ей надоедали).
Then one of her two children was killed in a plane crash (потом один из ее детей погиб в авиакатастрофе; plane — самолет) and after that was over she did not want the lovers (и после этого она не захотела /иметь/ любовников), and drink being no anaesthetic she had to make another life (а так как выпивка не утоляла боли: «не была обезболивающим средством», приходилось начинать /какую-то/ другую жизнь). Suddenly, she had been acutely frightened of being alone (внезапно ей стало очень страшно быть одной; acutely — остро, сильно). But she wanted some one that she respected with her (но она хотела /иметь/ рядом с собой человека, которого она бы уважала).
It had begun very simply (это = все началось очень просто). She liked what he wrote (ей нравилось то, что он писал) and she had always envied the life he led (и она всегда завидовала жизни, какую он вел; to lead). She thought he did exactly what he wanted to (ей казалось, что он делает точно/именно то, что ему хочется /делать/). The steps by which she had acquired him (шаги, предпринятые ею, чтобы завладеть им: «при помощи которых она завладела им»; to acquire — получать, приобретать; овладевать) and the way in which she had finally fallen in love with him (и то, как она в конце концов полюбила его) were all part of a regular progression (все это было частью правильной = возрастающей прогрессии) in which she had built herself a new life (в которой она строила новую жизнь; to build) and he had traded away what remained of his old life (а он распродавал то, что осталось от его прежней жизни).
anaesthetic ["xnIs'TetIk], frighten [fraItn], built [bIlt]
That was before the lovers. After she had the lovers she did not drink so much because she did not have to be drunk to sleep. But the lovers bored her. She had been married to a man who had never bored her and these people bored her very much.
Then one of her two children was killed in a plane crash and after that was over she did not want the lovers, and drink being no anaesthetic she had to make another life. Suddenly, she had been acutely frightened of being alone. But she wanted some one that she respected with her.
It had begun very simply. She liked what he wrote and she had always envied the life he led. She thought he did exactly what he wanted to. The steps by which she had acquired him and the way in which she had finally fallen in love with him were all part of a regular progression in which she had built herself a new life and he had traded away what remained of his old life.