cd_lu: переводы

→“See what?”

→“Keep walking,” Daphne whispered, and she moved faster, drawing Sophia with her around the corner. “Did you see it?”

→Lord Endicott’s town house was half again as wide as its neighbors, with two windows on each side of the door at ground level, and a row of five windows indicating the story above. Each window had its curtains drawn except those of the very top level, which were small and square compared to the larger rectangles of the lower floors, and light shone out from two of those smaller windows. There was no way to see inside those rooms, which were probably servants’ quarters and occupied, making them unsuitable in any case.

→“Walk slowly, and let us hope anyone who sees us believes you are a very short young man,” Sophia said. They linked arms and proceeded around the corner. Lord Endicott’s town house was located in the center of a row of red brick buildings with foundations of white stone blocks, accented with more white stone around the windows and at the corners of the row, like the gap teeth of some monster that intended to consume them all. Miniature versions of Greek temple façades complete with tiny pediments surmounted each door, sheltering them from the weather, though the more modern fanlights surmounting each dark oaken door seemed out of place next to them.

→“That sounds like a challenge, Lady Daphne,” Clevis said with a grin that matched hers, and set the horse to trotting away. Daphne turned to look at Sophia and clasped her hands, which for once were gloved sensibly in white kid; if they were seen, she did not want to be identified by the red gloves.

→She realized they had reached their destination just as they passed Lord Endicott’s town house and Clevis took them down the street and around a corner. “Thank you,” Daphne said as he helped them both down. “I will see you at home soon.” She grinned. “We might even beat you there!”

→They fell silent, each thinking her private thoughts. Sophia watched the other carriages and wondered what they thought of the brightly painted landau, with its two passengers who had not bothered to raise the sides against the chill in the air. It was warm by comparison to Christmas Day, where frost had rimed every window in the Barhams’ house and Sophia had been more than usually grateful for the warmth of the fire. The Christmas service had been lovely, and they had had an excellent dinner, and Sophia was able to put her troubles aside for the space of twelve hours. She felt a little guilty now, guilty at having deceived Cecy, even if it was for her own good. She would be happier not knowing what Sophia was about at that moment.

→“That’s very sensible. All right, we are prepared, and everything will go well,” Daphne said. “We should be at Windermere Street in a few minutes.”

→“Yes, but we are prepared,” Sophia said, forgetting her objections for the moment. “We will stay close together, and remain hooded, and if a servant sees us, you will Bound us away before he can raise an alarm or recognize us. And… well, that would probably mean the end of this plan, as they will be more alert if they believe someone tried to burgle the house, but we will simply have to find some other way.”

→“Of course it is. And as I said, simple is best. The real danger is it might take you a while to find the right object, because the longer we are inside, the more likely it is that someone will find us.” Daphne groped around by her feet and came up with a small lantern. “This should provide enough light without giving us away, if the house is dark, which I hope it is. Oh,” she said, suddenly crestfallen, “you are right, there are so many things that might go wrong!”

→“I believe there are still a dozen things that might go wrong, starting with being caught by Lord Endicott’s servants, but it is a very clever plan, Daphne.”

→“Because, as I said, I can’t Bound to an outdoor location. It’s far too complex, even for me,” Daphne said without a trace of modesty. “So we will Bound back to papa’s house, and then Clevis will take you home! See how simple it is?”

→“I see.” Sophia relaxed a little. Daphne’s enthusiasm had worried her with the possibility that her cousin was not taking this seriously. “So you will Bound us inside, and we will locate the right object, and then… how do we escape? Why do we not have Clevis wait for us?”

→“Very certain! But there is a degree of luck involved. There must be an open window—not open exactly, just not curtained—so I can see the room I will Bound to. And you will have to come with me, because I won’t be able to Bound back for you, not to the outdoors that is. You see, every indoor space has a different essence—that is its shape and what it contains and where everything is, not like the signatures ordinary Bounders use—so if I can see the room, I can memorize its essence and Bound to it. Though it will take a little time, because it is dark—but at any rate this becomes much simpler, and I daresay the simpler we can make it, the better.”

→“You are certain you can get us both inside?” she said.

→She did not sound upset by this possibility. Sophia’s stomach clenched in anticipation. Being caught was unthinkable.

→Clevis snapped the reins next to the horse’s ear, and the landau moved off at a brisk pace. “Clevis is devoted to me,” Daphne said, “and he won’t tell anyone where we went tonight. Though,” her voice dropped to a whisper, “I didn’t tell him anything of what we planned to do, as I’m sure he would consider it his duty to tell mama and papa. So he will let us off some short distance from where we want to go, and then return home. I hope we are not pursued, because we would have no transportation, and then we might be caught.”

→“I agree. Clevis, please take us to Windermere Street.”

→“I apologize for the delay,” Sophia said, climbing up awkwardly to sit next to Daphne, “but I suppose it will be better if we do this in darkness, though it will be harder for us to see well.”

→Daphne was waiting in a gaudy landau around the corner. Its top was down, and a man in a heavy black coat and hat sat on the high seat with his hands on the reins and an air of complete indifference to whatever his passenger might do. Daphne wore her Bounder uniform and a dark cloak much like Sophia’s own, her hair was pinned tightly about her head, and she was flexing her fingers in their tawny kid gloves when Sophia approached. “I have been waiting forever,” she said, “and I’m sure poor Brutus wishes we were moving, he hates standing still in the traces. We had to drive around the street once because people—though there are not many people about at this hour, but this is a rather striking vehicle—I know, but it was the only one Clevis could justify—”