10 Gone

10
Gone
Now I had to tell Lorna. So, a day or two later, with an aching heart, I went to tell her what Jeremy had said. I'm afraid that some of my sadness was for me, because now, more than ever, it was certain: Lorna was far, far above me. How could she possibly marry a simple farmer now?
We sat in the garden, and she held my hand while she listened without a word to what I said. But by the look in her beautiful eyes, and by her trembling hand, I could tell how she was feeling. At the end, she turned away and cried for her poor parents. But she spoke not even one word of anger about what had happened to them.
Then, to my surprise, she turned to me and caught me in her arms and kissed me as she had never done before. 'John, I have you. You, and only you. And I want no one else. It does not matter how rich or important my family is.
It was impossible to doubt those clear deep eyes, and bright trembling lips. But I was afraid of what the future would bring. To me, she was Lorna Doone, but to the world, she was Lady Lorna Dugal — young, beautiful, and rich. And if the world learnt about her, it would want to take her away from me. 
Now the date of Tom and Annie's wedding was decided, and I went to Dulverton to buy a present for them. As I was riding, I had time to think more about what Jeremy had told me.
It was clear. from his story that Lorna's mother's family, the Lornes, were the family with whom Sir Ensor Doone had argued about land, before he came to Exmoor. This explained why Lorna's mother had called him her ‘old enemy', when she saw him that terrible night. And this must be why the Doones had carried Lorna away and kept her, and never told her who she really was. If they could marry her to a Doone before she learnt the truth, perhaps they hoped in this way to get the Lorne family's land. They would be rich and important again — and at the same time have revenge on the Lornes. But it would have to be a lawful marriage, so Sir Ensor had taken good care of Lorna and kept her safe from the wild Doone men. And Carver, seeing how beautiful Lorna had become, had decided to marry her himself.
In Dulverton I stayed with Uncle Ben, and his granddaughter, Ruth. She was a beautiful and intelligent girl, and had often been very kind to me.
I did not spend too much money on a present in Dulverton. I was saving for my own wedding to Lorna. I had told her that if her family's great riches ever came to her, I would not touch any of her money. In fact, we had both agreed that we would give nearly everything to the poor, and live simply.
Three days later, dreaming hopefully of the future, I walked into the kitchen at home — and saw immediately that something was wrong. Then Mother and Annie told me that Lorna had gone.
Two men had come from London. They were lawyers and had been sent by the King's judges to take Lorna away. The judges had heard that she was still alive, and they and her uncle had ordered her to come to London. Her uncle was Earl Brandir — the last living person in her family — and Lorna now had to live with him. She could not refuse. She was not yet twenty-one, so she had to do what this uncle and the judges said. Of course, she had begged the lawyers not to take her. But they said they had their orders, and they could not wait for her to say goodbye to me.
Upstairs, by my bed, Lorna had left me a letter. I ran up to read it. She said she loved me, and she said ‘ Goodbye', and the letter finished like this:
John, we have been through so many troubles and dangers, but there is no doubt that we belong together. You must believe me. Whatever happens, I am yours.
But I could not stop myself from thinking: It is over.
* * *
Later, I wondered how the judges and Lorna's uncle had heard that Lorna was still alive. Perhaps Jeremy Stickles had mentioned her in his spying reports to the King and Judge Jeffreys. Perhaps the Doones themselves had sent the news to London --- in order to get their revenge on me. The daughter of so famous a family would not be allowed to marry a simple farmer and live quietly in Devon. Jeremy was away on one of his spying trips now, so I could not ask him about it. But, anyway, there was nothing he could do.
The weeks and months passed, and life on the farm seemed lonely and empty. After Annie married Tom, and went to live with him, I felt even more alone. Sometimes I used to go over and see her in her new home, but it was not the same as having her by my side, the friend and companion from my childhood days.
10洛娜离去
现在，我得把事实真相告诉洛娜。于 是，一两天以后，我怀着悲痛的心情跟她 讲述了杰里米告诉我的故事。我想我的伤 感有一部分是为了我自己，因为此时此刻， 比以前更加确定无疑的是：洛娜的地位要 远远高于我。现在她怎么可能嫁给一名普 通的农夫呢？
我们坐在花园里.她握着我的手，一 言不发地听我讲述。但从她美丽的双眼中 透出的神情和她颤抖的双手，我能了解她 的感受。听完故事，她扭过头为她可怜的 父母痛哭起来。但对于他们所遭遇的不幸， 她却连一句愤慨之词也没有。
接着，令我惊讶的是，她转向我，伸 开双臂将我抱住亲吻起来。她以前从没这 么做过。“约翰，我拥有你，就只有你。别 的人我都不要。无论我的家族有多么富有、 显赫，都没有关系。”
她那清澈深邃的双眼和红润颤抖的双 唇勿庸置疑。但我仍担心将来可能会发生 的事。对于我而言，她是洛娜•杜恩，但 对于世人而言，她是洛娜•杜加尔女勋 爵——年轻、貌美、富有。要是世人知道 了她的情况，一定会想把她从我身边带走。 
* * *
现在，汤姆和安妮的婚期已定，我前 往达尔弗顿为他们买件礼物。骑马的时候， 我有时间进一步想想杰里米所说的话了。
从他讲的故事中不难看出，洛娜的母 亲属于洛恩家族，就是恩索尔•杜恩爵士 在来到埃克斯莫尔之前曾与之发生过田产 争执的家族，正因为如此，洛娜的母亲在 当年那个可怕的夜晚看见他时.才会称他 为“宿敌---而一定也正因为此,杜恩家族 的人才将洛娜抢走并抚养长大，但却从不 告知她的真实身份。也许他们希望能在她 获悉真相之前将她嫁给一名杜恩家族的人， 借此夺得洛恩家族的田产。这样，他们又 能重新富有和显赫起来——同时也向洛恩 家族报了仇。但这场婚姻必须合法，因此 恩索尔爵士精心照顾洛娜，使其免受野蛮 的杜恩家族人的伤害。而卡弗见到洛娜出 落得如此美丽，便决定要娶她为妻。
在达尔弗顿，我同本叔叔以及他的孙 女雲丝住在一起。她是个聪明漂亮的女孩, 对我一直很好。
在达尔弗顿，我并没有花太多钱买礼 物.我正在为自己和洛娜的婚礼存钱。我 曾告诉过她，如果她家族的巨大财富有一天到了她手里，我也决不会碰她一分钱。 事实上，我们俩一致同意会将拥有的绝大 部分财物都捐给穷人，只过简单的生活。
三天后，我带着对未来的憧憬，走进 了家里的厨房——却立刻发现有些不对劲 儿。接着，母亲和安妮告诉我，洛娜走了。
从伦敦来了两个人。他们是律师，奉 国王的法官的派遣前来将洛娜带走。法官 们听说洛娜尚在人间，就和她的舅公一起 命令她前往伦敦。她舅公是布兰迪尔伯 爵——她的家族中最后一位尚在人世的 人——而洛娜现在必须同他生活在一起。 她不能拒绝。她还未年满二十一岁，只能 听从舅公和法官们的命令。当然，她当时 也曾请求律师们不要带她走，但他们说自 己也是奉命行事，而且不能等到她跟我 告别。
洛娜在楼上我的床边给我留了一封信。 我跑上楼读信，她在信中说她爱我，还说 了 “再见”。信的结尾这样写道：
约翰，我们一起经历了很多困难和危 险，但毫无疑问，我们属于彼此。你必须 相信我。无论发生什么事，我都是你的。
但我无法阻止自己这样想：“一切都结 束了。'
* * *
后来，我寻思法官和洛娜的舅公是怎 么知道洛娜尚在人间的。也许杰里米-斯 蒂克尔斯在自己的侦察报告里向国王和杰 弗里斯法官提到了她；也许杜恩家族的人 将消息散布到了伦敦---借此向我报复。 像她这样的名门望族之女是不可能被允许 嫁给一名普通农夫、安安静静地住在德文 郡的。杰里米现在已经去执行他的侦察任 务了，因此我无法向他求证。但无论如何， 他也无能为力。
时光飞逝，农庄上的生活寂寞而空虚。 自从安妮嫁给汤姆并搬去与他同住后，我 越发感到孤独了。有时我会过去看望住在 新家的她，尽管她从我幼年时代起便一直 伴随我左右，是我的朋友和伙伴，但如今 总归不太一样了。