The Demon Lover 魔鬼情人

The Demon Lover 魔鬼情人 It is very interesting ...gettingto know you.” He saideagerly. Little quiversi ofexcitement continued to cometo me. I thought what a lovely morning it washere in the sunshine, close to the strong wallsof the castle, the silver sparkle of the water andthis interesting and most handsome young manlooking at me with very thinly veiled admiration. Riding out through the beautiful countrywith Bertrand de Mortemer was an excitingexperience. I could not really explain thisexultation2 which I felt noW. I could only say thatI was enjoying this ride as I had never enjoyeda ride before. I was more drawn to him than Ihad ever been to anyone else on such a shortacquaintance. It was fascinating to talk to himand the little pitfalls3 0flanguage into which nowand then we fell amused us both. We talked andwe laughed and the time flew by most pleasantly. I said to him: “We seem to have becomemends in a very short time.” “Time is always too short when good thingshappen,” he answered. “Life is too short. I tell myselfthat you havecome here with your father who is to paint apicture and you will soon be gone. How am I toget to know you ifl do not do so quickly? How long will it take to paint the miniature?” “I cannot say. So much depends on how thework progresses.” “Not long, I am sure.” “I imagine the Baron will want it done withthe greatest speed.” The mention of the Baron brought a chillinto the afternoon. I must have been enjoying it so much that I had forgotten him. I didn´t realize what was happening to methat afternoon, but it was an enchanted5 0ne. Ibegan to believe afterwards that this was whatpeople meant by falling in love, somethingwhich had never happened to me before. I hadmet very few young men; I supposed I had liveda fairly sheltered life. I had certainly never metanyone in the least like Bertrand de Mortemer.His outstanding good looks, his elegant clothes,his determination to do everything he couldto help, his gentleness which mingled with acertain worldliness6 enchanted me. And yet onthe other hand I felt protective towards him,which was a strange way to feel. I didn´t knowwhy-but then my emotions were so mixedand so strange to me. I was in the first placeovercome with astonishment that I could feel sostrongly about a man who was almost a stranger. So naturally I was excited as we gallopedacross the meadow8 and the castle came intosight. The wind caught at my hair and I lovedthe feel of it. I loved the sound of thudding9hoofs; and he was beside me, laughing, enjoyingit as much as I did. Excitement. Adventure. Daring. And danger. Oh, definitely danger. To come here under false pretences, to workout a deviouslo plan for painting a picture whichwould be mistaken for my father´s work. Thatwas surely courting danger. Oh, but it was exciting. Even as we rode into the stables I was awareofthe change. One ofthe groomsii came runningto us. The Baron had returned. I felt my excitement immediately tempered by apprehension. I looked at Bertrand deMortemer. He seemed to have shrunk13. The testing time had come. “能与你相识……是件有趣的事。”他热切地说。 由于激动的缘故，我忍不住觉得微微颤抖。我在想这是个多么可爱的上午，待在阳光下，紧靠着城堡坚固的高墙，护城河的水波光粼粼，这位迷人的、极英俊的年轻男子用一种略显含蓄的爱慕的眼神看着我。 与贝特朗?德?莫特梅一起骑着马穿过锦绣的乡间田野，令人心旷神恰。我无法解释我现在的喜悦心情，我只能说我这一次骑马时的愉快感觉是前所未有的。没有任何人能像他这样初识不久就强烈吸引着我。和他谈话是一种乐趣，我们不时说些俏皮话，相互逗乐。我们谈着笑着，时间就这样轻松愉快地过去了。 我对他说: “我们好像在非常短的时间里就成了朋友。 “有好事发生的时候总嫌时间太短。”他答道。 “生命太短暂了。我对自己说你是陪你父亲来作画的，你很快就会离去。我要是不这样抓紧行动，我怎么能认识你呢,这次作画需要多长时间,” “不好说，这要看进展怎么样了～” “不会长的，我敢肯定。” “我能想像男爵是想以最快的速度完成。” 因为提到男爵，整个下午变得有些扫兴。我一定是太愉快了，都把他给忘了。 我没有意识到那天下午对我来说意味着什么，但很令人陶醉。后来我才开始相信这就是人们常说的恋爱——一种从未在我身上发生过的事情。我从没见过几个小伙子;我想我一直过着一种相当封闭的生活。我当然没有见过任何哪怕是有一点像贝特朗?德?莫特梅的人。他出众的外貌，他高雅的穿着，他乐于助人的意愿，他温文儒雅的言谈举止和某种老练的处世经验揉合在一起，无不让我陶醉。然而从另一个角度看，我却觉得要保护他，这是一种奇怪的感觉。我不知道为什么——但当时我的情感很复杂，很奇怪。首先我感到非常惊讶，自己竟然会对一个几乎是陌生的男人产生如此强烈的感情。 因此当我们奔驰着穿过草地，重新又看到城堡时，很自然地兴奋激动。风吹拂着我的头发，带给我一种惬意的感觉。我喜欢重重的马蹄声:而且有他在我身边，他笑着，和我一样玩得开心。 激动、冒险、莽撞、危险……噢，绝对是危险。 打着幌子到这里来，执行一个绘画的阴谋，让人家误以为是我父亲一手设计……这必定会招致危险。 噢，但这又很刺激。 甚至在我们骑马进入马厩时，我就知道城堡里发生了变化。一个马夫朝我们跑来。 男爵回来了。 我觉得我的兴奋感锐减，取而代之的是恐惧。我看看贝特朗?德?莫特梅，他似乎已经萎靡不振。 考验的时刻到了。