CHAPTER XXXVI “NINE POINTS OF THE LAW”

The man Franklin paused again for a few moments then, in response to my repeated question, said?—

“To the boy Charles old Mr. Burrell gave the name of Wooton, the present-day corruption¹ of Wollerton, and he was brought up by a farmer’s wife at Sutton Bridge for the first ten years of his life, being afterwards sent to school at Hythe, in Kent. At the time I discovered all these facts Dorothy Wollerton, who is, of course, unaware² of her real name, was twenty-two, and her brother Charles a year and three months younger—a smart young man, who had entered the office of a ship-broker in Leadenhall Street. Having obtained this information in secret, together with the whereabouts of both of them, I gave it to my companions, whereupon they at once set to work upon an ingenious plan.

“Miss Drummond—as she believed herself to be—was informed by letter from me as a solicitor³ that in future she would be under the guardianship⁴ of Mr. Charles Purvis, of St. Peter’s Square, Hammersmith, a gentleman who had been appointed by the late Mr. Burrell before his death, while at the same time Bennett got on friendly terms with Charles Wooton. Thus, for the second time in their lives, brother and sister met at Purvis’ house, and, being unaware of their relationship, fell in love with each other.”

The man paused for a moment, regarding the astonishment⁷ upon the faces of all of us. Then he went on, saying?—

“It must be borne in mind that Charles Wooton, being the youngest, was heir to the estate of Bartholomew da Schorno. He was a shrewd young fellow, however, and appears very soon to have entertained suspicions of Bennett and the others, while having made inquiries⁸ regarding Purvis, he found him to be scarcely the sort of man who should be guardian⁵ to Dorothy. He therefore refused to associate with us, and for some weeks we saw nothing of him. Bennett and Purvis, however, prevailed upon Dorothy to invite him one evening to the house at Kilburn, which, by the way, Bennett had taken furnished. He went there on an invitation to supper, and—well, you know the rest. He was stabbed to the heart by Bennett, while I, not knowing what was intended, escorted Dorothy to the house, where the others compelled her to touch the dead man’s face, after which Bennett and Purvis pointed⁶ out to her that she had acted as accessory of the crime.”

“The fiends!” I cried. “And the body—how was it disposed of?”

“It was taken in one of those zinc-lined air-tight travelling chests and left in the cloak-room at Euston, where, I believe, it will still be found. Of course, the assassination⁹ of Charles served two distinct purposes, first to conceal¹⁰ certain ugly facts which he had learnt about both Purvis and Bennett, and secondly¹¹ his death made Dorothy heiress. It was the idea of my three companions that if the treasure were discovered Purvis should at once marry her under threats of exposure and thus obtain the money, distributing a certain portion to each of us.”

“An amazingly ingenious conspiracy¹²!” I said, utterly¹³ bewildered at the strange story he had related. “Then to this moment Dorothy is unaware that Charles was her brother?”

“After his death Bennett told her, but she is in entire ignorance that her real name is Wollerton, or that she is heiress to the Italian treasure.”

A silence fell between us, but it was broken by Franklin, who, continuing, declared?—

“All that I have told you is absolutely the truth. Knowing that you will keep faith with me I have attempted to conceal nothing. Purvis is aware that you are Dorothy’s lover, and he and his friends also know that you carry in your pocket the decipher of the document in the Record Office. Hence their conspiracy to kill you and obtain it. Be warned,” he urged. “Do not keep any appointment with Dorothy, otherwise it may prove fatal to you.”

“Bennett is, I suppose, unaware that I am the man he marooned¹⁴ ten years ago?” remarked Usher¹⁵.

“I believe so. He does not know your name,” was Franklin’s response.

Whereat my companion smiled grimly at thought of the revenge that was to be ours ere many days.

Martin Franklin, although an unscrupulous man, nevertheless kept his word. Probably it was because he feared lest we should give information to the police, and he believed it best to be on the side of the victors rather than the vanquished¹⁶.

Before we had allowed him to go he gave us his solemn promise to hold no communication with Bennett or the others, so that they would not know of our success or of how we had been forewarned of the fresh conspiracy against me.

Leaving Reilly and Usher to guard the treasure I walked with the scoundrelly lawyer to the edge of the wood, where, with a show of politeness that I knew was feigned¹⁷, he bade me good-day and left, not, however, before I had warned him in a few plain words of the consequence of any betrayal of our secret. If what he had told us were actually true, then we had now no fear of the seizure¹⁸ of the gold as treasure-trove. The story, however, seemed to us so romantic as to be hardly credible¹⁹.

However, the removal of the chests and bags was our next consideration, and with that object I walked into Tickencote village, and there obtained a cart and drove on to Stamford. There I purchased a quantity of rope and coarse packing-canvas, conveying them to the spot where my two companions still sat on the oak stump²⁰ smoking, awaiting me. Together we worked on during the whole afternoon packing both chests and bags in the canvas so that their antique nature should attract no attention.

Then, in accordance with an arrangement I had made in Stamford, a railway trolley²¹ met us on the high road at four o’clock, and we conducted its driver around the wood until we came to a drift by which the woodmen were evidently in the habit of entering with their drags. At first the man seemed rather surprised at the nature of his load, but a crisp five-pound note in his palm effectually closed his mouth, and in an hour we had the satisfaction of getting the whole mounted on the trolley, Reilly riding to Stamford Railway Station beside the carter. We had sealed the knots of the cords of each packet with black sealing-wax, which I had bought with the packing materials, therefore at the station we ordered a closed truck, saw them stowed inside for London, and, as we declared the freight to be valuable, the key was handed to me.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

3 solicitor   

n.初级律师，事务律师

参考例句：

• The solicitor's advice gave me food for thought.律师的指点值得我深思。
• The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case.律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。

4 guardianship   

n. 监护, 保护, 守护

参考例句：

• They had to employ the English language in face of the jealous guardianship of Britain. 他们不得不在英国疑忌重重的监护下使用英文。
• You want Marion to set aside her legal guardianship and give you Honoria. 你要马丽恩放弃她的法定监护人资格，把霍诺丽娅交给你。

5 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

8 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

10 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

11 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

12 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

13 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

14 marooned   

adj.被围困的；孤立无援的；无法脱身的

参考例句：

• During the storm we were marooned in a cabin miles from town. 在风暴中我们被围困在离城数英里的小屋内。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks. 埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。 来自辞典例句

15 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

16 vanquished   

v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制

参考例句：

• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I vanquished her coldness with my assiduity. 我对她关心照顾从而消除了她的冷淡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 feigned   

a.假装的，不真诚的

参考例句：

• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work. 他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。
• He accepted the invitation with feigned enthusiasm. 他假装热情地接受了邀请。

18 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

19 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

20 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

21 trolley   

n.手推车，台车；无轨电车；有轨电车

参考例句：

• The waiter had brought the sweet trolley.侍者已经推来了甜食推车。
• In a library,books are moved on a trolley.在图书馆，书籍是放在台车上搬动的。