Henry and Agnes were left alone in the Room of the Caryatides.
The person who had written the description of the palace — probably a poor author or artist — had correctly pointed1 out the defects of the mantel-piece. Bad taste, exhibiting itself on the most costly2 and splendid scale, was visible in every part of the work. It was nevertheless greatly admired by ignorant travellers of all classes; partly on account of its imposing3 size, and partly on account of the number of variously-coloured marbles which the sculptor4 had contrived5 to introduce into his design. Photographs of the mantel-piece were exhibited in the public rooms, and found a ready sale among English and American visitors to the hotel.
Henry led Agnes to the figure on the left, as they stood facing the empty fire-place. ‘Shall I try the experiment,’ he asked, ‘or will you?’ She abruptly6 drew her arm away from him, and turned back to the door. ‘I can’t even look at it,’ she said. ‘That merciless marble face frightens me!’
Henry put his hand on the forehead of the figure. ‘What is there to alarm you, my dear, in this conventionally classical face?’ he asked jestingly. Before he could press the head inwards, Agnes hurriedly opened the door. ‘Wait till I am out of the room!’ she cried. ‘The bare idea of what you may find there horrifies7 me!’ She looked back into the room as she crossed the threshold. ‘I won’t leave you altogether,’ she said, ‘I will wait outside.’
She closed the door. Left by himself, Henry lifted his hand once more to the marble forehead of the figure.
For the second time, he was checked on the point of setting the machinery8 of the hiding-place in motion. On this occasion, the interruption came from an outbreak of friendly voices in the corridor. A woman’s voice exclaimed, ‘Dearest Agnes, how glad I am to see you again!’ A man’s voice followed, offering to introduce some friend to ‘Miss Lockwood.’ A third voice (which Henry recognised as the voice of the manager of the hotel) became audible next, directing the housekeeper9 to show the ladies and gentlemen the vacant apartments at the other end of the corridor. ‘If more accommodation is wanted,’ the manager went on, ‘I have a charming room to let here.’ He opened the door as he spoke10, and found himself face to face with Henry Westwick.
‘This is indeed an agreeable surprise, sir!’ said the manager cheerfully. ‘You are admiring our famous chimney-piece, I see. May I ask, Mr. Westwick, how you find yourself in the hotel, this time? Have the supernatural influences affected11 your appetite again?’
‘The supernatural influences have spared me, this time,’ Henry answered. ‘Perhaps you may yet find that they have affected some other member of the family.’ He spoke gravely, resenting the familiar tone in which the manager had referred to his previous visit to the hotel. ‘Have you just returned?’ he asked, by way of changing the topic.
‘Just this minute, sir. I had the honour of travelling in the same train with friends of yours who have arrived at the hotel — Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Barville, and their travelling companions. Miss Lockwood is with them, looking at the rooms. They will be here before long, if they find it convenient to have an extra room at their disposal.’
This announcement decided12 Henry on exploring the hiding-place, before the interruption occurred. It had crossed his mind, when Agnes left him, that he ought perhaps to have a witness, in the not very probable event of some alarming discovery taking place. The too-familiar manager, suspecting nothing, was there at his disposal. He turned again to the Caryan figure, maliciously13 resolving to make the manager his witness.
‘I am delighted to hear that our friends have arrived at last,’ he said. ‘Before I shake hands with them, let me ask you a question about this queer work of art here. I see photographs of it downstairs. Are they for sale?’
‘Certainly, Mr. Westwick!’
‘Do you think the chimney-piece is as solid as it looks?’ Henry proceeded. ‘When you came in, I was just wondering whether this figure here had not accidentally got loosened from the wall behind it.’ He laid his hand on the marble forehead, for the third time. ‘To my eye, it looks a little out of the perpendicular14. I almost fancied I could jog the head just now, when I touched it.’ He pressed the head inwards as he said those words.
A sound of jarring iron was instantly audible behind the wall. The solid hearthstone in front of the fire-place turned slowly at the feet of the two men, and disclosed a dark cavity below. At the same moment, the strange and sickening combination of odours, hitherto associated with the vaults15 of the old palace and with the bed-chamber beneath, now floated up from the open recess16, and filled the room.
The manager started back. ‘Good God, Mr. Westwick!’ he exclaimed, ‘what does this mean?’
Remembering, not only what his brother Francis had felt in the room beneath, but what the experience of Agnes had been on the previous night, Henry was determined17 to be on his guard. ‘I am as much surprised as you are,’ was his only reply.
‘Wait for me one moment, sir,’ said the manager. ‘I must stop the ladies and gentlemen outside from coming in.’
He hurried away — not forgetting to close the door after him. Henry opened the window, and waited there breathing the purer air. Vague apprehensions18 of the next discovery to come, filled his mind for the first time. He was doubly resolved, now, not to stir a step in the investigation19 without a witness.
The manager returned with a wax taper20 in his hand, which he lighted as soon as he entered the room.
‘We need fear no interruption now,’ he said. ‘Be so kind, Mr. Westwick, as to hold the light. It is my business to find out what this extraordinary discovery means.’
Henry held the taper. Looking into the cavity, by the dim and flickering21 light, they both detected a dark object at the bottom of it. ‘I think I can reach the thing,’ the manager remarked, ‘if I lie down, and put my hand into the hole.’
He knelt on the floor — and hesitated. ‘Might I ask you, sir, to give me my gloves?’ he said. ‘They are in my hat, on the chair behind you.’
Henry gave him the gloves. ‘I don’t know what I may be going to take hold of,’ the manager explained, smiling rather uneasily as he put on his right glove.
He stretched himself at full length on the floor, and passed his right arm into the cavity. ‘I can’t say exactly what I have got hold of,’ he said. ‘But I have got it.’
Half raising himself, he drew his hand out.
The next instant, he started to his feet with a shriek22 of terror. A human head dropped from his nerveless grasp on the floor, and rolled to Henry’s feet. It was the hideous23 head that Agnes had seen hovering24 above her, in the vision of the night!
The two men looked at each other, both struck speechless by the same emotion of horror. The manager was the first to control himself. ‘See to the door, for God’s sake!’ he said. ‘Some of the people outside may have heard me.’
Henry moved mechanically to the door.
Even when he had his hand on the key, ready to turn it in the lock in case of necessity, he still looked back at the appalling25 object on the floor. There was no possibility of identifying those decayed and distorted features with any living creature whom he had seen — and, yet, he was conscious of feeling a vague and awful doubt which shook him to the soul. The questions which had tortured the mind of Agnes, were now his questions too. He asked himself, ‘In whose likeness26 might I have recognised it before the decay set in? The likeness of Ferrari? or the likeness of —?’ He paused trembling, as Agnes had paused trembling before him. Agnes! The name, of all women’s names the dearest to him, was a terror to him now! What was he to say to her? What might be the consequence if he trusted her with the terrible truth?
No footsteps approached the door; no voices were audible outside. The travellers were still occupied in the rooms at the eastern end of the corridor.
In the brief interval27 that had passed, the manager had sufficiently28 recovered himself to be able to think once more of the first and foremost interests of his life — the interests of the hotel. He approached Henry anxiously.
‘If this frightful29 discovery becomes known,’ he said, ‘the closing of the hotel and the ruin of the Company will be the inevitable30 results. I feel sure that I can trust your discretion31, sir, so far?’
‘You can certainly trust me,’ Henry answered. ‘But surely discretion has its limits,’ he added, ‘after such a discovery as we have made?’
The manager understood that the duty which they owed to the community, as honest and law-abiding men, was the duty to which Henry now referred. ‘I will at once find the means,’ he said, ‘of conveying the remains32 privately33 out of the house, and I will myself place them in the care of the police authorities. Will you leave the room with me? or do you not object to keep watch here, and help me when I return?’
While he was speaking, the voices of the travellers made themselves heard again at the end of the corridor. Henry instantly consented to wait in the room. He shrank from facing the inevitable meeting with Agnes if he showed himself in the corridor at that moment.
The manager hastened his departure, in the hope of escaping notice. He was discovered by his guests before he could reach the head of the stairs. Henry heard the voices plainly as he turned the key. While the terrible drama of discovery was in progress on one side of the door, trivial questions about the amusements of Venice, and facetious34 discussions on the relative merits of French and Italian cookery, were proceeding35 on the other. Little by little, the sound of the talking grew fainter. The visitors, having arranged their plans of amusement for the day, were on their way out of the hotel. In a minute or two, there was silence once more.
Henry turned to the window, thinking to relieve his mind by looking at the bright view over the canal. He soon grew wearied of the familiar scene. The morbid36 fascination37 which seems to be exercised by all horrible sights, drew him back again to the ghastly object on the floor.
Dream or reality, how had Agnes survived the sight of it? As the question passed through his mind, he noticed for the first time something lying on the floor near the head. Looking closer, he perceived a thin little plate of gold, with three false teeth attached to it, which had apparently38 dropped out (loosened by the shock) when the manager let the head fall on the floor.
The importance of this discovery, and the necessity of not too readily communicating it to others, instantly struck Henry. Here surely was a chance — if any chance remained — of identifying the shocking relic39 of humanity which lay before him, the dumb witness of a crime! Acting40 on this idea, he took possession of the teeth, purposing to use them as a last means of inquiry41 when other attempts at investigation had been tried and had failed.
He went back again to the window: the solitude42 of the room began to weigh on his spirits. As he looked out again at the view, there was a soft knock at the door. He hastened to open it — and checked himself in the act. A doubt occurred to him. Was it the manager who had knocked? He called out, ‘Who is there?’
The voice of Agnes answered him. ‘Have you anything to tell me, Henry?’
He was hardly able to reply. ‘Not just now,’ he said, confusedly. ‘Forgive me if I don’t open the door. I will speak to you a little later.’
The sweet voice made itself heard again, pleading with him piteously. ‘Don’t leave me alone, Henry! I can’t go back to the happy people downstairs.’
How could he resist that appeal? He heard her sigh — he heard the rustling43 of her dress as she moved away in despair. The very thing that he had shrunk from doing but a few minutes since was the thing that he did now! He joined Agnes in the corridor. She turned as she heard him, and pointed, trembling, in the direction of the closed room. ‘Is it so terrible as that?’ she asked faintly.
He put his arm round her to support her. A thought came to him as he looked at her, waiting in doubt and fear for his reply. ‘You shall know what I have discovered,’ he said, ‘if you will first put on your hat and cloak, and come out with me.’
She was naturally surprised. ‘Can you tell me your object in going out?’ she asked.
He owned what his object was unreservedly. ‘I want, before all things,’ he said, ‘to satisfy your mind and mine, on the subject of Montbarry’s death. I am going to take you to the doctor who attended him in his illness, and to the consul44 who followed him to the grave.’
Her eyes rested on Henry gratefully. ‘Oh, how well you understand me!’ she said. The manager joined them at the same moment, on his way up the stairs. Henry gave him the key of the room, and then called to the servants in the hall to have a gondola45 ready at the steps. ‘Are you leaving the hotel?’ the manager asked. ‘In search of evidence,’ Henry whispered, pointing to the key. ‘If the authorities want me, I shall be back in an hour.’
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1
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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sculptor
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| n.雕刻家，雕刻家 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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horrifies
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| v.使震惊，使感到恐怖( horrify的第三人称单数 ) | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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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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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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maliciously
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| adv.有敌意地 | |
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perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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morbid
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| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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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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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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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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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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gondola
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| n.威尼斯的平底轻舟；飞船的吊船 | |
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