红玫瑰的考验AointmentwithLove
S。L。基舍
S。L。kishor
Sixminutestosix,saidtheclockovertheinformationboothinNewYorksGrandCentralStation。Thetall,youngArmylieutenantliftedhissunburnedfaceandnarrowedhiseyestonotetheexacttime。Hisheartwasoundingwithabeat。Insixminuteshewouldseethewomanwhohadfilledsuchaseciallaceinhislifefortheast13months,thewomanhehadneverseen,yetwhosewrittenwordshadsustainedhimunfailingly。
LieutenantBlandfordrememberedonedayinarticular,duringtheworstofthefighting,whenhislanehadbeencaughtinthemidstofaackofenemylanes。Inoneofhislettershehadconfessedtoherthatbeoftenfeltfear,andonlyafewdaysbeforethisbattlehehadreceivedheranswer:“Ofcourseyoufear……allbravemendo。Nexttimeyoudoubtyourself,Iwantyoutohearmyvoicerecitingtoyou:‘Yeah,thoughIwalkthroughtheValleyoftheShadowofDeath,Ishallfearnoevil:forthouartwithme。’……”Hehadremembered,andithadrenewedhisstrength。
Nowhewasgoingtohearherrealvoice。Fourminutestosix。
Agirlassedclosetohim,andLieutenantBlandfordstarted。Shewaswearingaflower,butitwasnotthelittleredrosetheyhadagreeduon。Besides,thisgirlwasonlyabout18,andHollisMeynellhadtoldhimshewas30。“Whatofit?”hehadanswered。“Im32。”Hewas29。
Hismindwentbacktothatbookhehadreadinthetrainingcam。OfHumanBondageitwas;andthroughoutthebookwerenotesinawoman’shandwriting。Hehadneverbelievedthatawomancouldseeintoaman’sheartsotenderly,sounderstandingly。Hernamewasonthebooklate:HollisMeynell。HehadgotholdofaNewYorkCitytelehonebookandfoundheraddress。Hehadwritten,shehadanswered。Nextdayhehadbeenshiedout,buttheyhadgoneonwriting。
For13monthsshehadfaithfullyrelied。Whenhislettersdidnotarrive,shewroteanyway,andnowhebelievedthathelovedherandthatshelovedhim。
Butshehadrefusedallhisleastosendhimherhotograh。Shehadexlained:“Ifyourfeelingformehasanyreality,whatIlooklikewon’tmatter。SuoseI’mbeautiful。I’dalwaysbehauntedbythefeelingthatyouhadbeentakingachanceonjustthat,andthatkindoflovewoulddisgustme。SuoseI’mlain(andyoumustadmitthatthisismorelikely),thenI’dalwaysfearthatyouwereonlygoingonwritingbecauseyouwerelonelyandhadnooneelse。No,don’taskformyicture。WhenyoucometoNewYork,youshallseemeandthenyoushallmakeyourdecision。”
Oneminutetosix……heulledhardonacigarette。ThenLieutenantBlandfordsheartleaed。
Ayoungwomanwascomingtowardhim。Herfigurewaslongandslim,herblondhairlaybackincurlsoverherdelicateears。Hereyeswereasblueasflowers,herlisandchinhadagentlefirmness。Inherale-greensuit,shewaslikesringtimecomealive。
Hestartedtowardher,forgettingtonoticethatshewaswearingnorose,andashemoved,asmall,rovocativesmilecurvedherlis。
“Goingmyway,soldier?”shemurmured。Hemadeonesteclosertoher。ThenhesawHollisMeynell。
Shewasstandingalmostdirectlybehindthegirl,awomanwellast40,hergrayinghairtuckedunderawornhat。Shewasmorethanlum;herthickankledfeetwerethrustintolow-heeledshoes。
Butsheworearedroseonherrumledcoat。
Thegirlinthegreensuitwaswalkingquickly。
Blandfordfeltasthoughhewerebeingslitintotwo,sokeenwashisdesiretofollowthegirl,yetsodeewashislongingforthewomanwhosesirithadtrulycomanionedanduheldhisown;andthereshestood。Hecouldseeherale,lumfacewasgentleandsensible;hergrayeyeshadawarmtwinkle。
LieutenantBlandforddidnothesitate。HisfingersgriedtheworncoyofHumanBondagewhichwastoidentifyhimtoher。Thiswouldnotbelove,butitwouldbesomethingrecious,afriendshiforwhichhehadbeenandmusteverbegrateful……
Hesquaredhisshoulders,saluted,andheldthebookouttowardthewoman,althoughevenwhilehesokehefeltthebitternessofhisdisaointment。“ImJohnBlandford,andyou-youareMissMeynell。May-mayItakeyoutodinner?”
Thewomansmiled。“Idontknowwhatthisisallabout,son,”sheanswered。“Thatyoungladyinthegreensuit,shebeggedmetowearthisroseonmycoat。Andshesaidthatifyouaskedmetogooutwithyou,Ishouldtellyousheswaitingforyouinthatrestaurantacrossthestreet。Shesaiditwassomekindofatest。”
在纽约地铁中心总站,咨询处上方的时钟指向了5点54分。年轻高大的陆军中尉抬起他那被太阳晒得黝黑的脸庞,眯着眼睛看着上面的时间。激动令他心跳不已,6分钟后,他就要见到那个女人了——在过去的13个月里她一直在他的心中占据着特殊位置的女人。虽然他们素未谋面,但她的信却一直是他的精神支柱。
布兰福德中尉还记得那天,那是战斗中最艰苦的时刻,他的飞机被敌机重重包围。他曾在一封信里对她坦言,他常会感到畏惧。就在战斗打响的前几天,他收到了她的回信;“你当然会畏惧,勇士们都会那样,下次在你不自信时,我希望你能听到我为你朗诵的声音,‘啊,是的,尽管我要走过死亡之谷,但我将勇往直前,因为你与我同在。’……”他记得,正是那封信使他重新鼓起了战斗的勇气。
此时,他就要听到她真实的声音了,还有4分钟就6点了。
一个女孩走近他,布兰福德中尉一惊。她戴着一朵花,但不是他们约好的那种小红玫瑰。这女孩只有18岁左右,而霍丽丝·梅内尔告诉过他,她已30岁。“有什么关系呢?”他还回信说,“我32岁”,其实他只有29岁。
他又想到了在训练营时看过的一本书——《人性的枷锁》,书里布满了一个女人的批注。他难以相信,一个女人竟能如此透彻地读懂男人的心。书签上有她的名字:霍丽丝·梅内尔。于是他找来一本纽约市电话簿,查到了她的地址,写信给她,并收到了她的回信。因为执行任务,第二天他就坐船离开了,但他们仍然保持通信。
13个月里,她始终诚挚地给他回信,通常是他的信还未到,她的信就来了。因而,他深信,他们彼此深爱着。
然而,她拒绝送他照片,并解释说:“如果你真心对我,我的外表并不重要。如果我长得很漂亮,我会认为,你爱的是我的外貌,那样会令我很反感。如果我长相平凡(你必须承认这个更有可能),我就会担心,你和我通信,是因为内心孤独,无人倾诉。别向我要照片。你来纽约时就可以看到我了,那时,你便可以做出自己的决定。”
还有1分钟就6点了……布兰福德猛抽了一口烟,心跳更加快了。
一位年轻的女士向他走来,她身段高挑,金黄的卷发拢在小巧的耳后,双唇红润,下巴精致,眼睛深蓝动人。一身淡绿的西装,浑身散发着青春的活力。
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