"What did you do it for?" he asked, and when Tristrem declined to enter into any explanation, he smiled with affable incredulity. "I can, if you insist," he said, "accommodate you with a night's lodging3." And he was as good as his word; but the cell which Tristrem subsequently occupied was not opened for him until the sergeant was convinced that death had really visited the precinct.
Concerning the form in which that death had come, there was at first no doubt. Weldon had been found stretched lifeless on a sofa. The physician who was then summoned made a cursory4 examination, and declared that death was due to disease of the heart. Had Tristrem held his tongue, that verdict, in all probability, would never have been questioned; indeed, it was not until the minuter autopsy5 which Tristrem's statement instigated6 that the real cause was discovered.
It was then that it began to be admitted that violence had been used, but as to whether that violence was accidental or intentional7, and if intentional, whether or not it was premeditated, was a matter which, according to our archaic8 law, twelve men in a pen could alone decide. The case was further complicated by a question of sanity9. Granting that some form of manslaughter had been committed, was it the act of one in full possession of his faculties10, or was it the act of one bereft11 of his senses?
Generally speaking, public opinion inclined to the latter solution. Indeed, there seemed to be but one other in any way tenable, and that was, that the blow was self-inflicted. This theory had many partisans12. The records, if not choked, are well filled with the trials of individuals who have confessed to crimes of which they were utterly13 guiltless. It was discovered that a recent slump14 in Wall Street had seriously affected15 Weldon's credit. It was known that his manner of living had compelled his wife to return to her father's house, and it was shown that she had begun an action for divorce. It seemed, therefore, possible that he had taken his own life in Tristrem's presence, and that Tristrem, in the horror of the spectacle, had become mentally unhinged.
In addition to this, there was against Tristrem—aside, of course, from the confession—barely a scintilla16 of evidence. The very instrument which was found on his person, and with which he declared the murder had been committed, was said not to belong to him. A servant of Weldon's thought she had once seen it in the possession of her late master. And it was argued that Tristrem had caught it up when it fell from the hand of the dead, and, in the consternation17 of the moment, had thrust it in his own pocket. Moreover, as suicides go, there was in Weldon's case a tangible18 excuse. He was on the edge of bankruptcy19, and his matrimonial venture was evidently infelicitous20. His life was an apparent failure. Many other men have taken their own lives for causes much minor21.
The theory of suicide was therefore not untenable, and those who preferred to believe that a murder had been really committed were at a loss for a motive22. Tristrem and Weldon were known to have been on terms of intimacy23. Tristrem had been absent from the country a number of months, while Weldon had steadfastly24 remained in New York. During the intervening period it was impossible to conjecture25 the slightest cause of disagreement. And yet, no sooner did the two men have the opportunity of meeting, than one fell dead, and the other gave himself up as his murderer. And if that murder had been really committed, then what was the motive?
This was the point that particularly perplexed26 the District Attorney. It could not have been money. Tristrem had never speculated, and his financial relations with Weldon were confined to certain loans made to the latter, and long since repaid. Nor, through the whole affair, could the sharpest ear detect so much as the rustle27 of a petticoat. Inasmuch, then, as neither of the two great motor forces, woman and gold, was discernible, it is small wonder that the District Attorney was perplexed. To that gentleman the case was one of peculiar28 importance. His term of office had nearly expired, and he ardently29 desired re-election. Two wealthy misdemeanants had recently slipped through his fingers—not through any fault of his own, but they had slipped, none the less—and some rhetoric30 had been employed to show that there was a law for the poor and a more elastic31 one for the rich. Now Tristrem's conviction would be the finest plume32 he could stick in his hat. The possessor of an historic name, a member of what is known as the best society, an habitué of exclusive clubs—a representative, in fact, of everything that is most hateful to the mob—and yet a murderer. No, such a prize as that must not be allowed to escape. The District Attorney felt that, did such a thing occur, he might bid an eternal farewell to greatness and the bench.
But what was the motive of the crime? Long before that question, which eventually assumed the proportions of a pyramid, was seriously examined, it had been demonstrated that the wound from which Weldon had died was not one that could have been self-inflicted. The theory of suicide was thereupon and at once abandoned. And those who had been most vehement33 in its favor now asserted that Tristrem was insane. What better evidence of insanity35 could there be than the giving away of seven millions? But apart from that, there were a number of people willing to testify that on shipboard Tristrem's demeanor36 was that of a lunatic—moreover, did he not insist that he was perfectly37 sane34, and where was the lunatic that ever admitted himself to be demented? Of course he was insane.
A committee, however, composed of a lawyer, a layman38, and a physician, visited Tristrem, and announced exactly the contrary. According to their report, he was as sane as the law allows, and, although that honorable committee did not seem to suspect it, it may be that he was even a trifle saner39. One of the committee—the layman—started out on his visit with no inconsiderable trepidation40. In after-conversation, he said that it had never been his privilege to exchange speech with one gentler and more courteous41 than that self-accused murderer.
Yet still the motive was elusive42. In this particular, Tristrem hindered everybody to the best of his ability. He was resolutely43 mute.
The attorney who was retained for the defence—not, however, through any wish of Tristrem's—could make nothing of his client. "It is pathetic," he said; "he keeps telling me that he is guilty, that he is sane, that he is infinitely44 indebted for my kindness and sympathy, but that he does not wish to be defended. Sane? He is no more sane than the King of Bavaria. Who ever heard of an inmate45 of the Tombs that did not want to be defended? Isn't that evidence enough?"
It was possible, of course, to impugn46 the testimony47 of the committee, but the attorney in this instance deemed it wiser to let it go for what it was worth, while showing that Tristrem, if sane at the time of the committee's examination, was insane at the time the crime, if crime there were, was committed. It was his settled conviction that if Tristrem would only explain the motive, it would be of such a nature that the chances of acquittal would be in his favor. In this, presumably, he was correct. But, in default of any explanation, he determined48 that the only adoptable line of defence was the one already formulated49; to wit, that in slaying50 Weldon his client was temporarily deranged51.
Meanwhile he expressed his conviction to the grief-stricken old man by whom he had been retained, and who himself had tried, unavailingly, to learn the cause. Whether he divined, or not, what it really was, is a matter of relative unimportance. In any event, he had discovered that on leaving Weldon's house Tristrem, instead of giving himself up at once, which he would have done had he at the time intended to do so at all, had gone directly to Miss Raritan.
And one day he, too, went to her. "You can save him," he said.
He might as well have asked alms of a statue. He went again, but the result was the same. And then a third time he went to her, and on his knees, with clasped and trembling hands, in a voice broken and quavering, he besought52 her to save his grandson from the gallows53. "Come to court," he pleaded; "if you will only come to court!"
"I will come," the girl at last made answer, "I will come to see him sentenced."
Such is the truth about Tristrem Varick. In metropolitan54 drawing-rooms it was noticed that since Miss Raritan's return from Europe the quality of her voice had deteriorated55. Mrs. Manhattan said that for her part she did not approve of the French method.
THE END.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
uncommon
|
|
| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
sergeant
|
|
| n.警官，中士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
lodging
|
|
| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
cursory
|
|
| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
autopsy
|
|
| n.尸体解剖；尸检 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
instigated
|
|
| v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
intentional
|
|
| adj.故意的，有意（识）的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
archaic
|
|
| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
sanity
|
|
| n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
faculties
|
|
| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
bereft
|
|
| adj.被剥夺的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
partisans
|
|
| 游击队员( partisan的名词复数 )； 党人； 党羽； 帮伙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
utterly
|
|
| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
slump
|
|
| n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
scintilla
|
|
| n.极少，微粒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
consternation
|
|
| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
tangible
|
|
| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
bankruptcy
|
|
| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
infelicitous
|
|
| adj.不适当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
minor
|
|
| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
motive
|
|
| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
intimacy
|
|
| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
steadfastly
|
|
| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
conjecture
|
|
| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
perplexed
|
|
| adj.不知所措的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
rustle
|
|
| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
ardently
|
|
| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
rhetoric
|
|
| n.修辞学，浮夸之言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
elastic
|
|
| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
plume
|
|
| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
vehement
|
|
| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
sane
|
|
| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
insanity
|
|
| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
demeanor
|
|
| n.行为；风度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
layman
|
|
| n.俗人，门外汉，凡人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
saner
|
|
| adj.心智健全的( sane的比较级 )；神志正常的；明智的；稳健的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
trepidation
|
|
| n.惊恐，惶恐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
courteous
|
|
| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
elusive
|
|
| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
resolutely
|
|
| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
infinitely
|
|
| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
inmate
|
|
| n.被收容者；(房屋等的)居住人；住院人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
impugn
|
|
| v.指责，对…表示怀疑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
testimony
|
|
| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
formulated
|
|
| v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
slaying
|
|
| 杀戮。 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
deranged
|
|
| adj.疯狂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
besought
|
|
| v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
gallows
|
|
| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
metropolitan
|
|
| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
deteriorated
|
|
| 恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |