And something in me balked at having that conversation with her in earshot.

我内心的某些东西不愿在耳边与她交谈。

This is not like that person in Step 1 that just happened to be in earshot.

这与第 1 步中刚好在听力范围内的那个人不同。

You can tell when gossip is imminent: voices suddenly lower and there may well be some theatrical looking around to check that the target is not in earshot.

你可以判断什么时候马上就要开始说八卦：声音突然变小，可能会夸张地环顾四周，确定八卦的对象不能听见自己。