I must now mention a circumstance which I would wish to forget myself, and which no obligation less than the present should induce me to unfold to any human being.
我得在这里讲一件我自己也不愿意记起的事。这件事我本来不愿意让任何人知道，可是这一次却非得说一说不可。
Having said thus much, I feel no doubt of your secrecy. My sister, who is more than ten years my junior, was left to the guardianship of my mother's nephew, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and myself.
说到这里，我相信你一定能保守秘密。我妹妹比我小十多岁，由我母亲的内侄费茨威廉上校和我做她的保护人。
About a year ago, she was taken from school, and an establishment formed for her in London; and last summer she went with the lady who presided over it, to Ramsgate;
大约在一年以前，我们把她从学校里接回来，把她安置在伦敦居住；去年夏天，她跟管家的那位杨吉太太到拉姆斯盖特去了。
and thither also went Mr. Wickham, undoubtedly by design; for there proved to have been a prior acquaintance between him and Mrs. Younge, in whose character we were most unhappilydeceived; and by her connivance and aid he so far recommended himself to Georgiana, whose affectionate heart retained a strong impression of his kindness to her as a child, that she was persuaded to believe herself in love, and to consent to an elopement. She was then but fifteen, which must be her excuse; and after stating her imprudence, I am happy to add that I owed the knowledge of it to herself. I joined them unexpectedly a day or two before the intended elopement; and then Georgiana, unable to support the idea of grieving and offending a brother whom she almost looked up to as a father, acknowledged the whole to me. You may imagine what I felt and how I acted. Regard for my sister's credit and feelings prevented any public exposure, but I wrote to Mr. Wickham, who left the place immediately, and Mrs. Younge was of course removed from her charge.
韦翰先生跟着也赶到那边去，显然是别有用意，因为他和杨吉太太早就认识，我们很不幸上了她的当，看错人了。仗着杨吉太太的纵容和帮忙，他向乔治安娜求爱。可惜乔治安娜心肠太好，还牢牢记着小时候他对待她的亲切，因此竟被他打动了心，自以为爱上了他，答应跟他私奔。她当时才十五岁，我们当然只能原谅她年幼无知。她虽然糊涂胆大，可是总算幸亏她亲口把这件事情告诉了我。原来在他们私奔之前，我出乎意料地来到他们那里；乔治安娜一贯把我这样一个哥哥当作父亲般看待，她不忍叫我伤心受气，于是把这件事向我和盘托出。你可以想象得到，我当时是怎样的感触，又采取了怎样的行动。为了顾全妹妹的名誉和情绪，我没有把这件事公开揭露出来；可是我写了封信给韦翰先生，叫他立刻离开那个地方，杨吉太太当然也给打发走了。
