Kitty had a queer feeling that she was growing. The constant occupation distracted her mind and the glimpses she had of other lives and other outlooks awakened her imagination. She began to regain her spirits; she felt better and stronger. It had seemed to her that she could do nothing now but weep; but to her surprise, and not a little to her confusion, she caught herself laughing at this and that. It began to seem quite natural to live in the midst of a terrible epidemic. She knew that people were dying to the right and left of her, but she ceased very much to think of it. The Mother Superior had forbidden her to go into the infirmaries and the closed doors excited her curiosity. She would have liked to peep in, but could not do so without being seen, and she did not know what punishment the Mother Superior would inflict upon her. It would be dreadful to be sent away. She was devoted to the children now and they would miss her if she went; in fact she did not know what they would do without her.

And one day it occurred to her that she had neither thought of Charles Townsend nor dreamt of him for a week. Her heart gave a sudden thud against her ribs: she was cured. She could think of him now with indifference. She loved him no longer. Oh, the relief and the sense of liberation! It was strange to look back and remember how passionately she had yearned for him; she thought she would die when he failed her; she thought life thenceforward had nothing to offer but misery. And now already she was laughing. A worthless creature. What a fool she had made of herself! And now, considering him calmly, she wondered what on earth she had seen in him. It was lucky that Waddington knew nothing, she could never have endured his malicious eyeing and his ironical innuendoes. She was free, free at last, free! She could hardly prevent herself from laughing aloud.

The children were playing some romping game and it was her habit to look on with an indulgent smile, restraining them when they made too much noise and taking care that in their boisterousness none was hurt; but now in her high spirits, feeling as young as any of them, she joined in the game. The little girls received her with delight. They chased up and down the room, shouting at the top of their shrill voices, with fantastic and almost barbarous glee. They grew so excited that they leaped into the air with joy. The noise was terrific.

Suddenly the door opened and the Mother Superior stood on the threshold. Kitty, abashed, extricated herself from the clutches of a dozen little girls who with wild shrieks had seized her.

“Is this how you keep these children good and quiet?” asked the Mother Superior, a smile on her lips.

“We were having a game, Mother. They got excited. It is my fault, I led them on.”

The Mother Superior came forward and as usual the children clustered about her. She put her hands round their narrow shoulders and playfully pulled their little yellow ears. She looked at Kitty with a long, soft look. Kitty was flushed and she was breathing quickly. Her liquid eyes were shining and her lovely hair, disarranged in all the struggling and the laughter, was in adorable confusion.

“Que vous êtes belle, ma chère enfant,” said the Mother Superior. “It does the heart good to look at you. No wonder these children adore you.”

Kitty blushed deeply and, she knew not why, tears suddenly filled her eyes. She covered her face with her hands.

“Oh, Mother, you make me ashamed.”

“Come, do not be silly. Beauty is also a gift of God, one of the most rare and precious, and we should be thankful if we are happy enough to possess it and thankful, if we are not, that others possess it for our pleasure.”

She smiled again and as though Kitty were a child too gently patted her soft cheek.

凯蒂有一种奇妙的感觉，她正在成长。每天的忙忙碌碌分散了她的注意力，让她有机会观察别人的生活，对未来的展望唤醒了她的想象。她开始精神焕发了，觉得生活越来越好，自己变得越来越坚强。过去的她似乎什么也干不了，只会哭泣，而现在出乎她的意料，一切不再困惑，她自己可以开怀大笑了，即使生活在可怕的瘟疫中心，也开始觉得自然平常。她明知在自己的周围，每天都有很多人死去，但她能够坦然面对。院长嬷嬷禁止她踏足医院，而医院紧闭的大门往往能激起她的好奇心，她真想扒在门缝上往里看看，可担心被别人发现又不能这样做，如果被人看见，她不知道院长嬷嬷会对她进行怎样的惩罚，要是被送回家可就太糟糕了。她现在把全部的心思都放在了孩子们身上，如果她离开了，她们会舍不得的。实际上她也不知道，如果她不在的话，这些孩子该怎么办。

有一天，她忽然意识到，已经有一周她既没有想到过查理，也没有梦到他了。她的心突然快速地跳了一下，她已经走出了这个沼泽，现在可以很平静地看待他，她已经不再爱他了。哦，这种解脱和自由的感觉多美好！回想过去，她还记得当初她是那么狂热地爱着他，这真是匪夷所思的事情。她甚至还想过，如果他不爱她了，她就会痛苦而死，以后的生活会变得了无生趣，只有无尽的伤痛。而现在她已经可以放声大笑了。自己真是没用呀，当初怎么就那么傻呢！而现在，冷静地考虑一下他的情况，她奇怪自己究竟看上了他哪一点。威廷顿幸好对这事一无所知，否则的话，她会无法忍受他嘲弄的眼神和含沙射影的讽刺。她自由了，终于自由了，多么宝贵的自由！她几乎无法控制住自己大声笑了起来。

孩子们正在玩闹和嬉戏，她已经习惯看着她们游戏，在一旁露出宠爱的微笑，如果她们闹得声音太大，她会限制一下，如果玩耍的动作太大，她也会喝止住她们，免得有人受伤。如今她的情绪高涨，感觉就像这些孩子一样，她加入她们的游戏。小姑娘们开心地接纳她的加入，她们在房间里追逐打闹，兴奋得高声喊叫，可以说是极其欢乐的、几乎是疯狂的大合唱。她们越来越开心，屋里洋溢着快乐的气氛，欢闹声快把屋顶都掀翻了。

突然，门开了，院长嬷嬷站在了屋门口。凯蒂有些窘迫地挣脱了一大堆高声尖叫的小姑娘的拉扯。

“你就是这样让这些孩子乖乖地保持安静的吗？”院长嬷嬷问道，嘴角挂着微笑。

“我们正在做游戏，嬷嬷。她们太兴奋了，是我的错，我领她们玩的游戏。”

院长嬷嬷走进了屋子，跟往常一样，孩子们呼啦一下围住了她。嬷嬷用双手搂住了孩子们瘦弱的肩膀，开玩笑般地揪了揪她们的小耳朵。她用一种长时间的、柔和的目光看着凯蒂，凯蒂的脸一下子红了，呼吸也急促起来，她水汪汪的眼睛闪亮着，漂亮的小鬈发由于刚才的打闹和大笑有点儿乱了，样子有些手足无措，但却很可爱。

“你多漂亮呀，我亲爱的孩子。”院长嬷嬷说道，“看着你的模样都赏心悦目，难怪这些孩子那么喜欢你。”

凯蒂的脸变得愈发红了，不知道为什么，泪水突然涌出了眼眶，她用双手蒙住了脸。

“哦，嬷嬷，您让我不好意思了。”

“不用不好意思，别犯傻了，美是上帝赐予的礼物，也是最稀少和珍贵的东西，如果我们能够幸福地拥有它，我们应该感恩；如果我们没有，而别人拥有，能让我们一饱眼福，我们同样也应该感恩。”

好像凯蒂是个孩子，嬷嬷微笑着，用手轻轻地拍了拍她柔软的脸庞。