Edith Wharton - The House of Mirth: Bilingual Edition (English – French)

Edith Wharton

translated by
Charles Du Bos

BOOK ONE

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CHAPTER 1

I

Selden paused in surprise.

Selden sarrta surpris.

In the afternoon rush of the Grand Central Station his eyes had been refreshed by the sight of Miss Lily Bart.

Dans la bousculade de laprs-midi, la Grande Station Centrale, ses yeux venaient de rencontrer le visage reposant de miss Lily Bart.

It was a Monday in early September, and he was returning to his work from a hurried dip into the country; but what was Miss Bart doing in town at that season? If she had appeared to be catching a train, he might have inferred that he had come on her in the act of transition between one and another of the country-houses which disputed her presence after the close of the Newport season;

Ctait un lundi, au dbut de septembre: le jeune avocat retournait sa besogne aprs une rapide fugue la campagne; mais que pouvait faire miss Bart en ville, cette poque de lanne? Si elle avait eu lair de prendre un train, il aurait pu en dduire quil lavait surprise son passage entre deux des maisons de campagne qui se disputaient sa prsence aprs la fin de la saison de Newport;

but her desultory air perplexed him. She stood apart from the crowd, letting it drift by her to the platform or the street, and wearing an air of irresolution which might, as he surmised, be the mask of a very definite purpose. It struck him at once that she was waiting for some one, but he hardly knew why the idea arrested him. There was nothing new about Lily Bart, yet he could never see her without a faint movement of interest:

mais son apparence indcise le rendait perplexe. Elle se tenait en dehors de la foule, quelle laissait scouler vers le quai ou vers la rue, avec une mine irrsolue qui Selden le souponnait pouvait masquer un projet trs dfini. Tout de suite il lui vint lesprit quelle attendait quelquun; pourtant il ne se rendait pas bien compte pourquoi cette ide lavait saisi. Il ny avait rien de chang en Lily Bart; mais quoi! il ne la revoyait jamais sans un petit sursaut dintrt:

it was characteristic of her that she always roused speculation, that her simplest acts seemed the result of far-reaching intentions.

elle avait le don de toujours susciter la rflexion; ses actes les plus simples semblaient le rsultat dintentions qui allaient loin.

An impulse of curiosity made him turn out of his direct line to the door, and stroll past her.

Un mouvement de curiosit le fit se dtourner du chemin qui menait la sortie; il dpassa miss Bart en flnant.

He knew that if she did not wish to be seen she would contrive to elude him; and it amused him to think of putting her skill to the test.

Il savait que si elle ne dsirait pas tre vue, elle trouverait moyen de lviter; et la pense de mettre son habilet lpreuve le divertissait.

Mr.Selden what good luck!

Monsieur Selden!... quel heureux hasard!

She came forward smiling, eager almost, in her resolve to intercept him. One or two persons, in brushing past them, lingered to look; for Miss Bart was a figure to arrest even the suburban traveller rushing to his last train.

Elle vint au-devant de lui, souriante, presque empresse, rsolue larrter. Une ou deux personnes, en les frlant, sattardrent regarder: car la tournure de miss Bart tait capable de retenir mme le voyageur de banlieue se prcipitant vers son dernier train.

Selden had never seen her more radiant. Her vivid head, relieved against the dull tints of the crowd, made her more conspicuous than in a ball-room, and under her dark hat and veil she regained the girlish smoothness, the purity of tint, that she was beginning to lose after eleven years of late hours and indefatigable dancing.

Selden ne lavait jamais vue plus rayonnante. Sa tte anime, se dtachant sur les tons obscurs de la foule, tait plus en relief que dans une salle de bal: sous le chapeau sombre et le voile, elle retrouvait le teint de jeune fille, pur et lisse, quelle commenait perdre aprs onze annes de veilles et de danse ininterrompue...

Was it really eleven years, Selden found himself wondering, and had she indeed reached the nine-and-twentieth birthday with which her rivals credited her?

Y avait-il vraiment onze annes, Selden en tait se le demander, et avait-elle vraiment atteint le vingt-neuvime jour de naissance que ses rivales lui prtaient?

What luck! she repeated. How nice of you to come to my rescue!

Quelle chance! reprit-elle. Comme cest gentil vous de venir mon secours!

He responded joyfully that to do so was his mission in life, and asked what form the rescue was to take.

Il rpondit joyeusement quil navait pas t mis au monde pour autre chose, et lui demanda quel genre de secours il pouvait lui apporter.

Oh, almost any even to sitting on a bench and talking to me. One sits out a cotillion why not sit out a train? It isn't a bit hotter here than in Mrs.Van Osburgh's conservatory and some of the women are not a bit uglier.

Oh! tout ce que vous voudrez... jusqu vous asseoir sur un banc et bavarder avec moi... On cause bien un cotillon: pourquoi ne pas causer lintervalle de deux trains? Il ne fait pas plus chaud ici que dans les salons de Mrs.Van Osburgh... et les femmes ny sont gure plus laides.

She broke off, laughing, to explain that she had come up to town from Tuxedo, on her way to the Gus Trenors' at Bellomont, and had missed the three-fifteen train to Rhinebeck. And there isn't another till half-past five.

Elle sinterrompit en riant, expliqua quelle arrivait de Tuxedo, quelle allait chez les Gus Trenor, Bellomont, et quelle avait manqu le train de trois heures quinze pour Rhinebeck.
Et il ny en a pas dautre avant cinq heures et demie.

She consulted the little jewelled watch among her laces.

(Elle consulta la petite montre en pierreries cache dans ses dentelles.)

Just two hours to wait. And I don't know what to do with myself. My maid came up this morning to do some shopping for me, and was to go on to Bellomont at one o'clock, and my aunt's house is closed, and I don't know a soul in town. She glanced plaintively about the station. It IS hotter than Mrs.Van Osburgh's, after all. If you can spare the time, do take me somewhere for a breath of air.

Juste deux heures attendre. Et je ne sais que devenir. Ma femme de chambre est arrive ce matin pour faire des courses et devait partir une heure pour Bellomont; la maison de ma tante est ferme et je ne connais pas une me en ville. (Elle jeta sur la gare un coup dil plaintif.) Aprs tout, il fait plus chaud que chez Mrs.Van Osburgh. Si vous avez du temps perdre, emmenez-moi donc quelque part respirer un peu.

He declared himself entirely at her disposal: the adventure struck him as diverting.

Il dclara quil tait entirement sa disposition: laventure lui paraissait plaisante.

As a spectator, he had always enjoyed Lily Bart; and his course lay so far out of her orbit that it amused him to be drawn for a moment into the sudden intimacy which her proposal implied.

Comme spectateur il avait toujours apprci Lily Bart. Et son genre de vie le tenait si loign du cercle o elle se mouvait que cela lamusait dtre entran pour un instant dans lintimit subite que sa proposition impliquait.

Shall we go over to Sherry's for a cup of tea?

Allons-nous chez Sherry prendre une tasse de th?

She smiled assentingly, and then made a slight grimace.

Elle eut un sourire dassentiment, puis elle fit une lgre grimace:

So many people come up to town on a Monday one is sure to meet a lot of bores. I'm as old as the hills, of course, and it ought not to make any difference; but if I'M old enough, you're not, she objected gaily. I'm dying for tea but isn't there a quieter place?