This coolness in his relations distressed Clare less than it would have done had he been without the grand card with which he meant to surprise them ere long. To produce Tess, fresh from the dairy, as a d'Urberville and a lady, he had felt to be temerarious and risky; hence he had concealed her lineage till such time as, familiarized with worldly ways by a few months' travel and reading with him, he could take her on a visit to his parents, and impart the knowledge while triumphantly producing her as worthy of such an ancient line. It was a pretty lover's dream, if no more. Perhaps Tess's lineage had more value for himself than for anybody in the world besides.
克萊爾家里人的冷淡并沒有使他太悲傷，因?yàn)樗掷镂沼幸粡埓笈疲痪镁涂梢越o家里的人一個(gè)驚喜。剛剛從奶牛場離開，就把苔絲是一位小姐、是德貝維爾家族的后裔抖露出去，他覺得是輕率的、危險(xiǎn)的；因此他先要把她的身世隱瞞起來，帶著她旅行幾個(gè)月，和他一起讀一些書，然后他才帶她去見他的父母，表明她的家世，這時(shí)候他才得意地介紹苔絲，說她是一個(gè)古老家族的千金小姐。如果說這算不上什么，但至少也要算一個(gè)情人的美麗夢幻。苔絲的身世對世界上任何人來說，也許不會(huì)比對他自己更有價(jià)值。

Her perception that Angel's bearing towards her still remained in no whit altered by her own communication rendered Tess guiltily doubtful if he could have received it. She rose from breakfast before he had finished, and hastened upstairs. It had occurred to her to look once more into the queer gaunt room which had been Clare's den, or rather eyrie, for so long, and climbing the ladder she stood at the open door of the apartment, regarding and pondering. She stooped to the threshold of the doorway, where she had pushed in the note two or three days earlier in such excitement. The carpet reached close to the sill, and under the edge of the carpet she discerned the faint white margin of the envelope containing her letter to him, which he obviously had never seen, owing to her having in her haste thrust it beneath the carpet as well as beneath the door.
苔絲看見安琪爾對她的態(tài)度并沒有因?yàn)樗龑懶疟戆琢俗约骸５倪^去而有什么改變，于是就開始懷疑他是否收到了她的信。在安琪爾還沒有吃完早飯之前，她就急忙離開飯桌上樓。她突然想起來再去把那個(gè)古怪的房間搜查一遍，長期以來，這個(gè)房間一直是克萊爾的獸穴，或者不如說是鳥巢；她爬上樓梯，站在門開著的房間門口，觀察著、思考著。她彎下身子從門檻下看去，兩三天前，她就是懷著緊張的心情從那兒把信塞進(jìn)去的。房間里的地毯一直鋪到了門檻的跟前，在地毯下面，她看見了一個(gè)信封的白邊，信封里裝著她寫給克萊爾的信，由于她在匆忙中把信塞進(jìn)了地毯和地板之間，很顯然克萊爾從來就沒有看到這封信。

With a feeling of faintness she withdrew the letter. There it was - sealed up, just as it had left her hands. The mountain had not yet been removed. She could not let him read it now, the house being in full bustle of preparation; and descending to her own room she destroyed the letter there.
她把信抽出來，覺得人都快暈倒了。她拿的就是那封信，封得好好的，和當(dāng)時(shí)離開她手里的時(shí)候完全一樣。她面前的一座大山還是沒有被移開。全屋子的人都在忙著為他們做準(zhǔn)備，現(xiàn)在她是不能讓他讀這封信了；所以她回到自己的房間，在房間里把那封信銷毀了。

She was so pale when he saw her again that he felt quite anxious. The incident of the misplaced letter she had jumped at as if it prevented a confession; but she knew in her conscience that it need not; there was still time. Yet everything was in a stir; there was coming and going; all had to dress, the dairyman and Mrs Crick having been asked to accompany them as witnesses; and reflection or deliberate talk was well-nigh impossible. The only minute Tess could get to be alone with Clare was when they met upon the landing.
克萊爾再次看到她的時(shí)候，她的臉色是那樣蒼白，這使得他十分擔(dān)心。她把信誤放進(jìn)地毯下面這件事，使她把這看成天意，不讓她自白；但是她的理智又使她明白不是那樣一回事；她仍然還有時(shí)間啊。但是一切都處在一種混亂當(dāng)中；人們進(jìn)進(jìn)出出；所有的人都得換衣服，奶牛場老板和克里克太太已經(jīng)被請來做他們的證婚人；因此思考和認(rèn)真談話都是不可能的。苔絲唯一能單獨(dú)和克萊爾在一起的機(jī)會(huì)只是他們在樓梯口相遇的時(shí)候。

'I am so anxious to talk to you - I want to confess all my faults and blunders!' she said with attempted lightness.
“我非常想和你談一談——我要向你坦白我的過錯(cuò)、我的缺點(diǎn)！”她裝出輕松的樣子說。