I was not expecting Miss Hamerton that afternoon. At three I called her up and said that I had something important to report. She said she was expecting some one later, and did not want to go out. Could I come to her? This pleased me, for since I had to strike her down it was more merciful to do it at home. I went.
She had never looked lovelier. Her room was a bower2 of Spring flowers, and she in a pale yellow dress was like the fairest daffodil among them. She was full of happiness, her cheeks glowing, her eyes sparkling. It did not make my task any easier. I angrily rebelled from it. But she was already asking me what was the matter.
I told her bunglingly enough, God knows, of the second cryptogram3 and where I had found it. It crushed her like a flower trodden underfoot.
Presently, however, she began to fight. "The first thing the thief would do when he found himself under surveillance," she faltered4, "would be to try to divert your attention to some one else."
"He would hardly choose one ordinarily so far above suspicion as the leading man," I said reluctantly.
"He may have known, since he knows so much, that you were already suspicious of Ro—of the other." She could not get his name out.
I felt like the criminal myself, trying to convince her against her heart. "Taken by itself the letter would not be conclusive5, but with the other things——"
"What other things?"
"Well, his provoking you by a bet to wear the genuine pearls."
"There's nothing in that," she said quickly. "If he had had an ulterior motive6 he would have spoken of the bet since. He would have lost it, wouldn't he, to keep us from suspecting?"
I conceded the reasonableness of this—taken by itself. "But his bank account?"
"Bank account?" she repeated, startled. We had not told her of this.
"On April sixth Mr. Quarles deposited forty thousand dollars in cash in the Second National Bank."
All the light went out of her face. "Oh! Are you sure?" she gasped8.
"I have seen the entry in his pass-book. I verified it at the bank."
Her heart still fought for him. "But my necklace was worth only twenty-five thousand. And a thief would never be able to realise the full value of it."
I shrugged10. Naturally I did not care to add to her unhappiness by telling her that the pearls were worth half a million. She thought from my shrug9 that I meant to convey that if her lover had been guilty of one theft why not others?
It crushed her anew. She had no more fight left in her. She sank back dead white and bereft12 of motion. "He's coming here," she whispered. "What shall I say to him? What shall I say?"
"Don't see him," I cried.
"I must. I promised."
I sat there, I don't know for how long, staring at the carpet like a clown.
The telephone rang and we both jumped as at a pistol shot.
I offered to answer it, but she waved me back. She went to the instrument falteringly—but I was surprised at the steadiness of her voice. "What is it?" she asked.
"Let him come up," she said firmly. By her stricken white face I knew who it was.
I jumped up in a kind of panic. "I will have myself carried up to the roof garden so I won't meet him," I said.
"No, please," she murmured. "I want you here."
"But he must not meet me!" I cried.
"Wait in the next room." Her voice broke piteously. "Oh, I must have some one here—some one I can trust!"
What was I to do? I obeyed very unwillingly13. As soon as he entered I found that the transom over the door was open, and I could hear everything that passed between them. Of all the difficult things that have been forced on me in the way of business, that half hour's eavesdropping14 was as bad as any.
He must have been highly wrought15 up because he apparently16 never noticed her state. His very first speech was tragically17 unfortunate. He spoke7 in a harsh strained voice as if the painful thing he had kept hidden so long was breaking out in spite of him.
"Irma, how soon can you replace me in the cast?"
"Eh?" she murmured. I could imagine the painful start she suppressed.
"I want to get out. I can't stand it any longer."
"But why?" she whispered.
"I hate acting19! It is not a man's work."
"Have you just discovered it?" she asked with a little note of scorn very painful to hear.
"No," he said gloomily, "I've always known. If I had been left to myself I never would have acted. But I came of a family of actors. I was brought up to it. I kept on because it was all I knew. It is only since I have acted with you that it has become more than I can bear."
"Why, with me?" she whispered.
"Because I love you!" he said in a harsh, abrupt20 voice.
"Ah!" The sound was no more than a painful catch in her breath.
"Oh, you needn't tell me I'm a presumptuous21 fool," he burst out. "I know it already. You don't know the height of my presumption22 yet. I love you! The silly make-believe of love that I have to go through every night with you drives me mad! I love you! I am ashamed to make my living by exhibiting a pretence23 of love!"
"It was your father's profession and your mother's," she murmured.
"They were the real thing," he said gloomily. "They had a genuine call. They loved their work. I hark back to an earlier strain, I guess. I have no feeling for art to make it worth while. I hate the tinsel and show and make-believe. I want to lead a real life with you——!"
No man has any right to hear another man bare his heart like this. I went to the open window and leaned out. I had forgotten Roland's supposed guilt11. My instinct told me that a guilty man could not have spoken like this.
Even on the window-sill though I tried not to hear, an occasional word reached me. We were so high up that little of the street noises reached us. Bye and bye I heard Roland say "money" and I was drawn24 back into the room. This, I felt, it was my business to hear.
He was still pleading with his heart in his voice. "A month ago I would just have left without saying anything to you. I don't even know that I am fit for anything else but acting. I could not ask you to give it up without having something else to offer you. I suffer so to see you on the stage. To see your name, your person, your doings all public property drives me wild! I cannot stand seeing you show your lovely self to the applause of those vulgar fools!"
"You are mad!" she whispered.
"I know—but I have had a stroke of luck——!"
"Luck?"
"I have come into some money. Oh, nothing much, but enough to give me a start in some new country—if you could come with me! Oh, I am a fool to think it. But I had to tell you I loved you. You would be quite justified25 in laughing, and showing me the door. But I love you! It seemed cowardly to go away without telling you."
"You are asking me to give up my profession?" she murmured unsteadily.
"I ask nothing. I expect nothing. But if you could—! You'd have to give it up. It would kill me otherwise. I could stand better having none of you than half." He laughed harshly. "Am I not ridiculous? Tell me to go."
"I am not so enamoured of make-believe either," she murmured.
She was weakening! I trembled for her. This wretched business had to be cleared up before they could hope for any happiness.
"If I loved you I could give it up," she whispered, "but I am not sure."
It was like a glimpse of Heaven to him. "Irma!" He cried her name over and over brokenly. "My dear love! Then there is a chance—I never expected—Oh! don't raise me up only to cast me down lower than before!"
I went to the window-sill again and leaned out.
There I was still when she came in. She was trembling and breathing fast.
"He has gone," she said.
She led me back into the outer room. She noticed that the transom was open. "You heard?" she said startled.
"Some," I said uncomfortably. "More than I wanted to."
"I don't care," she said.
"Have you promised to marry him?" I asked.
She shook her head. "I have promised nothing. I asked for time."
"Good!" I said involuntarily.
She looked at me startled. "You heard!" she said defiantly26. "Were they the words of a guilty man?"
"Not if I know anything about human nature," I said promptly27.
The sweetest gratitude28 lighted up her face. "Oh, thank you!" she said. She was very near tears. "Anything else would be unbelievable!"
"Give me one day more," I suggested.
"No! No!" she cried with surprising energy. "I will not carry this tragic18 farce29 any further. I hate the pearls now. I would not wear them if I did get them back. They are gone. Let them go!"
"But Miss Hamerton——" I persisted.
"Not another word!" she cried. "My mind is made up!"
"I must speak," I said doggedly30. "Because you as much as said you depended on getting honest advice from me. You can't stop now. If you marry Mr. Quarles, the fact that you have suspected him though it was only for a moment will haunt you all your life. No marriage is a bed of roses. When trouble does come your grim spectre will invariably rise and mock you. It must be definitely laid in its grave before you can marry the man."
The bold style of my speech made her pause. I had never spoken to her in that way before. She eyed me frowning.
"I hope you know it's not the job I'm after," I went on. "I never had work to do that I enjoyed less. But you put it up to me to give you honest advice."
"I can't spy on the man I love," she faltered.
"You can't marry the man you suspect," I returned.
"I don't suspect him."
"The suspicious circumstances are not yet explained."
"Very well, then, I'll send for him to come back, and he will explain them."
I had a flash of insight into the character of my young friend. "No!" I cried. "If he knew that you had ever suspected him, he would never forgive you."
"Then what do you want me to do?" she cried.
"Give me twenty-four hours to produce proofs of his innocence31."
She gave in with a gesture.
Leaving Miss Hamerton I walked twice around Bryant Square to put my thoughts in order. I wished to believe in Roland's innocence almost as ardently32 as she did, but I had to force myself to keep an open mind. A fixed33 idea one way or the other is fatal to any investigator34. So I argued against him for a while to strike a balance. I told myself there was a type of man who would stop at absolutely nothing to secure the woman he desired. In the bottom of my heart, like anybody else, I had a sneaking35 admiration36 for the type.
True, I had never heard of a man robbing a woman in order to secure the means to support her. Still, human psychology37 is an amazing thing. You never can tell! I reminded myself of all the other times I had been brought face to face with the apparently impossible. Particularly is human nature ingenious in justifying38 itself.
I finally made up my mind to search Roland's apartment that night. On my previous visits I had marked a little safe there. Surely it must contain some conclusive evidence one way or the other. What I hoped to find was some natural and honest explanation of the sum of money he had received.
Around the theatre that night Roland and I were as friendly as usual. The shadow was somewhat lifted from his dark eyes. They burned with an expectant fire. An extraordinary restlessness possessed39 him. For all he said he hated it, that time anyway, he outdid himself in playing his r?le. As far as I could see, he and Irma held no communications outside the play.
In pursuance of the plan I had made, I insisted on his supping with me that night. I was free to leave the theatre after the second act, so I went on ahead to order the supper I said. He was to meet me at the Thespis club at half-past eleven. I did order the supper there, then hurried on to his flat, arriving some time before his customary hour of coming from the theatre.
His old housekeeper40 having seen me in his company on several occasions expressed no surprise at my coming. I said I would wait for him, and she left me to my own devices in the front room. I satisfied myself that she had gone to her own room on the other side of the kitchen, three doors away, then I set to work.
I had brought a bunch of skeleton keys and a set of miniature housebreaking tools. I didn't require them, for I found that the little safe had one of the earliest and simplest forms of a lock. Part of my apprenticeship41 had been spent in learning how to open such locks merely by listening to the fall of the tumblers as one turned the knob. All that was required was patience. It was a little after ten. Supposing that Roland waited for me at the Thespis club only half an hour, I had two hours in which to work. It was painfully exciting. I had my first glimpse of the point of view of a housebreaker.
The safe door swung open at last. I looked inside with a beating heart. It contained but little; a diary, which I left for the moment; a wallet containing a sum of money, a bundle of papers enclosed by an elastic42 band. I went over the papers hastily; they consisted of insurance policies, theatrical43 contracts and business letters of old dates which had nothing whatever to do with my case.
However, there was still a little locked drawer to investigate. After a number of tries I fixed a key that would open it. The first thing I saw was a number of pieces of men's jewelry44 that Roland doubtless used for stage properties. The second thing I saw was a beautiful little antique box made of some sweet-smelling wood which contained several notes in Irma's handwriting and some withered45 flowers. The third and last thing was a seal leather case such as jewellers display. Upon pressing the spring the cover flew back and I saw lying on a bed of white velvet46 a string of wonderful dusky pearls.
For many moments I gazed at them in stupid astonishment47. God knows what I expected to find. Certainly not that. What did it mean? It looked just the same as the string Miss Hamerton had showed me. I counted them. There were sixty-seven pearls. Was it another of Roberts' replicas48? Perhaps Roland had bought it and stowed it away for sentimental49 reasons. That seemed pretty far-fetched.
I carried it to the electric light. There I could see the blue cast like the last gleam of light in the twilight50 sky. The bits of stone had a wonderful fire, life. An instinct told me they were genuine pearls. But if they were it must be the string, for Mount had said there were no others. I remembered that Miss Hamerton had told me she had made a little scratch on the clasp and I eagerly looked for it. There was a kind of mark there. At this point I shook my head and gave up speculating.
I slipped the case in my pocket, locked the drawer and locked the safe again. I switched off the lights and let myself quietly out of the flat.
I decided51 to go to the Thespis club as if nothing had happened. I was not at all anxious to meet Roland until I knew where I stood, but I reflected that if I failed him it might rouse his suspicions and precipitate52 a catastrophe53 before I was ready for it. There was not much danger that he would look in his safe that night if I kept him late. His housekeeper would tell him I had been there, but I could explain that. In the morning I would have him watched.
Roland was at the club when I arrived. "I've been at your rooms," I said instantly. "I had an idea I was to wait for you there. But I got thinking it over and decided I had made a mistake."
"You've got a memory like a colander," he said good-naturedly. "Better do something about it."
We sat down to our supper. Roland was in for him, extraordinary spirits. All the while we ate, drank and joked I was wondering in the back of my head what kind of a change would come over his grim, dark, laughing face if he knew what I had in my pocket.
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1
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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cryptogram
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| n.密码 | |
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faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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6
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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7
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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8
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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9
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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bereft
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| adj.被剥夺的 | |
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unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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eavesdropping
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| n. 偷听 | |
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15
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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16
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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tragically
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| adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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presumptuous
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| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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24
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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32
ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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33
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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34
investigator
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| n.研究者，调查者，审查者 | |
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35
sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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36
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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37
psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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38
justifying
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| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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40
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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41
apprenticeship
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| n.学徒身份；学徒期 | |
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42
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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43
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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44
jewelry
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| n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝 | |
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45
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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46
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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47
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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48
replicas
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| n.复制品( replica的名词复数 ) | |
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49
sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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50
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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51
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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52
precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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53
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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