Six minutes to six, said the clock over the information booth in New York's Grand Central Station. The tall young Army lieutenant1 lifted his sunburned face and narrowed his eyes to note the exact time. His heart was pounding with a beat. In six minutes he would see the woman who had filled such a special place in his life for the past 13 month, the woman he had never seen, yet whose written words had sustained him unfailingly.
Lieutenant Blandford remembered one day in particular, during the worst of the fighting, when his plane had been caught in the midst of a pack of enemy's planes. In one of his letters he had confessed to her that he often felt fear, and only a few days before this battle he had received her answer: "Of course you fear…all brave men do. Next time you doubt yourself, I want you to hear my voice reciting to you: 'yeah, though I walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will hear no evil: for thou art with me.'…" He had remembered, and it had renewed his strength.
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Now he was going to hear her real voice. Four minutes to six.
A girl passed close to him, and Lieutenant Blandford started. She was wearing a flower, but it was not the little red rose they had agreed upon. Besides, this girl was only about 18, and Hollis Meynell had told him she was 30. "What of it?" he had answered. "I'm 32." He was 29.
His mind went back to that book he had read in the training camp. Of Human Bondage2 it was; and throughout the book were notes in a woman's handwriting. He had never believed that a woman could see into a man's heart so tenderly, so understandingly. Her name was on the book plate: Hollis Meynell. He had got hold a New York City telephone book and found her address. He had written; she had answered. Next day he had been shipped out, but they had gone on writing.
For 13 months she had faithfully replied. When his letters did not arrive, she wrote anyway, and now he believed that he loved her and that she loved him.
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But she had refused all his pleas to send him her photograph. She had explained:" If you're feeling for me has any reality, what I look like won't matter. Suppose I'm beautiful. I'd always been haunted by the feeling that you had been taking a chance on just that, and that kind of love would disgust me. Suppose I'm plain ( and you must admit that this is more likely), then I'd always fear that you were only going on writing because you were lonely and had no one else. No, don't ask for my picture. When you come to New York, you shall see me and then you shall make your decision."
One minute to six…h(huán)e put hard on a cigarette. Then Lieutenant Blandford's heart leaped.
A young woman was coming towards him. Her figure was long and slim; her blond hair lay back in curls over her delicate ears. Her eyes were as blue as flowers, her lips and chin had a gentle firmness. In her pale-green suit, she was like springtime come alive.
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He started toward her, forgetting to notice that she was wearing no rose, and as he moved, a small, provocative4 smile curved her lips.
"Going my way, soldier?" she murmured. He made one step closer to her. Then he saw Hollis Meynell.
She was standing3 almost directly behind the girl, a woman well past 40, her graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump; her thick ankled feet were thrust into low-heeled shoes.
But she wore a red rose on her rumpled5 coat. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly. Blandford felt as though he were being split into two, so keen was his desire to follow the girl, yet so deep was his longing6 for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and upheld his own; and there she stood. He could see her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible; her grey eyes had a warm twinkle.
Lieutenant Blandford did not hesitate. His fingers gripped the worn copy of Human Bondage which was to identify him to her. This would not be love, but it would be something precious, a friendship that he had been and must ever be grateful…
He squared his shoulders, saluted7, and held the book out toward the woman, although even well while he spoke8 he fell the bitterness of disappointment. "I'm John Blandford, and you---you are Miss Meynell. May---may I take you to dinner?"
The woman smiled. "I don't know what this is all about, son," she answered. "That young lady in the green suit, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said that if you ask me to go out with you, I should tell you that she's waiting for you in that restraint across the street. She said it was some kind of test."
1 lieutenant
n.陸軍中尉，海軍上尉；代理官員，副職官員
參考例句：
He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升為陸軍中尉。 He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他說動那個副官，遞上了一張簡短的便條進去。
2 bondage
n.奴役，束縛
參考例句：
Masters sometimes allowed their slaves to buy their way out of bondage.奴隸主們有時允許奴隸為自己贖身。 They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他們的目的在于解脫那些受迷信束縛的人。
3 standing
n.持續(xù)，地位；adj.永久的，不動的，直立的，不流動的
參考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震過后只有幾幢房屋還立著。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他們堅決反對對法律做任何修改。
4 provocative
adj.挑釁的，煽動的，刺激的，挑逗的
參考例句：
She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。 His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑釁性講話只能使爭論進一步激化。
5 rumpled
v.弄皺，使凌亂( rumple的過去式和過去分詞 )
參考例句：
She rumpled his hair playfully. 她頑皮地弄亂他的頭發(fā)。 The bed was rumpled and strewn with phonograph records. 那張床上凌亂不堪，散放著一些唱片。 來自辭典例句
6 longing
n.（for）渴望
參考例句：
Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次聽到那首曲子使她胸中充滿了渴望。 His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃燒著急欲復(fù)仇的怒火。
7 saluted
v.歡迎，致敬( salute的過去式和過去分詞 )；贊揚，贊頌
參考例句：
The sergeant stood to attention and saluted. 中士立正敬禮。 He saluted his friends with a wave of the hand. 他揮手向他的朋友致意。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》
8 spoke
n.（車輪的）輻條；輪輻；破壞某人的計劃；阻撓某人的行動 v.講，談（speak的過去式）；說；演說；從某種觀點來說
參考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他們的輪輻螺帽是從我們公司獲得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.輻條是輪子上連接外圈與中心的條棒。
《Appointment with love》添加時間：2024-12-14；更新時間：2025-03-09
