The clock above the fireplace stroke six. I rummaged the folded hem of my shot silk dress, sat in the couch, waiting for Nanny and nurse to bring Melinda，Eleanor and Charles to me.壁爐上的鍾敲響了六點。我理了理褶皺的綢裙，坐回沙發，等著保姆把梅琳達, 埃莉諾和查爾斯帶給我。
I met the children at six after dinner everyday. Nanny, and sometimes along with the nurse, would inform me of their conditions. From intervals the governess would come too. She was a timid and slightly stiff blond French girl, petit, and amiable. She would tell me about the Melinda and Eleanor’s progress in her French and Futhark vocabularies.每天晚餐後，我都會在六點鍾見我的孩子們。奶媽會告訴我他們的情況，有時候護士也會一起來。偶爾家庭教師也會過來。她是個羞怯，姿態有些僵硬的法國金發女孩，個子很小，和藹可親。她會告訴我梅琳達的法語和如尼文詞彙背誦的進展。
But they were late tonight, so I went up to the nursery myself. Not surprisingly, Charles had wetted the bed and was howling for nothing at all. Eleanor was sitting on the floor drawing while Melinda, the stern looking five-year-old, was sitting elegantly at her stool with a broomstick picture book on her lap.但是今晚他們遲到了，於是我自己上樓去了育兒室。不出所料，查爾斯尿床了，並且不知道為了什麼在嚎叫不休。埃莉諾坐在地板上畫畫，而梅琳達，那個表情嚴肅的五歲女孩，正優雅地坐在她的高腳蹬上，膝頭放著一本掃帚分類的圖畫書。