09 Lorna's ture story

9
Lorna's true story
The Doones' attack had been defeated. We knew that they would come again, as soon as they could, in larger numbers. But for now, Jeremy Stickles gave me something else to think about. My dearest wish was to marry Lorna as soon as I could, but after Jeremy's story I began to wonder if it would ever be possible.
A. few days after our battle with the Doones, Jeremy said he had something to say to me.
'John, I didn't think the time was right to tell you this before. But now you must hear what I have to say. As you know, I,ve been riding around Exmoor for many months, looking for information that might be useful to the King. I remembered all that you told me about Lorna, and I think I have discovered something about her. It may not be easy for you to hear, John. Are you ready?'
'I will do my best, “I  said.
So he began his story.
'Six or seven months ago, before the snows began, I stopped at an inn on my way from Dulverton to Watchet. The inn was all by itself, right by the sea, and was very quiet. I was the only person staying there, and the woman who owned the inn sat down and talked to me during my meal. She was dark and foreign-looking, and intelligent. 
I was very interested to know how an unusual woman like her had come to live in this lonely inn, and she told me her story. 
 She said that she was from Italy, and her name was Benita. Many years ago, while she was working in Rome, she had met an English family. They were travelling in Italy because they'd had a terrible argument in England with another family. Benita did not know much about the argument, except that it had been about land.
Benita liked this English family. They were very- rich, but they were also kind. So when they asked her to travel with them and take care of their children, she agreed. She loved the children — a little girl and boy — so she was very happy in her work.
 At first everything went well. Together, Benita and the family travelled up through northern Italy and into France. But on the French side of the Pyrenees, the husband of the family had a riding accident and was killed.
His wife was deeply unhappy, and would not move from the place where he had died for many months. But finally she decided to go home to England and try to start life again. Benita stayed with her, and they took a ship to the Devon coast. They stayed at Exeter, and then left in a coach for Watchet, in the north of Somerset. The lady had a house there, where she planned to live.
'They were warned , at Dulverton , about robbers on the roads, but the lady would not listen. She even travelled at night, which, as we know, is a very dangerous thing to do. So of course they were attacked by robbers. It happened near the sea. The coachmen drove onto the sand, and the robbers followed on their horses. The coach's wheels began to go down in the soft sand, and as the robbers came nearer, the lady pointed to one of them and said"I know that man! He is our family's old enemy."
' Then a great wave crashed against the coach and turned it over. Benita hit her head on the door and could not remember what happened. The next thing she knew was that she was lying on the sand and the robbers had gone. She looked around for her mistress and saw her sitting on a rock, with her dead son in her arms. The little girl had disappeared. Benita and the two coachmen took the lady into the town, but later that night, she died. This is a sad story! ' said Jeremy. ‘Give me a drink, boy!'
I saw that there were tears in the brave man's eyes.
'What was the lady's name?' I asked. “ And what happened to the little girl? And why did Benita stay there?'
‘I will answer the last question first, ' said Jeremy.
‘ That's the easiest. Benita stayed in that place because the Doones — if that's who they were — stole everything from the coach, and she had no money. She could not go back to Italy. She married a man who lived near the place because he was kind and could give her a home.'
'But the little girl, Jeremy. What happened to her?'
'John — can,t you see it? You are more likely to know than anyone in the world! As certain as I sit here, that little girl is Lorna Doone!'
The truth was, I had guessed this, almost from the beginning of Jeremy's story. But it was almost too painful to believe, and I wanted Jeremy to say it. When he described the coach leaving Dulverton, the picture was very clear to me — because I remembered that coach, with the foreign-looking woman, the beautiful lady, the little boy, and the young dark-haired girl. I had seen them — on the day John Fry came to collect me from school, on the day I learnt my father had died.
I also remembered the frightening sight I saw later that night: of the Doones riding with the things they had stolen, and the one with a little girl across his horse in front of him. I also remembered my anger. Now I saw how the very same day had been the blackest and unhappiest of both my and Lorna's childhood days, and how from the very start, our lives had been joined together.
But there was still one question to answer. 'What was the family's name? ' I said.
“ The father was Lord Dugal ― he came from a very grand family. But there is more to this. Look at your ring, John — the one that Lorna gave you. Look at that strange sign, of a cat in a tree. I saw that same sign above the inn door! That is the sign of the House of Lorna. It is the family that Lorna's mother came from. John, your Lorna belongs to one of the richest and most famous families in England!'
9.洛娜的身世
杜恩家族的偷袭被粉碎了。我们知道 他们还会纠集更多的人马，尽快卷土重来。 但杰里米•斯蒂克尔斯让另一些事暂时占 据了我的思绪。我最大的愿望就是能尽快娶 洛娜为妻，但在听完杰里米给我讲的故事后， 我开始怀疑这个愿望是否有实现的可能。
在我们同杜恩家族的战斗结束几天后， 杰里米说他有事要跟我讲。
“约翰，此前我认为时机不到，不适合 告诉你这件事。但现在，你必须听我说一 些不得不说的事。如你所知，我已经骑马 在埃克斯莫尔附近侦察了好几个月，找寻 可能对国王有用的信息。你对我说过的关 于洛娜的一切我都记得，而且我觉得自己 还发现了一些跟她有关的事。知道这件事 后你可能会很难受，约翰。你准备好 了吗?”
'我尽量吧，”我说。
于是，他开始讲述他的故事。
“六七个月前，还没开始下雪，我在从 达尔弗顿到沃切特的路上歇脚，住进了一 家小旅馆。小旅馆就建在海边，孤零零的， 非常静谧。我是唯一在那里住宿的人，小 旅馆的老板娘就在我吃饭的时候坐下来 和我聊天。她肤色较深，像是个外国人，很聪明。对于像她这么一个不寻常的女子 怎么会来到这里，住在这样一间孤零零的 小旅馆里，我很感兴趣。于是她给我讲述 了她的故事。
“她说自己来自意大利，名叫贝妮塔。 很多年前，当她还在罗马工作时，遇到了 一家英国人。他们来意大利旅行是因为同 英国的另一个家族发生了激烈的争执。贝 妮塔对这场争执知之甚少，只知道同土地 有关。
“贝妮塔很喜欢这家英国人。他们非常 富有，但也很和蔼。因此，当他们让她一 路同行并照顾他们的小孩时，她同意了。 她很喜欢那两个孩子一个小女孩和一个小男孩---所以她工作得很开心。
“一开始，一切都很顺利。贝妮塔和这 家人穿过意大利北部来到了法国。但在法 国边境的比利牛斯山脉，这一家的男主人 在骑马时不慎意外身亡了。
“他的妻子十分伤心，在此后数月内都 不肯离开丈夫去世的地方。但最终她还是 决定回英格兰老家，试着重新开始生活。 贝妮塔陪伴在她身边，他们一起坐船来到 了德文海岸。在埃克塞特稍作逗留后，他 们坐马车前往位于萨摩塞特郡北部的沃切 特。那位夫人在那里有一栋房子，她打算 在此定居。
“在达尔弗顿，有人警告他们要当心路 上的强盗，但夫人非但不肯听，还在夜里 赶路。我们都知道，这是非常危险的。结 果不出所料，他们遭到了强盗的袭击。袭 击发生在海边。马车夫将车赶上了沙滩， 强盗们骑马尾随其后，马车的轮子逐渐陷 入柔软的沙地。等到强盗们走近些时，夫 人指着其中一人说：'我认识那个人！他是 我们家族的宿敌。'
..接着.一个巨浪击向马车，把马车掀 翻在地，贝妮塔的头撞在了车门上.记不 得当时发生了什么事。等她苏醒过来时. 发现自己正躺在沙滩上，强盗们全都走了。 她四下张望着找寻自己的女主人，发现她 正坐在一块岩石上，怀里抱着自己死去的 儿子：小女孩消失不见了。贝妮塔和两名 马车夫将夫人带到了小镇上，但她那天晚 上过了没多久便去世了。真是个悲伤的故!"杰里米说道，“给我一杯酒，小伙子!”
我看见这位勇敢的人眼中含着泪水。
••这位夫人叫什么名字?"我问，•'那个 小女孩怎么样了？为什么贝妮塔要留在 那儿?”
••我先回答最后一个问题吧,"杰里米 说.“这个问题最简单。贝妮塔留在那儿是 因为杜恩家族的人——如果当时那伙人真 是杜恩家族的人的话——抢走了马车上所 有的东西.而她身无分文，没法回意大利 去，她嫁给了住在附近的一个男人，因为 他为人和善，还能给她一个家。"
 “但那个小女孩呢，杰里米？她怎么 样了?”
“约翰——你难道不明白吗？你是这世 上最有可能知道的人！就像我现在确确实 实坐在你面前一样.那个小女孩就是洛 娜•杜恩!"
事实上，我几乎在杰里米的故事一开 头就已经猜到了。但这故事痛苦得让人难 以置信，我希望杰里米能亲口告诉我。当 他描述马车离开达尔弗顿时，这画面对我 而言再清晰不过了——因为我记得那辆马 车，还有车上坐着的外国女子、美貌的夫 人、小男孩和那个黑发小姑娘。我见过他 们——就在约翰•弗莱伊到学校来接我的 那天，也就是我得知父亲死讯的那天。
我还记得那晚迟些时候所见到的可怕 的一幕：杜恩家族的人骑马带着他们抢劫 来的东西.其中一人的马背上还横放着一 个小姑娘。我还记起了自己当时的怒火。 这下我明白了，那一天是我和洛娜童年时 代最黑暗、最悲痛的日子，而打从一开始， 我们的生命就已经联系在一起了。
但还有一个问题没有答案。“这个家族 姓什么?”我问道。
•'洛娜的父亲是杜加尔勋爵——他出身 于一个非常高贵的家族。但事情远不止这 么简单。看看你的戒指，约翰-洛娜给 你的那枚戒指。看看那奇怪的标记，一只 趴在树上的猫。我在小旅馆的门上也看见 了同样的标记！那是洛恩家族的标记，洛 娜的母亲就出身于这个家族。约翰，你的 洛娜是英格兰最富有、最显赫的家族的一 员！"