第十二章

快回到培頓莊園的安德魯怒氣沖沖地衝向正在餐桌邊吃早餐的英格麗表姊，懷特夫人還來不及招呼安德魯坐下一起吃早餐時，就被安德魯一句話給嚇到：「你怎麼可以如此做呢，英格麗表姊？」連懷特男爵都被這句大聲而無禮的話給嚇到：「安德魯，你是怎麼了，竟然這麼大聲對你表姊講話？」安德魯自知理虧便向懷特男爵鞠躬，冷冷地說了句：「抱歉，先生」，然後挺直身體大步離開餐廳。

安德魯走出餐廳便向馬廄要了一匹馬，頭也不回的騎出莊園，往他最喜歡的一個地方去。有一回莎拉陪著他到這裡來寫生，那是一座橋，頗富詩意的橋，橋的對面有座小小莊園，整個很溫馨，讓人特別喜歡，兩人度過一個極愉快的下午。

安德魯回想到那時莎拉，臉色紅潤，滿臉愉悅，她靜靜地坐在草地上，看著他畫畫。他畫畫時一向是極為專注的，他仍感覺到莎拉炙熱的眼神在他身後燒灼，他相信莎拉一定會和他有一定的感受，那時他們的心靈如此靠近，如果不是互相喜歡又是什麼呢？為什麼偏偏有人要拆散他和莎拉呢？莎拉是多好的女孩啊！這樣的女孩如果不夠資格當他的終生伴侶，那什麼樣的人才夠資格呢？

那些可笑的貴族人家千金嗎？有錢人家講話一點深度都沒有的大小姐嗎？為什為什麼一定要什麼可笑的＂榮耀的聯姻呢＂，一定是他那＂未來的該死伯爵身份＂阻礙了這一切吧！

生平第一次，安德魯憎恨自己的出身阻礙了自己的幸福，身為一個男人卻沒有自由選擇自己所愛的人，有所愛的人也不能如願以償將她娶回家，那麼結婚又有何意義？

這不是極大的笑話嗎？深陷痛苦中的安德魯真想立刻飛奔到莎拉跟前，向她說明自己是如何愛著她，更如何希望自己與莎拉的愛情能受到眾人祝福。

但此刻的莎拉呢？想起昨天晚上那強烈而戲劇化的一幕，莎拉至今仍無法理解安德魯又為什麼而生氣，也無法理解安德魯生氣的原因是為何？方才威爾夫人想邀請莎拉一同去她一位位高權重的朋友家作客，這回莎拉鼓起勇氣說自己覺得頭痛不太舒服，於是威爾夫人只請莎拉去她的房間梳妝台的珠寶箱找一條藍寶石項鍊，因為她需要戴出門。

莎拉趕忙從餐桌起身上樓去，進入富麗堂皇的威爾夫人房間，馬上找到威爾夫人說的那個珠寶盒，打開盒子馬上找到那條藍寶石珠寶項鍊，項鍊拿起來後，發現盒內還疊著一大堆未拆的信件。她好奇拿起來看，是給莎拉．伍德的，莎拉不敢置信地數了數，共有十來封之多，完全是給她的，而且寄信人署名是安德魯．格林－天啊！安德魯真的寄了好多信給她，但是，威爾夫人為什麼將這些信收在珠寶盒，為什麼沒有交給自己呢？為什麼？

為什麼威爾夫人要這麼做？莎拉本想拿這堆信件下去追問威爾太太，但是還是忍住那股衝動，將信放回原本的位置，蓋上珠寶盒的蓋子，拿了項鍊就下樓。下樓將藍寶石項鍊交給威爾太太。

莎拉默默送威爾太太出門，然後才回到房間，一大堆謎團又在此時湧了上來－為什麼呢？為什麼威爾夫人要費盡心思阻饒這些信到自己的手中？為什麼？這當中有什麼隱情嗎？

莎拉坐在椅上，便提筆寫信給安德魯：

親愛的安德魯：

　　我終於看到你寄來的那些信，很抱歉我沒有回信，因為這些信我完全沒有機會看過，這些信目前被威爾夫人收藏在她的珠寶盒，我完全不知道這是怎麼回事，也不知道你為何會生氣，希望這封信能順利到達你手中，如果可以，請你找機會來倫敦一趟，我想聽聽這當中所有的緣由。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　你最真誠的莎拉　

莎拉封好信封，請傭人去寄信，滿心期待隨信寄出去的疑問，有機會獲得解答。

一星期，安德魯果然風塵僕僕地來到威爾夫人的大宅拜訪莎拉。莎拉原先不抱太大的期望，因為她不敢想像她自己的信件是否會被人給收走而沒傳到安德魯手中。這是一件古怪的事，她不能理解到底是為了什麼？安德魯所寄給她的信件竟在威爾夫人手中，好在安德魯收到她的信件趕來了，那時恰巧威爾夫人出門好一陣了，莎拉和安德魯在毫無打擾的情況下，終於能敞開心胸大談，莎拉只是問候了懷特一家人好不好，安德魯卻迫不及待地說：「真的不是你故意不回信給我，我以為妳交上新朋友詹姆斯．布朗就不理我了」

話中酸溜溜的醋意連莎拉都感覺到了，莎拉趕緊為自己辯解：「我真的沒有看過那些信，只讀了封面」

莎拉看了安德魯一眼，然後才說：「我也認為交了新朋友就要忘了舊朋友是很不該的事，何況新朋友並不是我要欣賞的那種人，舊朋友才是我在乎的」安德魯再也按捺不住心中那股熱情，他從椅子上站起來衝向莎拉，緊緊握住她的手：「莎拉，你知道所有的人都在阻饒我對你的愛嗎？」莎拉聽了猛然一驚，而且迅速臉紅起來，她不知道該如何回答。雖然她喜歡安德魯，而且眼前安德魯緊緊握住她的手，讓她高興到幾乎要跳起來，但還是不敢輕舉妄動。只聽到安德魯又說：「我絕對不會放棄對你的愛，而且這份喜愛只有與日俱增，不會有所減少，莎拉，你已經擁有全部的我，我將我的心與靈魂都獻給你」

莎拉驚訝地發現安德魯竟是如此愛她，讓她欣喜若狂，她想了一下，清楚的表達自己的心意：「安德魯，我沒有奢望過獲得你的愛，但我真的很喜歡你，一直不曾改變過」

互相表明心跡的兩人此刻陶醉在彼此的情意中，空氣中彷彿也灑滿了幸福的香氣，這對愛侶深深注視著對方，捨不得抽離自己的手－這一切是真的嗎？幸福不斷在彼此心中提問？這一切是真的嗎？在威爾太太走進前，一切是如此完美無缺……

待續~(107.10..1)

_______________________________________________

Love in London

Chapter XII

Andrew, who was about to return to Peton Manor, angrily rushed to Cousin Ingrid, who was eating breakfast at the table, and before Mrs. White could beckon Andrew to sit down for breakfast together, she was startled by Andrew's words: "How can you do this, Cousin Ingrid?" Even Baron White was frightened by this loud and rude sentence: "Andrew, why are you talking to your cousin so loudly?" Andrew bowed to Baron White and said coldly, "Sorry, sir" , then straightened up and strode out of the restaurant.

Andrew walked out of the dining room and asked for a horse from the stable, and rode out of the estate without looking back, to one of his favorite places. Once Sarah accompanied him here to sketch, it was a bridge, quite a poetic bridge, and there was a small manor on the opposite side of the bridge, and the whole thing was very warm and very pleasant, and the two of them spent a very pleasant afternoon.

Andrew thought back to Sarah, her face was ruddy and full of pleasure, and she sat quietly on the grass and watched him draw. He had always been extremely attentive when he painted, and he still felt Sarah's hot eyes burning behind him, and he believed that Sarah must have had some feelings for him, and at that time their hearts were so close that what was it if they didn't like each other? Why would anyone break up between him and Sarah? What a good girl Sarah was! If such a girl was not qualified to be his lifelong partner, then what kind of person was qualified?

Are those ridiculous nobles' daughters? Are the eldest ladies of the rich families who have no depth in their speech? Why is there any ridiculous "glorious marriage", it must be his "future earldom" that hinders all this!

For the first time in his life, Andrew hated his background for hindering his happiness, and as a man, he didn't have the freedom to choose the person he loved, and the person he loved couldn't marry her back home, so what was the point of getting married?

Isn't this a great joke? Andrew, who was in deep pain, really wanted to rush to Sarah at once and explain to her how much he loved her, and how he hoped that his love with Sarah would be blessed by everyone.

But what about Sarah at this moment? Remembering the intense and dramatic scene of the previous night, Sarah still can't understand why Andrew is angry, nor why Andrew is angry? Mrs. Will wants to invite Sarah to the house of one of her powerful friends, and this time Sarah plucks up the courage to say that she feels uncomfortable with the headache, so Mrs. Will only asks Sarah to go to the jewel box on the dresser in her room to find a sapphire necklace, because she needs to wear it out.

Sarah hurriedly got up from the dining table and went upstairs, entered the palatial room of Mrs. Will, and immediately found the jewelry box that Mrs. Will had said, and when she opened the box, she immediately found the sapphire jewelry necklace, and when the necklace was picked up, she found that there were still a large number of unopened letters stacked in the box. She was curious to pick it up and see that it was for Sarah Wood, and Sarah counted them in disbelief, and there were more than a dozen of them, all for her, and the sender was signed by Andrew Green—Oh my God! Andrew had sent her a lot of letters, but why didn't Mrs. Will give them to herself in a jewelry box? Why?

Why did Mrs. Will do this? Sarah wanted to go down with the pile of letters and ask Mrs. Will, but she resisted the urge to put the letters back in their original places, put the lid on the jewelry box, took the necklace, and went downstairs. Go downstairs and give the sapphire necklace to Mrs. Will.

Sarah silently sent Mrs. Will out, and then returned to her room, when a great deal of mystery came flooding back—why?Why did Mrs. Will go to such lengths to prevent these letters from getting into her hands???Was there any secret in this?

Sarah sat down in her chair and wrote to Andrew:

Dear Andrew,

　　I have finally seen the letters you have sent, and I am sorry that I have not replied to them, because I have not had a chance to read them, and they are currently in the possession of Mrs. Will in her jewellery box, and I have no idea what is going on or why you are angry, and I hope that this letter will reach you without any problems, and if you may, please take a trip to London, and I would like to hear all the reasons for this.

                               Your sincerest Sarah　

Sarah sealed the envelope and asked the maid to send the letter, looking forward to the question sent with the letter and having the opportunity to get answered.

One week later, Andrew came to visit Sarah at Mrs. Will's mansion. Sarah didn't have much hope, because she couldn't imagine that her own letter would be taken away and not passed on to Andrew. The letter Andrew sent her was in the hands of Mrs. Will, but fortunately Andrew received her letter and rushed to it, and it happened that Mrs. Will had been out for a while, and Sarah and Andrew were finally able to open their hearts and talk without disturbance, Sarah just greeted the White family, but Andrew couldn't wait to say, "It's really not that you didn't write back to me on purpose, I thought you made a new friend, James．Brown, and ignored me."

The sour vinegar in the words even Sarah felt it, and Sarah quickly defended herself: "I really didn't read the letters, I only read the cover"

Sarah glanced at Andrew, and then said, "I also think that it is very wrong to forget the old friends after making new friends, not to mention that new friends are not the kind of people I want to admire, old friends are what I care about" Andrew could no longer suppress the enthusiasm in his heart, he got up from the chair and rushed to Sarah, holding her hand tightly: "Sarah, do you know that everyone is trying to stop my love for you?" Sarah was startled when she heard this, and quickly blushed, she didn't know how to answer. Although she liked Andrew, and the fact that Andrew was holding her hand tightly in front of her made her almost jump with joy, she still didn't dare to act rashly. I heard Andrew say again, "I will never give up my love for you, and this love will only increase with each passing day, and it will not decrease, Sarah, you have all of me, and I will give you my heart and soul."

Sarah was overjoyed to find that Andrew loved her so much, she thought for a moment and expressed her heart clearly: "Andrew, I didn't expect to get your love, but I really like you, and I haven't changed."

The two men who had shown their hearts to each other were now intoxicated with each other's affection, and the air seemed to be filled with the fragrance of happiness, and the couple looked at each other deeply, reluctant to withdraw their hands—was all this true?happiness kept asking questions in each other's hearts?Was it all true?Everything was so perfect before Mrs. Will walked in......

To be continued ~ (107.10..1)

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