【荆棘鸟】第十章 04

 There were ten children in that humpy, none of whom possessed 1 a pair of shoes—not that shoes mattered much in torrid Longreach. Luke senior, who shore for a living when he felt like it (but mostly all hefelt like doing was drinking OP rum), died in a fire at the Blackall pub when young Luke was twelve years old. So as soon as he couldLuke took himself off on the shearing 3 circuit as a tar 4 boy, slapping molten tar on jagged wounds if a shearer 5 slipped and cut flesh aswell as wool.One thing Luke was never afraid of, and that was hard work; he thrived on it the way some men thrived on its opposite, whether because his father had been a barfly and a town joke or becausehe had inherited his German mother’s love of industry no one had ever bothered to find out. 
     As he grew older he graduated from tar boy to shed hand, running down the board catching 6 the great heavy fleeces as they flewoff the boggis in one piece billowing up like kites, and carrying them to the wool-rolling table to be skirted. From that he learned to skirt, picking the dirt-encrusted edges off the fleeces and transferring them to bins 7 ready for the attention of the classer, who was shed aristocrat 8: the man who like a wine-taster or a perfume-tester cannot be trained unless he also has instinct for the job. And Lukedidn’t have a classer’s instinct; either he turned to pressing or to shearing if he wanted to earn more money, which he certainly did.He had the strength to man the press, tamp 9 down the graded fleeces into massive bales, but a gun shearer could make more money. 
     By now he was well known in Western Queensland as a good worker, so he had no trouble getting himself a learner’s pen. With grace, coordination 10, strength and endurance, all necessary andluckily present in Luke, a man could become a gun shearer. SoonLuke was shearing his two hundred-plus a day six days a week, aquid a hundred; and this with the narrow handpiece resembling aboggi lizard 11, hence its name. The big New Zealand handpieces with their wide, coarse combs and cutters were illegal in Australia, though they doubled a shearer’s tally 13.It was grueling work; bending from his height with a sheep clamped between his knees, sweeping 14 his boggi in blows the length of the sheep’s body to free the wool in one piece and leave as few second cuts as possible, close enough to the loose kinky skin to please the shed boss, who would be down in a second on any shearer not conforming to his rigorous standards. 
     He didn’t mind the heat and the sweat and the thirst which forced him to drink upward of three gallons of water a day, he didn’t even mind the tormenting 15 hordes 16 of flies, for he was born in fly country. Nor did he mind the sheep, which were mostly a shearer’s nightmare; cobblers, wets, overgrowns, snobs 17, dags, fly-strikes, they came in all varieties, and they were all merinos, which meant wool all the way down to their hoofs 18 and noses, and a cobbled fragile skin which moved like slippery paper.No, it wasn’t the work itself Luke minded, for the harder he worked the better he felt; what irked him were the noise, the beingshut inside, the stench. No place on earth was quite the hell ashearing shed was. Se he decided 19 he wanted to be the boss cocky, the man who strolled up and down the lines of stooping shearers to watch the fleeces he owned being stripped away by that smooth, flawless motion. At the end of the floor in his cane-bottomed chair Sits the boss of the board with his eyes everywhere. That was what the old shearing song said, and that was who Luke O’Neill decided to be. The boss cocky, the head peanut, the grazier, the squatter 20. Not for him the perpetual stoop, the elongated 21 arms of a lifelong shearer; he wanted the pleasure of working out in the open air while he watched the money roll in. Only the prospect 22 of becoming a dreadnought shearer might have kept Luke inside a shed, one of the rare handful of men who managed to shear 2 over three hundred merino sheep a day, all to standard, and using narrow boggis. They made fortunes on the side by betting.
     But unfortunately he was just a little too tall, those extra seconds bending and ducking mounted up to the difference between gun and dread 23 nought 24. His mind turned within its limitations to another method of acquiring what he hungered for; at about this stage in his life he discovered how attractive he was to women. His first try had been in the guise 25 of a stockman on Gnarlunga, as that station had an heir who was female, fairly young and fairly pretty. It had been sheer bad luck that in the end she preferred the Pommy jackaroo whose more bizarre exploits were becoming bush legend. From Gnarlunga he went to Bingelly and got a job breaking horses, his eye on the homestead where the aging and unattractive heiress lived with her widowed father. Poor Dot, he had so nearly won her; but in theend she had fallen in with her father’s wishes and married the spry sexagenarian who owned the neighboring property. These two essays cost him over three years of his life, and he decided twenty months per heiress was far too long and boring. It would suit him better for a while to journey far and wide, continually on the move, until within this much larger sweep he found another likely prospect. Enjoyinghimself enormously, he began to drove the Western Queenslandstock routes, down the Cooper and the Diamantina, the Barcooand the Bulloo Overflow 26 dwindling 27 through the top corner ofwestern New South Wales. 
     He was thirty, and it was more thantime he found the goose who would lay at least part of his goldenegg. Everyone had heard of Drogheda, but Luke’s ears pricked 28 up when he discovered there was an only daughter. No hope she’din herit, but perhaps they’d want to dower her with a modest 100,000 acres out around Kynuna or Winton. This was nice country around Gilly, but too cramped 29 and forested for him. Lukey earned for the enormity of far western Queensland, where the grass stretched into infinity 30 and trees were mostly something a man remembered as being vaguely 31 eastward 32. Just the grass, on and on and on with no beginning and no end, where a man was lucky to graze one sheep for every ten acres he owned. Because sometimes there was no grass, just a flat desert of cracked, panting black soil. The grass, the sun, the heat and the flies; to each man his own kind of heaven, and this was Luke O’Neill’s. He had prised the rest of the Drogheda story out of Jimmy Strong, the AML&F stock-and-station agent who drove him outthat first day, and it had been a bitter blow to discover the Catholic Church owned Drogheda. However, he had learned how few and far between female heirs to properties were; when Jimmy Strongwent on to say that the only daughter had a nice little cash sum of her own and many doting 33 brothers, he decided to carry on asplanned.
     But though Luke had long decided his life’s objective lay in100,000 acres out around Kynuna or Winton, and worked toward it with single-minded zeal 12, the truth was that at heart he loved hardcash far more than what it  might eventually buy him; not the possession of land, nor its inherent power, but the prospect of stock piling rows of neat figures in his bankbook, in his name. It had’t been Gnarlunga or Bingelly he had wanted so desperately 34, but their value in hard cash. A man who genuinely wanted to be the boss cocky would never have settled for landless Meggie Cleary. Nor would he have loved thephysical act of working hard as did Luke O’Neill.
     The dance at the Holy Cross hall in Gilly was the thirteenth danceLuke had taken Meggie to in as many weeks. How he discovered where they were and how he wangled some of the invitations Meggie was too naive 35 to guess, but regularly on a Saturday he would ask Bob for the keys to the Rolls, and take her somewhere within 150 miles. Tonight it was cold as she stood by a fence looking across a moonless landscape, and under her feet she could feel the crunch 36 of frost. Winter was coming. Luke’s arm came around her and drew her in to his side.
     “You’re cold,” he said. 
     “I’d better get you home.”
     “No, it’s all right now, I’m getting warm,” she answered breathlessly. She felt a change in him, a change in the arm held loosely and impersonally 37 across her back. But it was nice to lean against him, to feel the warmth radiating from his body, the different construction of his frame. Even through her cardigan she was conscious of his hand, moving now in small, caressing 38 circles, a tentative and questioning massage 39. If at this stage she announced she was cold he would stop; if she said nothing, he would take it as tacit permission to proceed. She was young, she wanted so badly to savor 40 love properly. This was the only man outside of Ralph who interested her, so why not see what his kisses were like? Only let them bedifferent! Let them not be like Ralph’s kisses! 
     Taking her silence as acquiescence 41, Luke put his other hand onher shoulder, turned her to face him, and bent 42 his head. Was that how a mouth really felt? Why, it was no more than a sort of pressure! What was she supposed to do to indicate liking 43? She moved her lips under his and at once wished she had not. The pushing down increased; he opened his mouth wide, forced her lips apart with his teeth and tongue, and ran the tongue around the inside ofher mouth. Revolting. Why had it seemed so different when Ralph kissed her? She hadn’t been aware then of how wet and faintly nauseating 44 it was; she hadn’t seemed to think at all, only open to him like a casket when the well-known hand touches a secret spring. What on earth was he doing? Why did her body jump so, cling to him when her mind wanted badly to pull away? Luke had found the sensitive spot on her side, and kept his fingers on it to make her writhe 45; so far she wasn’t exactly enthusiastic. Breaking the kiss, he put his mouth hard against the side of her neck. 
     She seemed to like that better, her hands came up around him and she gasped 46, but when he slid his lips down her throat atthe same time as his hand attempted to push her dress off her shoulder, she gave him a sharp shove and stepped quickly away.
     “That’s enough, Luke!” The episode had disappointed her, half-repelled her. Luke was very aware of it as he helped her into the car and rolled a much needed cigarette. He rather fancied himself as a lover, none of the girls so far had ever complained—but then they hadn’t been ladieslike Meggie. Even Dot MacPherson, the Bingelly heiress, richer by far than Meggie, was as rough as bags, no posh Sydney boardingschool and all that crap. In spite of his looks Luke was about on apar with the average rural workingman when it came to sexual experience; he knew little of the mechanics beyond what he liked himself, and he knew nothing of the theory. 
     The numerous girls he had made love to were nothing loath 47 to assure him they liked it, but that meant he had to rely on a certain amount of personal information, not always honest, either. A girl went into any affair hoping for marriage when the man was as attractive and hardworking as Luke, so a girl was as likely as not to lie her head off to please him. And nothing pleased a man more than being told he was the best ever. Luke never dreamed how many men aside from himself had been fooled with that one. 
     Still thinking about old Dot, who had given in and done as herfather wanted after he locked her in the shearers’ barracks for a week with a fly-blown carcass, Luke mentally shrugged 48 his shoulders. Meggie was going to be a tough nut to crack and he couldn’t afford to frighten or disgust her. Fun and games would have to wait, that was all. He’d woo her the way she obviously wanted, flowers and attention and not too much slap-and-tickle. For a while an uncomfortable silence reigned 49, then Meggie sighed and slumped 50 back in her seat.
     “I’m sorry, Luke.”
     “I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
     “Oh, no, you didn’t offend me, truly! I suppose I’m not very usedto it…. I was frightened, not offended.”
     “Oh, Meghann!” He took one hand off the wheel and put it overher clasped ones.          “Look, don’t worry about it. You’re a bit of a girland I went too fast. Let’s forget it.”
     “Yes, let’s.” she said.
     “Didn’t he kiss you?” Luke asked curiously 51.
     “Who?’Was there fear in her voice? But why should there be fear in hervoice? 
     “You said you’d been in love once, so I thought you knewthe ropes. I’m sorry, Meghann. I should have realized that stuckall the way out here in a family like yours, what you meant was you had a schoolgirl crush on some bloke who never noticed you.” Yes, yes, yes! Let him think that! 
     “You’re quite right, Luke; itwas just a schoolgirl crush.”Outside the house he drew her to him again and gave her agentle, lingering kiss without any open-mouth tongue business. She didn’t respond exactly, but clearly she liked it; he went off to hisguesthouse more satisfied that he hadn’t ruined his chances.Meggie dragged herself to bed and lay looking up at the softround halo the lamp cast on the ceiling. Well, one thing had been established: there was nothing in Luke’s kisses to remind her of Ralph’s. And once or twice toward the end she had felt a flicker 52 of dismayed excitement, when he had dug his fingers into her side and when he had kissed her neck. No use equating 53 Luke with Ralph,and she wasn’t sure anymore that she wanted to try. 
       Better forget Ralph; he couldn’t be her husband. Luke could. The second time Luke kissed her Meggie behaved quite differently. They had been to a wonderful party on Rudna Hunish, the limit of the territorial 54 boundary Bob had drawn 55 around their jaunts 56, and the evening had gone well from its beginning. Luke was in his best form, joking so much on the way out he kept her helpless with laughter, then warmly loving and attentive 57 toward her all through the party. And Miss Carmichael had been so determined 58 to take him away from her! Stepping in where Alastair Mac Queen and Enoch Davies feared to go, she attached herself to them and flirted 59 with Luke blatantly 60, forced him for the sake of good manners to ask her to dance. It was a formal affair, the dancing ballroom 61 style,and the dance Luke gave Miss Carmichael was a slow waltz. 
 

这间棚屋里有十个孩子，他们连鞋都没有一双--在炎热的朗里奇不穿鞋不大碍事。老卢克有兴致的时候，就靠剪羊毛谋生；不过，他最有兴致的是喝伯明翰产的兰姆酒。小卢克12见那年，他在布莱克奥小酒店的一次火灾中丧生。于是，小卢克很快就开始了自己四处剪羊毛的生活。他是一名涂柏油的小工；要是一位剪毛工因为疏忽，将绵羊的皮肉和毛一起剪下来的话，他就把熔融的焦油涂到那参差不齐的伤口上。
　　只有一件事卢克从不畏惧，那就是艰苦的活计；对苦活累活他干得生龙活虎。不知这是因为他父亲曾经是个泡酒馆的酒客和市井无赖，还是因为继承了他的德国母亲那种对勤奋的热爱。谁也不耐烦去把原因搞个水落石出。
　　当他又长大些时，便从涂油人工熬成了毛棚工。在羊身上的毛纷纷落下、垛成高高的一堆时，他便从台板上跑下来，抓起那又大又沉的羊毛包，扛到打卷工作台上进行整边。这期间，他学会了整边，把外表污损的羊毛边挑出来，送到由分等工负责的箱子里。分等工是剪毛棚里高高在上的人。他就象个品酒家或香水鉴定家，靠训练培养是学不出来的，除非对这项工作有直觉。可卢克不具备分等工的直觉；要是他想多挣钱的话，只能去当压毛工或剪毛工，而多挣钱是他理所应当的希望。他有当压毛工的力量，把分过等级的毛压成又大又重的包，可是能干的剪毛工挣得更多。
　　现在，他是个好工人的名声在西昆士兰已经尽人皆知了，所以，他不会碰上生手所遇上的麻烦。优雅、协调、力量、耐性，卢克身上具备了各种必要的素质；这种人一定会成为一个高效率的剪毛工的。很快，卢克便可以在一星期六天中每天剪200多只绵羊，100多只可以挣一个金镑。这种速度比得上一种被称为晰蜴的大剪刀手摇机。使用这种带有又宽又粗的梳子和切刀的新西兰大型手摇机在澳大利亚是不合法的，尽管它们使剪羊工效率成倍地提高。
　　这是一件极度紧张的工作；他用双膝夹住一头绵羊，弯下他那高大的身体，大剪刀急速掠过绵羊的身体，羊毛犹如盛开的花朵。他将羊毛整片剪下，尽可能在几秒钟之内剪完，剪刀紧贴着长满了蓬松卷毛的羊皮，这样羊圈工头就高兴了。工头随时会出现在任何一个达不到他那苛刻的标准的剪羊工身后。他不在乎暑热难当、汗流浃背，以及能让他一天喝上三加仓水的干渴，甚至连那些成群的、今人烦恼的苍蝇都不放在心上，因为他就出生在苍蝇成群的乡间。他也不在乎那些通常对剪羊工来说是异常讨厌的绵羊：它们中间有的身上涂着一块块的焦油，有的湿漉漉的，有的个头奇大，有的欺软怕硬，有的羊毛脏乎乎的，有的身上落满了苍虽；但它们都是美利奴细毛羊，这就是说，除了蹄子和鼻子，浑身的羊毛都得剪下来，一整张涂着焦油的，易碎的羊毛便象一层颤悠悠的纸板一样拿到手了。
　　不，他并不在乎工作本身，活儿越苦，他的感觉就越好。他恼火的是嘈杂声，是被关在棚内干活，和那股恶臭。世上没有比剪羊棚更糟糕的地方了。于是，他决心成为一个趾高气扬的工头，当一个在一排弯腰曲背的剪羊工身边转来转去的人，看着那些属于他自己的羊毛被人用平稳的、极熟练的动作剪下来。
　　在屋子一头的藤椅上，
　　坐着羊棚的工头，他转着眼睛四处看。
　　一首古老的剪羊毛歌就是这样唱的，而这正是卢克·奥尼尔决心办到的。当个趾高气扬的工头，当个小企业主，当个牧场主，当个拥有牲畜的人。毕生当一个永远弯着腰、伸着胳臂的剪毛工对他是不适合的；他想要痛痛快快地在露天下干活，同时看着金钱滚滚流人腰包。也许，正是由于能成为一名熟练的煎毛工，当一名使用窄刃剪刀的剪毛工，一天能剪300只美利奴羊，而目。完全合乎于标准的少数几个灯出的人，才使卢克留在了剪毛棚中。此外，他们还靠赌博来敛财。遗憾的是，他的个头有点儿过高，弯腰低头需多用几秒钟，就是这几秒钟便使他在这一行中很难出人头地。
　　他的脑子在有限的范围之内想出了另一个能够使他获得他朝思暮想的东西的办法。大约就在他人生的这个阶段，他发现自己对女人很有吸引力。他初试身手是在格纳兰加当一名牧工的时候。那个牧场的继承人是个女人，非常年轻，十分漂亮；那次尝试把他撞个头破血流。她最后看上了一个新近从英国移民而来的牧工，此人的辉煌成功已经成了这片未开垦的处女林地的传奇了。他从格纳兰加到了宾格里，找了一份驯马的工作，眼睛却盯着庄园里外那位与其鳏居的父亲住在一起的芳华已过、相貌平平的女继承人。可怜的多特，他险些就要把她搞到手了；可是，她最后服从了她父亲的愿望，嫁给了一个精力充沛的六十多岁的老头儿。毗邻的那片产业就是他的。
　　这些尝试耗费了他三年时间。他断定，在每一个女继承人身上花20个月的时间太长，太让人厌烦了，出门四处旅行一下对他来说要更适合一些。他不停地走动，希望能在更大的范围内搜罗到一个有希望的对象。他高高兴兴地赶着牲口踏上了西昆士兰的牧工之路。他到过库珀和迪阿曼蒂努；到过新南威尔士最西边的巴科和布鲁·奥沃弗娄。他年已三十，可是他生财的机运还是没有丝毫头绪。
　　每个人都听说过德罗海达，可是，只是当卢克发现那里有一个独生女的时候，他的耳朵才竖起来的。她没有继承的希望，不过，他们也许打算至少会在金南那或温顿附近给她十万公顷的土地作陪嫁。这是基里附近一片相当不错的土地，但对他来说，它太狭窄，森林占的面太多了。卢克渴望得到昆士兰紧西边的那片广袤的土地。在那里，草原绵延伸向无边的远方，而人们只能影影绰绰地记得它的东边有些树林。那里只有草地，无边无际地延伸着，延伸着，在他的土地上，人们每走上十分顷的土地才有幸能看到一只绵羊。因为这里有时没有草，只是一片龟裂干涸的黑土荒地。草地、太阳、暑热和苍蝇，对每一个他这类人来说都是乐园。这就是卢克·奥尼尔心目中的土地。
　　他已经从吉米·斯特朗那里打探到了有关德罗海达的其他传闻轶事，吉米是AMI公司牧工牧场代理人，头一天开车送他的就是吉米。当他发现天主教会拥有德罗海达的时候，这不是啻是当头一棒。但是，他知道能够继承遗产的女继承人为数甚少；所以，当吉米接着说道，这位独生女自己有一笔数目相当可观的现款和许多溺爱他的哥哥时，他决定按计划行事。
　　尽管卢克长期以来将自己一生的目标盯在鑫同那或温顿附近的十万公顷土地上，并且为了达到这个目标狂热地干着活儿，但事实上在他内心深处，对实实在在的现未的热爱远胜于对这些钱最终会给他买来的东西的热爱。他关心的既不是土地的拥有权，也不是它的继承权，而是巴望在他的存款折上，在他的名下，累积起一行行整齐的数目。他梦寐以求的不是格纳兰加或宾古里，而是与这等价的硬通货。一个真正想要成为小老板的男子汉决不会满足于没有土地的梅吉·克利里的，也决不会热爱象卢克·奥尼尔所干的那种艰苦的体力活儿的。
　　在圣十字学校大厅里举行的舞会，是许多星期来卢克带梅吉去参加的第13次舞会。他们所去之处他是如何找到的，他又是怎样巧妙地邀请梅吉，谁都猜不出来；但是，他每个星期六都定期地向鲍勃借罗尔斯汽车的钥匙，把她带到150英里外的某处去。
　　今晚，天气很冷。她站在一道栅栏旁。眺望着一片没有月色的景致。这时，她感觉得到脚下结霜的地面在发出吱吱的响声。冬天到了。卢克伸出胳臂搂住了她，把她拉到了自己的身边。
　　"你觉得冷了。"他说道。"我还是送你回家吧。"
　　"不，现在好了，我暖和起来了。"她摒着呼吸答道。
　　她感到他有些变化，搂着她后背的胳臂变得松了，不带着感情了。但是，靠在他的身上，感觉着他的身体散发出来的温暖和他身上骨骼的不同结构，十分舒服。甚至隔着羊毛衫，她能感到他的手在微微地动着，划着圈，这是一种含糊试探的抚摸。要是在这这种时候她说冷的话，那他就会停止这种抚摸的；要是她什么都不说，他就会认为这是默许他进行下去。她很年轻，极想尝一尝正正当当的爱情的滋味。除了拉尔夫之外，这是唯一的一个对她感兴趣的男人，因此，干嘛不体味一下他的吻是什么样呢？但愿他的吻是不同的！让他的吻有别于拉尔夫的吻吧。
　　卢克认为她的沉默就是默许。他将另一只手放到了她的肩头，把她的脸转向他，弯下了自己的头。一张嘴实际上的感觉就是这样的吗？哦，不过就是一种压按！那么，她认为爱的象征是什么呢？她的双唇在他的唇下动了动，她又立刻希望他不要这样做。他往下压得越发紧了，嘴张得很大，用他的牙和舌头迫使她的两唇分开，舌头在她的嘴里转动着。真叫人反感。为什么这似乎和拉尔夫吻她的时候大不一样？那时候，她没有感觉象这回这样温乎乎的、微微有些恶心的感觉，她那时好象根本就没想到这些。当拉尔夫那熟悉的手触动了一种神秘的活力时，她的嘴就象个小盒子一样，只顾向他张开了。可卢克到底在干什么呀？当她脑子里恨不得把他推开的时候，她的身子为什么却这样颤动着，紧紧地贴着他？
　　卢克已经在她胸前的一侧找到了敏感点，他将手指放在上面，使她的身体扭动起来；到目前为止，她还没有焕出什么热情来呢。接吻中断了，他将嘴紧紧贴着她脸颊的一侧。她似乎更喜欢这样，一双手搂着她，气喘吁吁的。可是，在他将嘴唇向下滑到她颈前的同时，他的手企图把她的衣服从她的肩头推下。她猛地一推他，快步走开了。
　　"够了，卢克！"
　　那个举动使她很扫兴，有些反感、当卢克扶着她坐进汽车。并且卷了一根解饥解渴的烟卷时，他非常清楚地意识到了这一点。他一向颇自负地认为自己是一个多情种子，到目前为止，还没有任何一个姑娘不乐意过呢--不过，话又说回来了，她们没有一个象梅吉那样是个大家千金。甚至连那个宾吉里的女继承人，比梅吉富有得多的多特·麦克弗森也象那些丑姑娘一样粗俗不堪；她没上过时髦的悉尼寄宿学校，没有那些无用的东西。尽管卢克相貌堂堂，可是说起有关两性的经验，他与普普通通的农村劳动者相差无几；除了他所喜欢的东西外，对于玩弄技巧他知之甚少，而对于理论则一窍不通。许许多多和他搞过恋爱的姑娘很乐意向他保证，她们喜欢他这种水平。但这就意味着，他不得不依靠某些个人的知识，并且并不总是可靠的个人知识。遇上一个象卢克这样富于险力，吃苦耐劳的男人，姑娘会嫁给他的，因此，一个姑娘就很可能想方设法去取悦他。没有比告诉一个男人，说他是个前所未见的最好的人更能让他高兴的了。卢克从来没想到过，除了他以外，有多少男人曾被这种话愚弄过。
　　他依然在想着老多特。在她的父亲把她在满是死蝇蛆的剪毛工棚里锁了一个星期之后，她屈从了他的愿望。卢克暗暗地耸了耸肩。梅吉是个行将裂开的坚果，吓着她或让她起反感是划不来的。陶然乐事必须靠边站，就是这么回事。他得按照显然是她所乐意的方法向她求爱，什么鲜花呀，献殷勤呀，不能来过分鲁莽的把戏。
　　一种今人不快的沉默持续了一会儿，随后，梅吉叹了口气，颓然靠在了车座上。
　　"对不起，卢克。"
　　"我也很抱歉。我没有惹你生气的意思。"
　　"哦，不，你没有惹我生气，真的！我想，我对这个还不太习惯……我是害怕，不是生气。"
　　"哦，梅格翰！"他将一只手从方向盘上拿了下来。放在了她那紧搂的着手上。"喂，这个用不着担心。你还带点儿小姑娘气，我进展得太快了。咱们忘掉它吧。"
　　"好吧，忘掉吧。"她说道。
　　"他吻过你吗？"卢克好奇地问道。
　　"谁？"
　　她的声音里带着恐惧吗？可是，她的声音里为什么会有恐惧呢？"你说过，你恋爱过一次，所以，我以为你是知道这种事情的内情的。对不起，梅格翰，我本来应该明白，在一个你们这样处在这种地方的家庭，是完全闭目塞听，与世隔绝的。你的意思不过是说，你曾经对某个从来没有注意到你的家伙抱着一种女学生式的迷恋。"
　　是的，是的，是的！就让他这么想吧！"你说得很准，卢克；那不过是一种女学生式的迷恋。"
　　在宅邸的外面，他又把她拉到了自己的身边，给了她一个温柔的长吻，没搞张嘴伸舌头那套把戏。她一点儿反应也没有，但显然她喜欢这样；他向客房走去，对自己没有毁掉良机而感到满意。
　　梅吉慢腾腾地上了床，躺在那里，望着投射在天花板上的柔和的灯光。哦，有一件事已经证实了：卢克的亲吻根本就没有使她想起拉尔夫的吻。而且，在他的手指从侧面伸进衣服的时候，在他吻着她的脖子的时候，她最后有一两次感到了一种隐约令人惊惶的激动。象对待拉尔夫那样同等对待卢克是没有用的，但她无法肯定她不会再进行这样对比。最好把拉尔夫忘掉吧，他不会成为她的丈夫的，而卢克却能。
　　卢克第二次吻梅吉的进候，她的举动就不一样了。他们到鲁德纳·胡尼施参加了一次快活的宴会。那里是鲍勃为他们的短途旅行划下的界限的极点，这次晚会从头到尾都进行得十分愉快。卢克拿出了他的最佳风度，去的路上他讲了许多笑话，使她忍不住地一个劲儿大笑，随后，在整个宴会上都对她温情脉脉，频献殷勤。而卡迈克尔小姐下了多大决心想把他从她身边拉走啊！她走到了阿拉斯泰尔麦克奎恩和伊诺克·戴维斯不敢露面的那个地方，和卢克、梅吉纠缠不休，公然向卢克卖弄风情，迫他出于礼貌也得邀她跳一次舞。卢克和卡迈克尔小姐跳的是一曲慢三步，跳得很拘谨，完全是舞场作派。