Emily forgot that he was in love with her—forgot everything, but the effect produced by the locket on Mrs. Rook, and the vaguely1 alarming conclusion to which it pointed2. In the fervor3 of her anxiety she took Alban’s arm as familiarly as if he had been her brother. He was gentle, he was considerate; he tried earnestly to compose her. “We can do nothing to any good purpose,” he said, “unless we begin by thinking quietly. Pardon me for saying so—you are needlessly exciting yourself.”
There was a reason for her excitement, of which he was necessarily ignorant. Her memory of the night interview with Miss Jethro had inevitably4 intensified5 the suspicion inspired by the conduct of Mrs. Rook. In less than twenty-four hours, Emily had seen two women shrinking from secret remembrances of her father—which might well be guilty remembrances—innocently excited by herself! How had they injured him? Of what infamy6, on their parts, did his beloved and stainless7 memory remind them? Who could fathom8 the mystery of it? “What does it mean?” she cried, looking wildly in Alban’s compassionate9 face. “You must have formed some idea of your own. What does it mean?”
“Come, and sit down, Miss Emily. We will try if we can find out what it means, together.”
They returned to the shady solitude10 under the trees. Away, in front of the house, the distant grating of carriage wheels told of the arrival of Miss Ladd’s guests, and of the speedy beginning of the ceremonies of the day.
“We must help each other,” Alban resumed.
“When we first spoke11 of Mrs. Rook, you mentioned Miss Cecilia Wyvil as a person who knew something about her. Have you any objection to tell me what you may have heard in that way?”
In complying with his request Emily necessarily repeated what Cecilia had told Francine, when the two girls had met that morning in the garden.
Alban now knew how Emily had obtained employment as Sir Jervis’s secretary; how Mr. and Mrs. Rook had been previously12 known to Cecilia’s father as respectable people keeping an inn in his own neighborhood; and, finally, how they had been obliged to begin life again in domestic service, because the terrible event of a murder had given the inn a bad name, and had driven away the customers on whose encouragement their business depended.
Listening in silence, Alban remained silent when Emily’s narrative13 had come to an end.
“Have you nothing to say to me?” she asked.
“I am thinking over what I have just heard,” he answered.
Emily noticed a certain formality in his tone and manner, which disagreeably surprised her. He seemed to have made his reply as a mere14 concession15 to politeness, while he was thinking of something else which really interested him.
“Have I disappointed you in any way?” she asked.
“On the contrary, you have interested me. I want to be quite sure that I remember exactly what you have said. You mentioned, I think, that your friendship with Miss Cecilia Wyvil began here, at the school?”
“Yes.”
“And in speaking of the murder at the village inn, you told me that the crime was committed—I have forgotten how long ago?”
His manner still suggested that he was idly talking about what she had told him, while some more important subject for reflection was in possession of his mind.
“I don’t know that I said anything about the time that had passed since the crime was committed,” she answered, sharply. “What does the murder matter to us? I think Cecilia told me it happened about four years since. Excuse me for noticing it, Mr. Morris—you seem to have some interests of your own to occupy your attention. Why couldn’t you say so plainly when we came out here? I should not have asked you to help me, in that case. Since my poor father’s death, I have been used to fight through my troubles by myself.”
She rose, and looked at him proudly. The next moment her eyes filled with tears.
In spite of her resistance, Alban took her hand. “Dear Miss Emily,” he said, “you distress16 me: you have not done me justice. Your interests only are in my mind.”
Answering her in those terms, he had not spoken as frankly17 as usual. He had only told her a part of the truth.
Hearing that the woman whom they had just left had been landlady18 of an inn, and that a murder had been committed under her roof, he was led to ask himself if any explanation might be found, in these circumstances, of the otherwise incomprehensible effect produced on Mrs. Rook by the inscription19 on the locket.
In the pursuit of this inquiry20 there had arisen in his mind a monstrous21 suspicion, which pointed to Mrs. Rook. It impelled22 him to ascertain23 the date at which the murder had been committed, and (if the discovery encouraged further investigation24) to find out next the manner in which Mr. Brown had died.
Thus far, what progress had he made? He had discovered that the date of Mr. Brown’s death, inscribed25 on the locket, and the date of the crime committed at the inn, approached each other nearly enough to justify26 further investigation.
In the meantime, had he succeeded in keeping his object concealed27 from Emily? He had perfectly28 succeeded. Hearing him declare that her interests only had occupied his mind, the poor girl innocently entreated29 him to forgive her little outbreak of temper. “If you have any more questions to ask me, Mr. Morris, pray go on. I promise never to think unjustly of you again.”
He went on with an uneasy conscience—for it seemed cruel to deceive her, even in the interests of truth—but still he went on.
“Suppose we assume that this woman had injured your father in some way,” he said. “Am I right in believing that it was in his character to forgive injuries?”
“Entirely right.”
“In that case, his death may have left Mrs. Rook in a position to be called to account, by those who owe a duty to his memory—I mean the surviving members of his family.”
“There are but two of us, Mr. Morris. My aunt and myself.”
“There are his executors.”
“My aunt is his only executor.”
“Your father’s sister—I presume?”
“Yes.”
“He may have left instructions with her, which might be of the greatest use to us.”
“I will write to-day, and find out,” Emily replied. “I had already planned to consult my aunt,” she added, thinking again of Miss Jethro.
“If your aunt has not received any positive instructions,” Alban continued, “she may remember some allusion30 to Mrs. Rook, on your father’s part, at the time of his last illness—”
Emily stopped him. “You don’t know how my dear father died,” she said. “He was struck down—apparently in perfect health—by disease of the heart.”
“Struck down in his own house?”
“Yes—in his own house.”
Those words closed Alban’s lips. The investigation so carefully and so delicately conducted had failed to serve any useful purpose. He had now ascertained31 the manner of Mr. Brown’s death and the place of Mr. Brown’s death—and he was as far from confirming his suspicions of Mrs. Rook as ever.
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1
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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stainless
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| adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的 | |
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fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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11
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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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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16
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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17
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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19
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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20
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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inscribed
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
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justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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29
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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