《小妇人》第35期第7章麦格听到了闲言碎语(2)

　　'The letter is from Mother and the flowers are from Laurie，'said Meg，simply．
　　'Oh，'said Annie，with a strange look．
　　Her mother's loving words and Laurie's kindness made Meg feel much happier and she enjoyed the party very much．
　　Annie made her sing，and someone said that Meg had a fine voice．So Meg was having a nice time—until she heard some one say，on the other side of a large table of flowers：'How old is the Laurence boy？'
　　'Sixteen or seventeen，I think，'said another voice．
　　'It would be an excellent thing for one of those girls，'said a third voice．'Sallie says they are very friendly，and the old man thinks they are all wonderful．'
　　'I expect Mrs M．has made her plans，'said Mrs Moffat's voice，'but do you think the girl knows of them？'
　　'She told that little lie about her mother，and her cheeks went pink．I'm sure the note was from the boy really．Poor thing！She'd be very pretty if she had some nice clothes．Do you think she'll mind if we offer to lend her a dress for Thursday？'

“信是妈妈送来的，花是罗瑞送的，”麦格简单地说。
　　“噢，”萨丽说，带着一种奇怪的表情。
　　母亲充满爱的话语和罗瑞的善良使麦格感到更加高兴，舞会上她玩得很开心。安妮让麦格唱歌，有人说她有一副好嗓子。于是麦格很愉快——直到她听到一大桌子花的那边有人在说话：“劳伦斯家的男孩有多大了？”
　　“十六七岁吧，我觉得，”另一个声音说。
　　“这对那几个女孩子之中的一个倒是太合适了，”第三个声音说，“萨丽说她们都很友好，那个老头也觉得她们都很不错。”
　　“我觉得马奇太太是早有打算了，”墨菲太太说，“可你们觉得那女孩子知道这些吗？”
　　“她拿她母亲撒了个小小的谎，她的脸都红了。我敢肯定那封信其实是那个男孩写的。可怜的孩子！如果她有些好衣服，她会很漂亮的。你们觉得如果星期四晚会时我们借给她一件衣服她会介意吗？”