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45.

George and I flew from Lesotho to Cape¹ Town, to meet up with some mates, and Marko.

March 2004.

We were staying at the home of the consulate² general, and one night we talked about havingsome people over. For dinner. Just one small problem. We didn’t know anyone in Cape Town.

But wait — that wasn’t completely true. I’d met someone years earlier, a girl from SouthAfrica. At the Berkshire Polo Club.

Chelsy.

I remembered her being…

Different.

I went through my phone, found her number.

Give her a call, Marko said.

Really?

Why not?

To my shock, the number worked. And she answered.

Stammering³, I reminded her who I was, said I was in her town, wondered if she might like tocome over…

She sounded unsure. She sounded as if she didn’t believe it was me. Flustered⁴, I handed thephone to Marko, who promised that it was really me, and that the invitation was sincere, and thatthe evening would be very low-key—nothing to worry about. Pain-free. Maybe even fun.

She asked if she could bring her girlfriend. And her brother.

Of course! The more the merrier.

Hours later, there she was, sailing through the door. Turned out, my memory hadn’t lied. Shewas…different. That was the word that had come to mind when I first met her, and it immediatelycame to mind now, and then again and again during the barbecue. Different.

Unlike so many people I knew, she seemed wholly unconcerned with appearances, withpropriety, with royalty⁵. Unlike so many girls I met, she wasn’t visibly fitting herself for a crownthe moment she shook my hand. She seemed immune to that common affliction sometimes calledthrone syndrome⁶. It was similar to the effect that actors and musicians have on people, except withactors and musicians the root cause is talent. I had no talent—so I’d been told, again and again—and thus all reactions to me had nothing to do with me. They were down to my family, my title,and consequently they always embarrassed me, because they were so unearned. I’d always wantedto know what it might be like to meet a woman and not have her eyes widen at the mention of mytitle, but instead to widen them myself, using my mind, my heart. With Chelsy that seemed a realpossibility. Not only was she uninterested in my title, she seemed bored by it. Oh, you’re aprince? Yawn.

She knew nothing about my biography, less than nothing about my family. Granny, Willy, Pa—who’re they? Better yet, she was remarkably⁷ incurious. She probably didn’t even know aboutmy mother; she was likely too young to recall the tragic⁸ events of August 1997. I couldn’t be surethis was true, of course, because to Chelsy’s credit we didn’t talk about it. Instead we talked aboutthe main thing we had in common—Africa. Chelsy, born and raised in Zimbabwe, now living inCape Town, loved Africa with all her soul. Her father owned a big game farm, and that was thefulcrum of her world. Though she’d enjoyed her years at a British boarding school, Stowe, she’dalways hurried home for the holidays. I told her I understood. I told her about my life-changingexperiences in Africa, my first formative trips. I told her about the strange visitation from theleopard. She nodded. She got it. Brilliant. Africa does offer moments like that, if you’re ready. Ifyou’re worthy⁹.

At some point in the evening I told her I’d soon be entering the Army. I couldn’t gauge¹⁰ herreaction. Maybe she had none? At least it didn’t seem a deal-breaker.

Then I told her that George and Marko and I were all heading off the next day to Botswana.

We were going to meet up with Adi, some others, float upriver. Come with us?

She smiled shyly, gave it a moment’s thought. She and her girlfriend had other plans…Oh. Too bad.

But they’d cancel them, she said. They’d love to come with us.

 

1 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

2 consulate   

n.领事馆

参考例句：

• The Spanish consulate is the large white building opposite the bank.西班牙领事馆是银行对面的那栋高大的白色建筑物。
• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。

3 stammering   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He betrayed nervousness by stammering. 他说话结结巴巴说明他胆子小。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Why,\" he said, actually stammering, \"how do you do?\" “哎呀，\"他说，真的有些结结巴巴，\"你好啊？” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

4 flustered   

adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The honking of horns flustered the boy. 汽车喇叭的叫声使男孩感到慌乱。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was so flustered that she forgot her reply. 她太紧张了，都忘记了该如何作答。 来自辞典例句

5 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

6 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

7 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

8 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

9 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

10 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。