This coolness in his relations distressed Clare less than it would have done had he been without the grand card with which he meant to surprise them ere long. To produce Tess, fresh from the dairy, as a d'Urberville and a lady, he had felt to be temerarious and risky; hence he had concealed her lineage till such time as, familiarized with worldly ways by a few months' travel and reading with him, he could take her on a visit to his parents, and impart the knowledge while triumphantly producing her as worthy of such an ancient line. It was a pretty lover's dream, if no more. Perhaps Tess's lineage had more value for himself than for anybody in the world besides.
克莱尔家里人的冷淡并没有使他太悲伤，因为他手里握有一张大牌，不久就可以给家里的人一个惊喜。刚刚从奶牛场离开，就把苔丝是一位小姐、是德贝维尔家族的后裔抖露出去，他觉得是轻率的、危险的；因此他先要把她的身世隐瞒起来，带着她旅行几个月，和他一起读一些书，然后他才带她去见他的父母，表明她的家世，这时候他才得意地介绍苔丝，说她是一个古老家族的千金小姐。如果说这算不上什么，但至少也要算一个情人的美丽梦幻。苔丝的身世对世界上任何人来说，也许不会比对他自己更有价值。

Her perception that Angel's bearing towards her still remained in no whit altered by her own communication rendered Tess guiltily doubtful if he could have received it. She rose from breakfast before he had finished, and hastened upstairs. It had occurred to her to look once more into the queer gaunt room which had been Clare's den, or rather eyrie, for so long, and climbing the ladder she stood at the open door of the apartment, regarding and pondering. She stooped to the threshold of the doorway, where she had pushed in the note two or three days earlier in such excitement. The carpet reached close to the sill, and under the edge of the carpet she discerned the faint white margin of the envelope containing her letter to him, which he obviously had never seen, owing to her having in her haste thrust it beneath the carpet as well as beneath the door.
苔丝看见安琪尔对她的态度并没有因为她写信表白了自己。的过去而有什么改变，于是就开始怀疑他是否收到了她的信。在安琪尔还没有吃完早饭之前，她就急忙离开饭桌上楼。她突然想起来再去把那个古怪的房间搜查一遍，长期以来，这个房间一直是克莱尔的兽穴，或者不如说是鸟巢；她爬上楼梯，站在门开着的房间门口，观察着、思考着。她弯下身子从门槛下看去，两三天前，她就是怀着紧张的心情从那儿把信塞进去的。房间里的地毯一直铺到了门槛的跟前，在地毯下面，她看见了一个信封的白边，信封里装着她写给克莱尔的信，由于她在匆忙中把信塞进了地毯和地板之间，很显然克莱尔从来就没有看到这封信。

With a feeling of faintness she withdrew the letter. There it was - sealed up, just as it had left her hands. The mountain had not yet been removed. She could not let him read it now, the house being in full bustle of preparation; and descending to her own room she destroyed the letter there.
她把信抽出来，觉得人都快晕倒了。她拿的就是那封信，封得好好的，和当时离开她手里的时候完全一样。她面前的一座大山还是没有被移开。全屋子的人都在忙着为他们做准备，现在她是不能让他读这封信了；所以她回到自己的房间，在房间里把那封信销毁了。

She was so pale when he saw her again that he felt quite anxious. The incident of the misplaced letter she had jumped at as if it prevented a confession; but she knew in her conscience that it need not; there was still time. Yet everything was in a stir; there was coming and going; all had to dress, the dairyman and Mrs Crick having been asked to accompany them as witnesses; and reflection or deliberate talk was well-nigh impossible. The only minute Tess could get to be alone with Clare was when they met upon the landing.
克莱尔再次看到她的时候，她的脸色是那样苍白，这使得他十分担心。她把信误放进地毯下面这件事，使她把这看成天意，不让她自白；但是她的理智又使她明白不是那样一回事；她仍然还有时间啊。但是一切都处在一种混乱当中；人们进进出出；所有的人都得换衣服，奶牛场老板和克里克太太已经被请来做他们的证婚人；因此思考和认真谈话都是不可能的。苔丝唯一能单独和克莱尔在一起的机会只是他们在楼梯口相遇的时候。

'I am so anxious to talk to you - I want to confess all my faults and blunders!' she said with attempted lightness.
“我非常想和你谈一谈——我要向你坦白我的过错、我的缺点！”她装出轻松的样子说。