书名：Remember Miranda 《难忘米兰达》
作者：Rowena Akinyemi 罗伊纳·阿金耶米
简介：
这是凯茜·威尔逊的第一份工作：同哈维一家生活在一起，照看两个年幼的孩子和料理家务。凯茜父母双亡，也没有兄弟姐妹。她希望在新家里过得快乐，但她不时感到孤独。孩子们的父亲邓肯常常出差去伦敦。凯茜喜欢孩子们，也喜欢邓肯的母亲老哈维太太，但她没有朋友。
当然， 还有一个叫尼克的农场主，他住在田地的另一边。他的眼睛很蓝，笑容亲切而友善。但要和尼克交朋友并不容易，因为邓肯恨他，而凯茜同尼克出去吃晚饭也会让老哈维太太很生气。
但是邓肯为什么恨尼克呢？为什么尼克让凯茜在海滩屋要小心呢？为什么谁也不愿意谈到两年前过世的孩子们的母亲米兰达呢？哈维家有许多秘密，令凯茜产生了疑问。
很快，她开始揭开谜底，并终于明白了为什么每个人都忘不了米兰达……
Chapter 2
The first secret第一个秘密
The weather changed, and that autumn was warm and beautiful. Nearly every day I walked with the children along the beach. The sea was blue and friendly, and the trees, with their red and yellow autumn colours, looked beautiful in the sunlight. One afternoon we walked across the field and down the hill to the beach. Susan ran in front of Tim. They sang and laughed because they liked playing on the beach.
天气变换，那年秋天温暖而美丽。我几乎每天都要和孩子们沿着海滩散步。大海湛蓝、静谧。树木都染上了红红黄黄的秋天的色彩，在阳光下看起来很是漂亮。一天下午，我们穿过田地，沿着山坡而下，到了海边。苏珊跑在蒂姆前头，他们唱着、笑着，因为他们喜欢在海滩玩耍。
‘Hello, Cathy. How are you?’ someone said behind me.
“嗨，凯茜。你好吗？”有人从后头跟我打招呼。
I stopped. It was Nick, the tall farmer with the blue eyes. ‘I’m well, thank you.’
我站住了，是尼克，那个长着一双蓝眼睛的高个子农场主。“我很好，谢谢。”
‘You look lonely,’ he said, and smiled. ‘You need some friends. Shall we meet in Cromer one day and have dinner?’
“你看起来很孤独，”他笑着说，“你需要一些朋友。哪天我们能在克罗默镇碰个面吃顿饭吗？”
And so the next evening I drove to Nick’s farm and we went into Cromer for dinner, and then we walked through the town to the gardens near the beach. I liked Nick. He was friendly and interesting. We didn’t talk about the Harvey family all evening.
于是，第二天傍晚，我开车去了尼克的农场，同他一道去克罗默镇吃了晚饭。然后，我们步行穿过小镇去了海滩附近的花园。我喜欢尼克。他很友好，也很风趣。整个晚上，我们都没有提哈维一家。
But before we said goodnight, Nick asked about Duncan. ‘Are you going to tell Duncan about this evening?’
但是就在我们互道晚安之前，尼克问起了邓肯。“你打算把今天晚上的事告诉邓肯吗？”
‘No,’ I said quickly. Then I stopped. ‘Duncan is in London this month,’ I went on slowly. ‘Mrs Harvey told me — you and Duncan...’
“不，”我马上回答，然后打住了。“这个月邓肯在伦敦，”我慢慢地接着说，“哈维太太告诉我——你和邓肯……”
Nick laughed quietly. ‘So you have a secret now,’ he said. ‘Be careful, Cathy, at Beach House.’
尼克轻轻地笑了。“所以你现在有秘密了。”他说，“凯茜，你在海滩屋要小心点儿。”
‘I don’t understand,’ I said. ‘Why don’t you like Duncan?’
“我不明白，”我说，“为什么你不喜欢邓肯？”
‘I can’t talk about it,’ Nick said.
“我不能说。”尼克回答。
I didn’t tell Mrs Harvey about Nick, and perhaps that was wrong. But I did tell Juliet.
我没有告诉哈维太太关于尼克的事。也许那样不对。但我确实告诉了朱丽叶。
‘I like Nick very much,’ I told her. ‘I want to see him again.’ But Juliet was quiet and didn’t talk much that afternoon.
“我非常喜欢尼克。”我告诉她，“我想再次见到他。”但是朱丽叶很沉默，那天下午都没怎么说话。
That evening I put the children to bed and read them a story. Then I went slowly downstairs. I thought about Nick. I wanted to see him again.
那天晚上，我把孩子们弄上床，给他们讲了个故事。然后，我慢慢下了楼。我想到了尼克。我想再次见到他。
Mrs Harvey sat quietly in her big chair in the kitchen. ‘Cathy, I must talk to you, my dear,’ she said. ‘Come and sit down here.’
哈维太太静静地坐在厨房中的大椅子里。“凯茜，亲爱的，我必须和你谈谈，”她说，“过来坐这儿吧。”
I sat down near her. I didn’t want to talk — I wanted to finish my work in the kitchen and go upstairs to watch TV in my room.
我在她旁边坐下。我不想闲谈——我想干完厨房里的活儿，上楼回自己的房间看电视。
‘You’re a good girl,’ Mrs Harvey began kindly. ‘Susan and Tim like you, and I’m very happy with your work in the house.’
“你是个好姑娘，”哈维太太和蔼地开口道，“苏珊和蒂姆都喜欢你，你在家里干得不错，我很高兴。”
I smiled, and waited for the ‘but’. It arrived immediately.
我笑着等着她说“但是”。很快她就转折了。
‘But I must talk to you about Nick Watson. Perhaps you are lonely here, with the children and me. Duncan is very quiet, I know that, and he’s in London much of the time. But Nick doesn’t like Duncan, and Duncan hates Nick. It’s a long story and I don’t want to talk about it. I’m not going to tell Duncan about your evening with Nick, but I don’t want you to see Nick again.’
“但是我必须跟你谈谈尼克·沃森的事儿。也许你在这里，同孩子们和我在一起，很孤单。我知道，邓肯沉默寡言，而且有很多时候都在伦敦。但是尼克不喜欢邓肯，而邓肯憎恨尼克。这事说来话长，我不想说这些。我不打算告诉邓肯那天晚上你同尼克的事，但我也不希望你再去见尼克。”
My face felt hot and my hands felt cold. Mrs Harvey knew about my dinner with Nick! Who told her? And why? I felt angry with Mrs Harvey because I wanted to see Nick again. But I didn’t want to lose my job.
我的脸在发烫，双手却冰凉。哈维太太知道了我同尼克共进晚餐！谁告诉她的？为什么？哈维太太让我感到很生气，因为我想再见见尼克。但我不想丢了工作。
‘I don’t understand.’ I began quietly.
“我不明白。”我小声地说。
Mrs Harvey stood up. ‘Why must you understand?’ she asked angrily. ‘Don’t see Nick Watson again! Do you hear me?’
哈维太太站起来。“为什么你必须要明白？”她生气地问，“不要再见尼克·沃森！听见我说的了吗？”
‘Grandma!’
“奶奶！”
We looked up, and saw Susan and Tim on the stairs. ‘Children! What are you doing!’ Mrs Harvey said. She took her stick and began to walk slowly across the room.
我们抬头看去，发现苏珊和蒂姆站在楼梯上。“孩子们！你们在干什么？”哈维太太说。她拿起拐杖，开始慢慢地穿过房间。
‘Tim was afraid,’ Susan said. ‘He couldn’t sleep, and so we came to call Cathy.’
“蒂姆很害怕，”苏珊说，“他睡不着，所以我们来叫凯茜。”
‘I wasn’t afraid — you were afraid, because of Nick,’ Tim said, and he pushed Susan.
“我不害怕——是你害怕，因为尼克。”蒂姆边说边推苏珊。
‘No, Tim!’ Mrs Harvey shouted. Her face went white. ‘Don’t do that! Cathy, please go upstairs and put them back to bed.’
“不，蒂姆！”哈维太太喊道。她的脸变得苍白。“别那么做！凯茜，请上楼，把他们弄上床吧。”
I ran upstairs and took the children back to their room. Tim put his little hands on my face and kissed me. ‘Goodnight, Cathy,’ he said. ‘I like you.’
我跑上楼，把孩子们带回到他们的房间。蒂姆把他的小手放在我脸上，亲了亲我。“晚安，凯茜。”他说，“我喜欢你。”
I smiled. ‘I like you too.’ I said.
我笑了。“我也喜欢你。”我回答。
I said goodnight to Susan. ‘I don’t want Grandma to be angry with you,’ she said quietly.
我向苏珊说晚安。“我不想奶奶生你的气。”她轻轻地说。
‘Why are you afraid of Nick?’ I asked.
“你为什么怕尼克？”我问。
‘I don’t know,’ Susan said. ‘Daddy hates him, but I don’t know why.’
“我不知道，”苏珊回答，“爸爸恨他，但我不知道为什么。”
‘He’s a bad man,’ Tim said. ‘Grandma told me.’
“他是一个坏人，”蒂姆说，“奶奶告诉过我。”
And so I didn’t see Nick again for a long time.
于是，有很长一段时间我都没有再见尼克。
