Robert: Busy?

 

Cora: I'm just trying to sort out the wretched¹ flower show.

 

Robert: I've had a letter from Rosamond.

 

Cora: Don't tell me: she wants saddle² of lamb and all the fruit and vegetables we can muster³.

 

Robert: She enjoys a taste of her old home.

 

Cora: She enjoys not paying for food.

 

Robert: There's something else. Apparently⁴, the word is going round London that Evelyn Napier has given up any thought of Mary. That he's going to marry one of the Semphill girls. She writes as if, somehow, it reflects badly on Mary.

 

Cora: Your dear sister is always such a harbinger of joy.

 

Robert: No...as if...as if Mary had somehow been found wanting in her character.

 

Cora: Well, I don't believe Mr Napier would have said that.

 

Robert: Neither do I, really, but -

 

Cora: She ought to be married. Talk to her.

 

Robert: She never listens to me. If she did, she'd marry Matthew.

 

Cora: What about Anthony Strallan?

 

Robert: Anthony Strallan is at least my age and as dull as paint. I doubt she'd want to sit next to him at dinner, let alone marry him.

 

Cora: She has to marry someone, Robert. And if this is what's being said in London, she has to marry soon.

 

 

wretched: （用于表示烦恼）讨厌的

 

give up any thought of Mary: 放弃追求玛丽

 

harbinger: （尤指不祥的）先兆，预兆，例如：The cuckoo⁵ is a harbinger of spring.（布谷鸟预告春天的来临。）

 

be found wanting: 被发现不合格

 

as dull as paint: 乏味无趣，相反的说法有：as fresh as paint（精神饱满的）

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