是個人主觀或客觀的認知？亦或只是不存在的事實或虛擬的言論？莎拉便在這些和自己爭論不休的問題中睡著了。

待續~(107.9.20)

Love in London

Chapter 5

The sound of horses' hooves blends with the surroundings, Sarah looks at the scenery speeding out the window, the changing scenery of the countryside, reminds her of her hometown manor - Monte Manor is where she grew up, although her father is a squire, little money and status, but the family is close-knit, and her father is respected by the locals, and her mother's virtue and meekness are more talked about by the local people. For her parents, Sarah demanded that her words and deeds should not dishonor the reputation of the Wood family, and that they must be in accordance with etiquette.

As a lady, Sarah does not want to be bound by tradition, and her blind restraint is no different from that of ordinary women, and although she is young, she always has various ideas and curiosities about the world.

As a result of the good teaching she received from an early age, she learned all kinds of female celebrities from her mother, Mrs. Wood, and the piano was inherited from her mother's hard work, and as for the knowledge, her father did not spoil her too much because she was a girl, but taught her a lot of knowledge and equestrian skills.

Although Sarah's personality is more embarrassed, her pursuit of knowledge is more persistent than that of ordinary girls, and because of this, she always sees more and learns more when she has the opportunity.

Peyton Manor is the oldest house owned by the White family, and although it is more than 100 years old, it is still very well maintained. Although Sarah is here for the first time, she has a familiar feeling here, perhaps because Sarah likes old things - old things, maintains a sense of mystery about the past years, wants people to explore the story of the past, and you always have a fresh and inexplicable joy in the historical antiquities.

Sarah was arranged by the housekeeper of the manor in a splendid room, a room more elaborate than in the London teacher's room, and there were many traces of the passage of time, Sarah looked at everything in front of her in surprise, if it were not for the servant to inform her to go down to eat, she would still want to immerse herself in the room where even the view was a little too gorgeous.

The dinner menu was also different, perhaps because of the fact that there were a lot of vegetables and fruits in the countryside, and Sarah liked this kind of dish, and the variety of vegetables and fruits was reminiscent of the occasional cries from the town vendors - life is full of colors, just like the dish in front of her, and the chef here suddenly made Sarah feel the urge to visit.

After the meal she went back to her room to rest, Sarah was not afraid of the candle-filled walkway—the light-filled walkway reflected the unique atmosphere of the night, even if she walked alone, she felt at ease, some people were afraid of the old, and for her everything was extremely interesting, and she couldn't wait to start the adventure. Unfortunately, in the countryside, the children's teaching must continue, fortunately, the estate has at least a large hinterland of gardens and fields, and horseback riding is another leisure activity that Sarah loves very much, whenever Sarah looks out the window from her room, the green field always seems to call her, and she must go horseback riding if she wants to have the opportunity.

There are many horses in the stables, and it looks like they can gallop in the wind and enjoy flying. Once, taking advantage of the opportunity for the male and female hosts to go out to visit friends, Sarah asked the stable keeper for a horse after obtaining permission in advance, and rode on horseback, the air coming from the wind was full of faint floral fragrance, good weather and a good horse, Sarah really felt very happy at this moment.

After riding for a while, Sarah led the horse on foot, and it didn't seem complicated or difficult to get lost, but the weather seemed to be getting a little strange, and the clouds were gathering together.

Sarah was a little anxious, afraid that she would get wet before she reached the manor, so she got on her horse again and rode all the way back to the manor—and sure enough, it rained heavily halfway, and before she knew it, Sarah rode to another side by mistake.

Seeing that the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and there was no other place to hide from the rain, Sarah was not sure what to do, when a horse suddenly appeared next to her, which frightened her horse, and in an instant Sarah was thrown to the ground, she tried to sit up, but felt a little strange and painful in her arm.

The man on the horse hurriedly ran over and helped Sarah up, "Sorry Miss, your horse was frightened because of poor sight," and without asking where Sarah was, he helped Sarah onto his horse, and tied Sarah's horse's saddle rope to his saddle rope, and he himself sat behind.

The two of them were drenched in the rain all the way, and soon they saw a house. The man helped Sarah down and took her inside, and someone in the room immediately got up from her chair: "Charles, you're still wet" The man named Charles．Moore smiled, and then apparently wanted to introduce Sarah to the lady who came from the other room: "This is the ......" Sarah herself said, "Hello, I'm Sarah． Wood" The person next to her immediately introduced the man and woman of the house, and the young man was introduced to the son of the man and woman.

Sarah saluted one by one, and Charles．Moore explained to his parents how he had recklessly caused Sarah to be thrown to the ground by a horse, and the man hurriedly called the servant to find a nearby doctor. The doctor came over and examined Sarah's injuries. The doctor explained to the family who were waiting to know what was going on, that Sarah's injuries were fine, but that her arm was clearly broken, which made Sarah wonder what to do, but Charles．Moore was decisive and immediately asked where Sarah came from, and sent someone to Baron White's estate to inform the injured Sarah that she would return tomorrow. Sarah wanted to ride back directly, but she was a little worried when it was dark, and Charles．Moore was grateful for the fact that although the rain had stopped for a while, she was still a little scared to be alone on the road.

After the doctor had given Sarah proper treatment and had dinner, Charles．Moore's family arranged a room for Sarah to rest in, and the next day she was taken home in a wagon. Sarah watched her left arm wrapped in a splint and bandage, but fortunately it was her left arm, and according to the doctor, as long as she rested a lot, it would recover quickly and would not affect the function of her arm.

Being in such an unfamiliar place made Sarah, who was already injured and worried, feel a little uncomfortable, but when she could return to Payton Manor tomorrow, Sarah forced herself not to think that she should have a good rest.

But though the brain is heavy, the body does not want to rest - Charles Moore was afraid that she would be bored, and gave her a very interesting book about how two men argue about the truth, and Sarah thought to herself, why are there no ladies arguing about the truth? Is the truth only in the heads of men? As a human being, discovering the truth of the world as much as possible can pave the way for future generations to take less wrongful paths. But is truth or not, or is it a subjective or objective perception of an individual, or is it just a non-existent fact or a fictitious statement? Sarah fell asleep in the midst of these arguments with herself.

To be continued ~ (107.9.20)

因為用中文創作,再翻譯為英文,所以英文上的正確用詞無法翻譯出來,夫人可以意指"你的淑女身分"(代表的是當代的一種地位稱呼),公爵大人,伯爵大人,男爵大人等,小說中都有出現,抱歉,因為請Google翻譯翻譯的,而本人沒有從事過英文寫作,只想嘗試用英文表達整部小說的內容,敬請原諒!!謝謝!!

Because it is created in Chinese and then translated into English, the correct words in English cannot be translated, Madame can mean "your lady" (representing a contemporary status title), Lord Duke, Lord Earl, Lord Baron, etc., all appear in the novel, sorry, because I asked Google Translate to translate, and I have not been engaged in English writing, I just want to try to express the content of the whole novel in English, please forgive me!! Thank you!!

本小說創作如有雷同,純屬巧合,而小說寫作的年代約略定在與作家珍．奧斯汀同一年代

It is a coincidence that the novel was written in the same era as the writer Jane Austen