Joan did not wear her ring in the Hut, and only Shaun Wylie was told that there was an actual engagement, but the others could see that something was in the offing,
在营房里，琼并没有戴上戒指，订婚的事情只告诉了肖恩·怀利，但其他人也看得出，好像有什么事情即将发生。
and Alan had managed to find a few bottles of scarce sherry, putting them by for an office party when the time came to announce it.
艾伦找了一些雪利酒，在办公室里举行了一个小派对，并宣布了这个消息。
When off duty, they talked a little about the future.
下班的时候，他们讨论一些关于未来的事。
Alan said that he would like them to have children, but that of course there was no question of expecting her to leave such important work at such a time.
艾伦说他喜欢小孩，但是现在显然不能让她丢下如此重要的工作。
Besides, the outcome of the war, in summer 1941, was far from clear, and he still tended to pessimism.
而且在1941年夏天，战争的局势还完全不明朗，艾伦对结局很悲观。
There seemed no stopping the Axis forces in Russia and the south-east.
似乎苏联和东南战线无法抵挡轴心国的力量。
But when Alan said that he could talk to her as to a man, it certainly did not mean that he had to be solemn.
当艾伦说琼就像男人一样时，他只是想开个玩笑，
It was the other way round: he was free to be himself, and not conventionally polite.
他只是自由地表达自己，不在乎什么礼貌。
If he came up with some scheme or entertainment then they would both join in with gusto.
如果他想出一套娱乐方案，他俩就会兴致勃勃地一起玩。
He had learnt how to knit, and had progressed as far as making a pair of gloves, except for sewing up the ends.
艾伦还学习针织，并且织了一副手套，只是不会收口，
Joan was able to explain how to finish them off.
于是琼教他如何收口。
The joy, or the difficulty, was that they enjoyed so easy a friendship.
他们就保持着这样的友谊，这是他们的快乐，也是他们的困难。
They were both keen on chess, and were quite well matched, even though Joan was a novice, whose interest had been drawn by attending Hugh Alexander's course for beginners.
他们都喜欢国际象棋，但琼是还个初学者，她是在休·亚历山大的初级班上产生了兴致。他们配合得很默契。
Alan used to call their efforts 'sleepy chess', taking place as they did after the nine hour night shift.
有一次他们在九小时的夜班后还在下棋，艾伦戏称这不是国际象棋，而是"困际"象棋。