24下 | 我找不到，我到不了，你所谓的将来的美好

上集回顾

人家开始约会，他还在一口一个工作！

Kenton的一系列变化：

1. Miss Kenton had started to get letters on a fairly regular basis一周一封，地址是同城

2. her general mood tended to undergo swings（摇摆，改变）of a sort，比如：she became extremely cheerful for days on end - and for noobservable reason莫名兴奋；sudden, oftenprolonged（延续很久的）sullen（人不高兴的；天阴沉的）spells（咒）（翻译：长时间闷闷不乐）

Stevens憋不住了，找她谈话，询问出去的事儿。但是他没有想到Kenton的反应：

正文阅读

I had half expected her to be angry at this inquiry, but on the contrary, it was almost as though she had been long awaiting an opportunity to raise the very topic.

"It occurs to me you must be a well-contented man, Mr Stevens. Here you are, after all, at the top of your profession, every aspect of your domain well under control. I really cannot imagine what more you might wish for in life." 

In the slightly awkward silence that ensued, Miss Kenton turned her gaze down into the depths of her cocoa cup as if she had become engrossed by something she had noticed there. In the end, after some consideration, I said:

"As far as I am concerned, Miss Kenton, my vocation will not be fulfilled until I have done all I can to see' his lordship through the great tasks he has set himself. The day his lordship's work is complete, the day he is able to rest on his laurels, content in the knowledge that he has done all anyone should ever reasonably ask of him, only on that day, Miss Kenton, will I be able to call myself, as you put it, a well-contented man."

In any case, her mood seemed to change at that point, and our conversation rapidly lost the rather personal tone it had begun to adopt.

更加雪上加霜的是：

1.Stevens不顾Kenton的请求，毅然决然取消了他们两个的温情可可时间。Cancel their cozy Cocoa Meeting 

2.后来，Kenton的姑妈突然去世了，噩耗传来News of the death had arrived，Kenton备受打击，伤心欲绝，这个世界上，她的最后一个亲人也不在了。可谓是情感最脆弱的时候，可是这时候Stevens的表现呢？

I made my exit , and "it was not until after I had done so that it occurred to me I had not actually offered her my condolences. I could well imagine the blow the news would be to her, her aunt having been, to all intents and purposes, like a mother to her, and I paused out in the corridor, wondering if I should go back, knock and make good my omission. But then it occurred to me that if I were to do so, I might easily intrude upon her private grief.

Indeed, it was not impossible that Miss Kenton, at that very moment, and only a few feet from me, was actually crying. The thought provoked a strange feeling to rise within me, causing me to stand there hovering in the corridor for some moments. But eventually I judged it best to await another opportunity to express my sympathy and went on my way.

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