一个朋友给了我一个镇上裁缝的电话，这个裁缝在家里干活。在绝望之余，我愿意进行任何尝试。于是我决定给她打个电话。
当我赶到她在城镇郊区的简陋的白色房子里时，她仔细地察看了我的礼服，并让我穿上看看。她用别针将礼服的肩膀处和两侧别上，让我两天后来取衣服。她正是我祈祷的福音。
该去取衣服了，我却忐忑不安起来。我怎么这么愚蠢，将一件价值1 200美元的礼服交到一个一点儿也不了解的人手里。如果她改坏了怎么办？我甚至不知道她会不会缝扣子。
谢天谢地，我的担心都是多余的。礼服仍跟以前一样，不过现在我穿上正合适，仿佛是为我量身定做的一样。我谢过那个高兴的女裁缝，并多付了些钱。
然而这只是解决了一个小问题，更大的问题还在后面。情人节那天，未婚夫打来了电话。
“桑迪，我决定了，我对婚姻还没有做好准备，”他说着，语气一点也不温柔，“在成家之前，我要到各处走走，享受几年单身生活。”
他把取消婚礼的所有麻烦留给我，然后很快离开了这个城镇。
我的世界被颠覆了。我愤怒，心碎，不知道该如何撑过去。然而随着日子一天天、一月月流走，我熬过来了。
这个秋季的一天，在超市排队结账的时候，我听见有人叫我的名字。一扭头，看到是那个女裁缝。她很有礼貌地问起我的婚礼，当得知被取消了时她非常惊讶，但随后告诉我下一个也许是最好的。
我再一次感谢她成功修改了我的结婚礼服，并向她保证，礼服被我安全地放起来了，等待着穿上它挽着我真正的“白马王子”走上红地毯的一天。她的眼睛里闪过亮光，开始跟我谈起她的单身儿子Tim。尽管我对重新约会没有兴趣，我还是听任她给我安排跟她儿子的约会。
我的夏季婚礼最终成为了现实，只不过是在一年以后。站在Tim身旁，我终于穿上了我梦中的结婚礼服。在随后的18年里，我们相亲相爱，相濡以沫。如果不是因为这件特殊的礼服，我们永远不会相遇。
实战提升篇
核心单词
engagement [in5^eidVmEnt] n. 订婚；婚约
coerce [kEu5E:s] v. 强制；迫使
anticipate [An5tisipeit] v. 预期，期望；预料
crumble [5krQmbl] v. 粉碎，弄碎
skeptical [5skeptikEl] adj. 怀疑的，多疑的
exactly [i^5zAktli] adv. 确切地，精确地；完全地
assured [E5FuEd] adj. 确定的；自信的；确信的
special [5speFEl] adj. 特殊的；专门的，专用的
实用句型
I did have my summer wedding after all，only a year later.
我的夏季婚礼最终成为现实，只不过是一年以后。
①did在这里表示强调。
②later是late的比较级，类似的表达还有earlier-early等。
翻译行不行
1.快穿上衣服跟我来。(slip on)
2.工作结束后请把工具收拾好。(pick up)
3.他的提议被拒绝了。（turn down）
第一章 When Love Was the Adventure
·Patrick·
On a cold January morning in 1936，George V was given a king’s burial. Following his coffin was his eldest son，the handsome，much loved，Prince of Wales. He was about to be proclaimed the next king of England. He was that exceptional thing: a model royal. He was at ease in every company. Everyone expected him to shake the stuffiness out of the monarchy. But as time passed，as he span between the royal duties，people began to remark that the prince was approaching 40 and still unmarried. Only a privileged few knew that he’d been stepping out with the mysterious American，a woman who was cheating on her husband with the future king of England. This was the lady known as Wallis Simpson，whom he was determined to marry.
So now he was king，but no one could persuade him to give up Wallis. Not even Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin who spoke for the nation when he said Britain did not want an American divorcee for a queen. Ministerial car shuttled between Westminster and Buckingham Palace but the king could not be budged. He was forced to abdicate and all over the country flags flew at half-mast.
In the summer of 1937，there was a quiet wedding in France. The couple looked a bit nervous，especially the groom，but only a year before he’d been a king. Now he and his wife would be called the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
So now the man who’d given up a kingdom and a woman who’d given up two husbands embarked on their endless round of fun and gaiety. In the war years they’d been trapped in the Bahamas，but emerged every now and then to attend the great cultural festivals where they startled the locals with the brilliance of their attire. But the man who’d been a king found he was now only a celebrity. There were even rumors that he and the duchess were breaking up so they had to parade their devotion for the cameras.
Four years later，it was the nation’s turn to mourn the Duke and to reflect on one man’s decision to trade the crown of England for the love of Wallis and the price they had both had to pay.
爱的艰程
帕特里克
1936年1月的一个寒冷的早晨，英国王室为乔治五世举行了国葬。跟在他灵柩后面的是他的长子——英俊而深受爱戴的威尔士王子。他将被宣布成为英国的新国王。他是个模范的皇室成员，卓尔不群又平易近人。人人都期望着他会一改王室拘谨沉闷的形象。但随着时间的流逝，在他履行王室职责的同时，人们开始注意到王子已年近40却仍然形只影单。只有少数几人知道他一直在和一位神秘的美国女子约会，她瞒着丈夫和未来的英国国王来往。这位女士就是沃丽斯·辛普森，是王子决意要娶的人。
他是国王，没人能说服他放弃沃丽斯。连首相斯坦利·巴尔德温也不行——他代表国家说英国不想让一个离过婚的美国人成为王后。大臣们的汽车在威斯敏斯特教堂和白金汉宫之间穿梭往返，但国王却丝毫不为之所动。他被迫让位，为此举国降下半旗。
1937年的夏天，他们静静地在法国举办了婚礼。两人看起来有点紧张，尤其是新郎，一年之前他还是个国王。但现在他和妻子被称为温莎公爵伉俪。
放弃了江山的他和曾经两度离婚的她开始去尽情地享乐。战争时代他们被困在巴哈马群岛，但偶尔会出席一些盛大的文化节庆，他们的华衣美服让当地人惊叹不已。不过曾为国君的他发现自己现在只是个名人。甚至有传言说他和公爵夫人将要离异，于是他们不得不在镜头前展现恩爱的一面。
