). She had a great talent and appreciation for the bed (у нее большой талант и понимание в любовных делах;
appreciation — оценка по достоинству; понимание /чего-либо/; умение хорошо разобраться /в чем-либо/; bed — постель), she was not pretty (она не миловидна), but he liked her face (но ему нравилось ее лицо), she read enormously (она ужасно много читала), liked to ride and shoot (любила ездить верхом и стрелять = охотиться) and, certainly, she drank too much (и, конечно, слишком много пила). Her husband had died when she was still a comparatively young woman (муж у нее умер, когда она была еще сравнительно молодой женщиной;
to compare — сравнивать) and for a while she had devoted herself to her two just-grown children (и на некоторое время она посвятила себя двум своим почти взрослым: «недавно выросшим» детям), who did not need her and were embarrassed at having her about (которые не нуждались в ней и которым ее близость только мешала: «были стеснены тем, что имели ее рядом»), to her stable of horses (своей конюшне), to books, and to bottles (книгам и бутылкам). She liked to read in the evening before dinner (она любила читать по вечерам перед ужином) and she drank Scotch and soda while she read (и, пока читала, пила виски с содовой;
Scotch — шотландский; скотч, шотландское виски). By dinner she was fairly drunk (к ужину она была порядком пьяна) and after a bottle of wine at dinner she was usually drunk enough to sleep (а после бутылки вина /выпитой/ за ужином она обычно тут же засыпала: «была достаточно пьяна, чтобы заснуть»).
appreciation [q"prJSI'eIS(q)n], pretty ['prItI], comparatively [kqm'pxrqtIvlI]
She was still a good-looking woman, he thought, and she had a pleasant body. She had a great talent and appreciation for the bed, she was not pretty, but he liked her face, she read enormously, liked to ride and shoot and, certainly, she drank too much. Her husband had died when she was still a comparatively young woman and for a while she had devoted herself to her two just-grown children, who did not need her and were embarrassed at having her about, to her stable of horses, to books, and to bottles. She liked to read in the evening before dinner and she drank Scotch and soda while she read. By dinner she was fairly drunk and after a bottle of wine at dinner she was usually drunk enough to sleep.
That was before the lovers (/все/ это было до любовников). After she had the lovers she did not drink so much (после того как у нее появились любовники, она /уже/ не пила так много) because she did not have to be drunk to sleep (потому что /теперь/ ей не требовалось быть пьяной, чтобы спать = заснуть). But the lovers bored her (но любовники ей надоедали/с любовниками ей было скучно). She had been married to a man who had never bored her (она была замужем за человеком, с которым никогда не было скучно) and these people bored her very much (а эти люди очень =