When the Marquis arrived at his castle, he asked if his nephew, Monsieur Charles, had arrived from England.
'Not yet, sir, ' replied the servant, but as the Marquis was eating his dinner, he heard the sound of a coach outside. Soon his nephew entered the room. In England he was known as Charles Darnay.
'You've been away for a long time, ' said the Marquis, with his cold, polite smile.
'I've had many problems in England. Perhaps because of you, ' Darnay said to his uncle.'I was in great danger.'
'No, no, I had nothing to do with your problems, ' replied the Marquis coldly.'Unfortunately, our family no longer has the power that it once had.'
'If it still had that power, one word from you would doubtless send me to prison, ' said Darnay.
'Possibly. For the good of our family.'
'The name of our family is hated everywhere in France. We are hard, cruel landowners. Our miserable people own nothing. They work for us night and day, but they don't even have enough food for themselves and their children. If this land became mine, I would give it away, and go and live somewhere else.'
'You seem to be very fond of England, although you are not a rich man there, ' said the Marquis.'I believe you know another Frenchman who has found a safe home there. A Doctor, I believe'
'Yes.'
'With a daughter'
'Yes.'
'Yes, ' said the Marquis with a secret smile on his face. 'So, a new way of life begins. But you are tired. Goodnight, Charles sleep well. I shall see you in the morning.'
当侯爵到了他的城堡后，他便问起他侄儿查尔斯先生是否从英格兰回来了。
“还没有，先生。”仆人回答说。但是在侯爵吃晚饭时，他听到外面有马车的声音。不久他的侄子便走进屋来。在英国他的名字是查尔斯•代尔那。
“你离开很长时间了，”侯爵带着冷冷的、有礼貌的微笑说道。
“我在英国遇到了很多麻烦，也许是因为你。”代尔那对他的叔叔说。“我的处境曾经非常危险。”
“不，不，我和你遇到的麻烦没有关系。”侯爵冷漠地说。“很不幸，我们的家族不再有它以往的权势了。”
“如果还有那样的权势，你的一句话就可以毫无疑问地把我送进监狱了。”
“也许吧。为了家族的利益嘛。”
“我们家族的名字在法国所有的地方都令人痛恨。我们是心狠手辣的地主。我们苦难的人民一无所有。他们日夜为我们工作，可他们和他们的孩子却食不果腹。如果把这些土地给我，我就把它们分给人，然后离开这儿去别处生活。”
“你似乎很喜欢英国，尽管你在那儿算不上一个有钱人，”侯爵说。“我想你知道另外一个法国人，他已在那儿找到了安身之所。他是个医生，对吗
”
“是的。”
“还有一个女儿”
“是的。”
“啊，”侯爵说，脸上露出神秘的笑容。“那么，一种新的生活方式开始啦。但是你已经累了。晚安，查尔斯，祝你睡个好觉，我明天早上再见你。”
五指山后499年
狮院的莱蒂
你📝吧！