第二十五章 第二十四章
第二十四章
接下来的事还有谁怀疑呢？两个年轻人一旦打定主意要结婚，凭着锲而不舍的劲头，十有八九能如愿以偿，哪怕他们一贫如洗，哪怕他们多么轻率鲁莽，哪怕他们将来对彼此的最终幸福多么无足轻重。用这样的话作结也许有伤风化，但我相信这是实情；既然如此，倘若这样的男女尚能如愿，那么像温特沃思上校和安妮·埃利奥特这样两个有着成熟的心智、清醒的良知、彼此又各有一份独立财产的人，又怎么会不能压倒一切阻力呢？事实上，他们要压倒的阻力比他们实际遇到的还要大得多，因为除了缺少热情与温厚之外，几乎没有什么令他们苦恼的事。沃尔特爵士没有反对，伊丽莎白也只不过神情冷淡、漠不关心而已。温特沃思上校带着二万五千英镑，凭着功绩和勤勉在职业中达到了极高的地位，再也不是无足轻重的人了。如今他被认为完全有资格向一位愚蠢、挥霍的从男爵的女儿求婚——这位从男爵既无操守又无理智，无法维持上天赐予他的家业，如今能给女儿的钱，也不过是她将来必定得到的一万英镑中的一小部分而已。
其实，沃尔特爵士虽然对安妮没有感情，也没有受到奉承的虚荣心，因此对这桩婚事并不真心高兴，但他绝不认为这对安妮是一桩糟糕的婚事。恰恰相反，当他更多地见到温特沃思上校，多次在白昼的光线下端详他，细细打量他之后，他为他的仪表所倾倒，觉得他外貌上的优越足以与安妮门第上的优越相抗衡；再加上他那悦耳的姓氏，这一切终于使沃尔特爵士能够心甘情愿地提起笔来，准备把这门婚事载入那本光荣的册子。
他们中间唯一一个在感情上持反对态度、足以引起认真忧虑的人，是拉塞尔夫人。安妮知道，拉塞尔夫人理解并放弃埃利奥特先生时必定感到痛苦，而且要真正了解并公正评价温特沃思上校，她也必定要经历一番挣扎。然而，这正是拉塞尔夫人现在必须做的事。她必须学会认识到她对这两个人都看错了；她对两人的判断都受到了外表的影响，失之公允；因为温特沃思上校的举止不合她自己的心意，她便过于轻率地怀疑这些举止表明了一种危险的暴躁性格；因为埃利奥特先生的举止在得体、端正、一般性的礼貌与温和方面恰恰合了她的口味，她便过于轻率地把这些举止当作最正确见解和最健全心智的必然结果而欣然接受。拉塞尔夫人至少得承认自己错得相当彻底，并接受一套新的观点和新的希望。
有些人对性格的洞察有敏捷的感知力、精确的辨别力，简言之，有一种天然的穿透力，这是任何经验都无法比拟的，而拉塞尔夫人在这方面的才智远不如她年轻的朋友。但她是个非常好的女人，如果说她的第二个目标是通达事理、善于判断，那么她的第一个目标就是看到安妮幸福。她爱安妮胜过爱她自己的才智；最初的尴尬过去之后，她便不甚费力地以母亲般的情怀亲近了这个保障她另一个孩子幸福的人。
全家人中，玛丽大概是因这桩婚事而最直接感到满足的人。妹妹出嫁是件体面的事，而且她可以自鸣得意地认为，秋天时把安妮留在自己身边，对这门亲事起了很大的促进作用；再说自己的妹妹总比丈夫的姐妹要好，温特沃思上校比本威克上尉和查尔斯·海特都有钱，这也很令人惬意。或许当他们再次接触时，她也会有些难受，眼见安妮恢复了长姐的权利，成了一位漂亮的四轮轻马车的女主人；但她有一个令人欣慰的前景可以指望。安妮面前没有厄珀克罗斯庄园，没有地产，没有一家之主的地位；只要他们别让温特沃思上校被封为从男爵，她就不愿和安妮互换位置。
如果大女儿对自己的处境也同样满意，那倒好了，因为她那里是不太可能有变化的。她很快就痛苦地看到埃利奥特先生退出了，而从那以后，再也没有合适身份的人出现，甚至无法唤起那随他而逝的毫无根据的希望。
安妮的婚事消息传到埃利奥特先生耳中，完全出乎他的意料。这打乱了他家庭幸福的最佳计划，也粉碎了他作为女婿可以行使权利、借以警惕地保持沃尔特爵士独身的最佳希望。但是，尽管受挫失望，他仍然可以为自己谋些利益和享乐。他很快离开了巴斯；克莱夫人不久也离开了那里，随后听说她在伦敦得到了他的庇护和安置，由此可见他一直在玩着多么两面三刀的把戏，他又是多么决心至少不让自己被一个狡猾的女人排挤掉。
克莱夫人的情感压倒了她的利害算计，她为了这个年轻人的缘故，牺牲了继续对沃尔特爵士耍弄心计的可能性。然而，她既有情感也有手腕；如今尚难断定，究竟是他的狡猾还是她的手腕最终会占上风；是否会在他阻止了她成为沃尔特爵士夫人之后，他本人又在甜言蜜语和百般温存之下，最终让她成为威廉爵士夫人。
毋庸置疑，沃尔特爵士和伊丽莎白为失去这位伙伴、发现受她欺骗而震惊恼怒。他们当然还有尊贵的表亲可以寻求安慰，但他们必定长久地感到，一味地奉承追随别人而得不到别人的奉承追随，只不过是一种半享乐的境地罢了。
安妮很早就确信拉塞尔夫人会恰如其分地爱温特沃思上校，因此她对自己前景的幸福感没有别的缺憾，只有一种意识——她没有任何一个明智的人会看重的亲戚可以献给他。这一点她深感自己的不足。财产上的悬殊根本算不了什么，丝毫不会让她遗憾；但是，她没有家人在那里得体地接待他、评价他，没有体面、和睦、善意可以回报他在兄弟姐妹那里得到的种种厚爱与热诚欢迎——这在她心智在别方面十分幸福的情况下，成了一种同样强烈的痛苦。她在这世上只有两个朋友可以添到他的亲友名单上，那就是拉塞尔夫人和史密斯夫人。不过，他非常愿意与这两位亲近。尽管拉塞尔夫人从前有过种种过失，他现在却由衷地敬重她。虽然他不肯说她当初拆散他们是正确的，但他愿意说几乎所有对她有利的话；至于史密斯夫人，她有各种理由使人很快并长久地喜欢她。
她近来对安妮的善意帮助本身就足以赢得他的心，而他们的婚事非但没有使她失去一位朋友，反而使她得到了两位。在他们安顿下来之后，她是登门最早的客人；温特沃思上校帮助她收回亡夫在西印度群岛的财产，为她写信，为她奔走，以一个无所畏惧的男人和一个坚定的朋友那样的热忱与努力，替她解决了案中一切细碎麻烦，从而充分报答了她曾给予或打算给予他妻子的种种帮助。
史密斯夫人的乐趣并没有因为收入增加、健康改善以及获得了可以经常往来的朋友而受到损害，因为她的乐观和心灵活力始终未减；只要这些主要的幸福源泉还在，她甚至可以藐视更多的世俗财富。她尽可以十分富有、完全健康，却依然幸福。她的幸福之泉在于她精神的光彩，正如她的朋友安妮的幸福之泉在于她心中的温暖。安妮是温柔体贴的化身，她这温柔体贴在温特沃思上校的爱情中得到了充分的回报。唯一可能让她的亲友希望她少些温柔体贴的，是他的职业；唯一可能使她的阳光暗淡的，是对未来战争的忧虑。她以做一名水手的妻子为荣，但她必须为这个职业付出时刻担惊受怕的代价——这个职业，如果说可能的话，在家庭美德方面比在国家的重大意义上更为卓著。
终
Who can be in doubt of what followed? When any two young people take it
into their heads to marry, they are pretty sure by perseverance to
carry their point, be they ever so poor, or ever so imprudent, or ever
so little likely to be necessary to each other’s ultimate comfort. This
may be bad morality to conclude with, but I believe it to be truth; and
if such parties succeed, how should a Captain Wentworth and an Anne
Elliot, with the advantage of maturity of mind, consciousness of right,
and one independent fortune between them, fail of bearing down every
opposition? They might in fact, have borne down a great deal more than
they met with, for there was little to distress them beyond the want of
graciousness and warmth. Sir Walter made no objection, and Elizabeth
did nothing worse than look cold and unconcerned. Captain Wentworth,
with five-and-twenty thousand pounds, and as high in his profession as
merit and activity could place him, was no longer nobody. He was now
esteemed quite worthy to address the daughter of a foolish, spendthrift
baronet, who had not had principle or sense enough to maintain himself
in the situation in which Providence had placed him, and who could give
his daughter at present but a small part of the share of ten thousand
pounds which must be hers hereafter.
Sir Walter, indeed, though he had no affection for Anne, and no vanity
flattered, to make him really happy on the occasion, was very far from
thinking it a bad match for her. On the contrary, when he saw more of
Captain Wentworth, saw him repeatedly by daylight, and eyed him well,
he was very much struck by his personal claims, and felt that his
superiority of appearance might be not unfairly balanced against her
superiority of rank; and all this, assisted by his well-sounding name,
enabled Sir Walter at last to prepare his pen, with a very good grace,
for the insertion of the marriage in the volume of honour.
The only one among them, whose opposition of feeling could excite any
serious anxiety was Lady Russell. Anne knew that Lady Russell must be
suffering some pain in understanding and relinquishing Mr Elliot, and
be making some struggles to become truly acquainted with, and do
justice to Captain Wentworth. This however was what Lady Russell had
now to do. She must learn to feel that she had been mistaken with
regard to both; that she had been unfairly influenced by appearances in
each; that because Captain Wentworth’s manners had not suited her own
ideas, she had been too quick in suspecting them to indicate a
character of dangerous impetuosity; and that because Mr Elliot’s
manners had precisely pleased her in their propriety and correctness,
their general politeness and suavity, she had been too quick in
receiving them as the certain result of the most correct opinions and
well-regulated mind. There was nothing less for Lady Russell to do,
than to admit that she had been pretty completely wrong, and to take up
a new set of opinions and of hopes.
There is a quickness of perception in some, a nicety in the discernment
of character, a natural penetration, in short, which no experience in
others can equal, and Lady Russell had been less gifted in this part of
understanding than her young friend. But she was a very good woman, and
if her second object was to be sensible and well-judging, her first was
to see Anne happy. She loved Anne better than she loved her own
abilities; and when the awkwardness of the beginning was over, found
little hardship in attaching herself as a mother to the man who was
securing the happiness of her other child.
