雙語讀電影 《愛麗絲夢(mèng)游仙境-2》第21章 :我之前覺得‘仙境號(hào)’就是我的一切，可它只是一艘船。

The library in the Ascot mansion was usually quite cozy, but Helen Kingsleigh shivered in her seat at the wide oak table. Her eyes were fixed on the two men across from her.
Hamish was tapping his fingers impatiently while James, his clerk, shuffled slowly through a stack of papers.
“In the end, it’s about what Alice needs, Mrs. Kingsleigh,” Hamish said. His voice was as oily as his skin. “Whether she ever returns or not—”
“When she returns,” Helen interrupted. She would never give up hope.
“Now, please, the ship’s deeds—just sign here,” Hamish said, waving his hand toward the papers James held.
“Mr. Harcourt, please,” Hamish snapped. “Time is money!”
Reluctantly, the clerk placed the deed in front of Helen just as a new voice rang out:
“I’m afraid he most certainly is not!”
Everyone’s heads whipped around to see Alice standing in the doorway. She strode forward confidently.
“Time is many things,” she continued. “But he isn’t money, Hamish, or our enemy, Mother.” She nodded at each of them. “But he is real and we must take account of him, Mr. Harcourt, if we are to spend the days he grants us wisely—”
Helen dropped the pen as Alice reached her side.
“—and with those we love most,” Alice finished, taking her mother’s hands in her own.
flustered, Hamish widened his eyes. “Where did you come from?” he asked Alice.
“I walked right through the walls,” Alice said mischievously. “Poof!” She flicked her fingers at him.
As Hamish jumped back, his chair squeaked against the floorboards. James quickly hid a snicker of amusement behind his hand.
“I may not be able to change the past, but I can learn from it.” Alice gazed down at Helen. “Sign the papers, Mother,” she added calmly.
“You ... want me to sign them?” Helen asked in confusion.
Nodding, Alice picked up the pen and handed it to her mother.
“But what about your dreams?” Helen asked, pressing her.
Alice shook her head slightly. “I used to think the Wonder meant everything, but it’s just a ship. There is always another ship. But you and your well-being mean everything to me.” Alice squeezed her mother’s shoulder gently. “You’re my mother, and I only get one.”
Helen and Alice smiled at each other, their eyes full of love and forgiveness.
“So, you’ve decided to be a clerk?” Hamish asked Alice. He turned to his own mother without waiting for an answer. “She decided to become a clerk. I knew she’d give in.” His mouth twisted in a smug sneer.
“You’re not a nice man, Hamish,” Helen said unexpectedly. She glared at him fiercely. “I’m glad my daughter didn’t marry you.”
Alice’s face broke into a grin as Hamish pulled back, stung, and Alexandra let out a startled gasp.
Helen rose to her feet and lifted her chin proudly. “Alice can do whatever Alice chooses to do,” she said. “And so can I!”
Linking arms, Helen and Alice swept from the room, heads held high. The Ascots could do nothing but stare after them, their mouths agape.
 
Some Time Later
Alice hunched over a worn desk, carefully making notes in a ledger. Behind her, a wall held cubbyholes filled with samples of different silks. The door across from her opened and James entered, holding up a marine chronometer.
Alice shut the ledger and headed for the door, avoiding the enormous Chinese vases in the room. James followed her out to a busy wharf overlooking the Hong Kong harbor.
She turned to see two men attaching a new sign above the building she’d just left.
KINGSLEIGH & KINGSLEIGH TRADING CO.
“A full cargo aboard,” James said as he stepped up to her side. “Do we commence with Kingsleigh and Kingsleigh’s maiden voyage?”
“Best check with the commodore,” Alice answered.
They wove through the crowd on the pieruntil they found the commodore, who was gazing out at the sea.
“Commodore, shall we head out of harbor?” James asked politely.
Smiling, Helen Kingsleigh turned to answer him. “Time and tide wait for no man, Mr. Harcourt,” she replied cheerfully. Her face was tan and she was not wearing a corset.
“Or, indeed, woman,” Alice added.
Alice led the way up the gangplank of the Wonder, her mother and friend at her back.
“Captain aboard!” James called to the crew. “Full sail, lads! Full sail!”
Alice leaned over the edge of the deck to watch as a royal Indian barge floated by.
In the center of the barge, a tall Indian prince, dressed in pure white pants and an embroidered red tunic, sat cross-legged on a pile of cushions. He was pouring a glass of wine for his companion—none other than Alice’s aunt Imogene!
“I’m sorry I was so late,” the prince was saying.
Aunt Imogene waved her hand and took the glass. “Don’t worry, my dear,” she said. “I always knew you’d come.”
Alice laughed. She carefully hung first the chronometer and then James’s watch in front of her, smiling at the comforting tick-tick-tick of the watch’s second hand.
She would never take time for granted again, and she meant to savor every minute of it.
Alice placed her hands on the wheel and swung the Wonder into the harbor, ready for her next adventure. Only time would tell what the future held, but she couldn’t wait to find out.

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