Любовник леди Чаттерлей
Chapter 2
Nothinginit!Whatdidhemeanbynothinginit?Ifthecriticspraisedit,andClifford’snamewasalmostfamous,anditevenbroughtinmoney...whatdidherfathermeanbysayingtherewasnothinginClifford’swriting?Whatelsecouldtherebe?
ForConniehadadoptedthestandardoftheyoung:whattherewasinthemomentwaseverything.Andmomentsfollowedoneanotherwithoutnecessarilybelongingtooneanother.
ItwasinhersecondwinteratWragbyherfathersaidtoher:’Ihope,Connie,youwon’tletcircumstancesforceyouintobeingademi-vierge.’
’Ademi-vierge!’repliedConnievaguely.’Why?Whynot?’
’Unlessyoulikeit,ofcourse!’saidherfatherhastily.ToCliffordhesaidthesame,whenthetwomenwerealone:’I’mafraiditdoesn’tquitesuitConnietobeademi-vierge.’
’Ahalf-virgin!’repliedClifford,translatingthephrasetobesureofit.
Hethoughtforamoment,thenflushedveryred.Hewasangryandoffended.
’Inwhatwaydoesn’titsuither?’heaskedstiffly.
’She’sgettingthin...angular.It’snotherstyle.She’snotthepilchardsortoflittleslipofagirl,she’sabonnyScotchtrout.’
’Withoutthespots,ofcourse!’saidClifford.
HewantedtosaysomethinglatertoConnieaboutthedemi-viergebusiness...thehalf-virginstateofheraffairs.Buthecouldnotbringhimselftodoit.Hewasatoncetoointimatewithherandnotintimateenough.Hewassoverymuchatonewithher,inhismindandhers,butbodilytheywerenon-existenttooneanother,andneithercouldbeartodraginthecorpusdelicti.
