第二天早上，我起得很早，边散步边呼吸着新鲜空气。往回走时，一辆马车在我身边停下来，阿格尼斯·威克菲尔走下车。我看到她那美丽、沉稳的脸正冲我微笑，我顿时觉得心情好多了。她听说我姨婆遇上了麻烦，特到伦敦来看望她。我们一起朝我的寓所走去。
‘You know that Uriah Heep is my father's partner now？'she said quietly．‘His influence over my father is far too great．Father is much，much worse．He looks years older，and I'm afraid that，encouraged by Uriah，he drinks more than ever．Uriah and his old mother live with us now，so I can't always be with Father—to—to protect him from whatever Uriah is planning．I just hope that love and truth will always be stronger than evil！’
“你知道吗，尤赖亚·希普如今已是我父亲的生意合伙人了？”她平静地说道，“他对我父亲的影响太大，父亲身体更加糟糕了。他看上去苍老了好几岁，而且恐怕他受尤赖亚的挑唆喝酒比以前更凶了。尤赖亚和他的老母亲如今和我们住在一起，所以我不能总跟父亲在一起——来——来保护他不受尤赖亚的牵制。我仅仅希望亲情和真诚会战胜罪恶！”
I could not give her my opinion of Uriah，because by then we had arrived at the flat．My aunt was very pleased to see Agnes again，and made us sit down on the sofa next to Peggotty．
我没能谈谈我对尤赖亚的看法，因为那时我们已经走到了我的寓所。姨婆很高兴又一次见到阿格尼斯，并把我们让到辟果提旁边的沙发上坐下。
‘Now let me explain to you all what happened to my money，’said my aunt firmly．I was surprised to see that Agnes was pale and trembling．Betsey Trotwood continued，‘I saved a lot of money over the years，and my lawyer，Mr Wickfield，used to help me invest it in the right companies．But recently I thought he wasn't such a good lawyer as he used to be，so I decided to invest my money myself．What a lot of mistakes I made！Who knows where it's gone？In gold，and foreign banks，and so on．It's no good worrying about it，but I can tell you，there's nothing left．’
“现在我来跟你解释我的钱到底出什么事了，”姨婆坚定地说。奇怪的是，我看见此时的阿格尼斯脸色苍白，浑身发抖。贝茜·特拉伍德继续说，“这些年来我存了一大笔钱，我的律师威克菲尔先生曾帮助我把钱投资到合适的企业。但最近我觉得他已不是原来的那么好的律师了，所以我只好自己决定投资方向。我犯了个多大的错误！谁知道那些钱都去了哪里？换成了黄金，入了外国银行，亦或是别的。为此犯愁没有用，但我可以告诉你，现已一分不剩了。”
The colour was beginning to return to Agnes's face．‘So it—it wasn't my father's fault，dear Miss Trotwood？’
阿格尼斯的脸上重新恢复了血色，“那么说这——这不是我父亲的错，亲爱的特拉伍德小姐？”
‘Not at all，Agnes，’said my aunt cheerfully．‘Now can any of you give me some advice？I've asked my servant Janet to rent my little house in Kent．That will bring in about seventy pounds a year．I think we'll need more than that，to live on．’
“根本不是，阿格尼斯，”姨婆情绪高昂地说道，“现在谁能给我出点主意吗？我已经让我的女仆詹妮特租掉了我在肯特的小别墅。那会给我们带来每年70英镑左右的收入，我想我们靠这些生活是远远不够的。”
‘You and David could share this flat very cheaply，with Mr Dick just round the corner in his rented room，’suggested Agnes．‘And I think I can find a little job for David．Do you remember Dr Strong，the headmaster of the Canterbury school？Now that he's retired and come to live in London，he needs a private secretary to work for him in the mornings and evenings，at his house．He was asking Father about it the other day．What do you think？’
“您和大卫住这套房子，迪克先生就住拐脚处租来的那间房间，开销很小嘛，”阿格尼斯建议道。“而且我想我能给大卫找一份差事。你还记得斯特朗博士吗，坎特伯雷城那所学校的校长？他现已退休，住在伦敦，他需要一位私人秘书，早晚到他家为他工作。他那天向父亲打听此事。你觉得如何？”
‘Agnes！I cried．‘What would we do without you？ You are my good angel，I told you so before！I could easily be Dr Strong's secretary，as well as continuing my work in Mr Spenlow's firm．I'll go and see him today，and arrange it with him．’
“阿格尼斯！”我叫起来，“没有你我们能做什么呢？你是我的好天使，我以前就已经告诉过你！我可以毫不费力地做斯特朗博士的秘书，同时可以继续在斯本罗先生的事务所工作。我今天就去见他，把此事跟他谈妥。”
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