“Perfectly1!” replied Arthur Rance. “I recognise you as the lad at the bar. [The face of Rouletabille crimsoned2 at being called a “lad.”] I want to shake hands with you. You are a bright little fellow.”
The American extended his hand and Rouletabille, relaxing his frown, shook it and introduced Mr. Arthur Rance to me. He invited him to share our meal.
“No thanks. I breakfasted with Monsieur Stangerson.”
Arthur Rance spoke3 French perfectly,—almost without an accent.
“I did not expect to have the pleasure of seeing you again, Monsieur. I thought you were to have left France the day after the reception at the Elysee.”
Rouletabille and I, outwardly indifferent, listened most intently for every word the American would say.
The man’s purplish red face, his heavy eyelids4, the nervous twitchings, all spoke of his addiction5 to drink. How came it that so sorry a specimen6 of a man should be so intimate with Monsieur Stangerson?
Some days later, I learned from Frederic Larsan—who, like ourselves, was surprised and mystified by his appearance and reception at the chateau7—that Mr. Rance had been an inebriate8 for only about fifteen years; that is to say, since the professor and his daughter left Philadelphia. During the time the Stangersons lived in America they were very intimate with Arthur Rance, who was one of the most distinguished9 phrenologists of the new world. Owing to new experiments, he had made enormous strides beyond the science of Gall10 and Lavater. The friendliness11 with which he was received at the Glandier may be explained by the fact that he had once rendered Mademoiselle Stangerson a great service by stopping, at the peril12 of his own life, the runaway13 horses of her carriage. The immediate14 result of that could, however, have been no more than a mere15 friendly association with the Stangersons; certainly, not a love affair.
Frederic Larsan did not tell me where he had picked up this information; but he appeared to be quite sure of what he said.
Had we known these facts at the time Arthur Rance met us at the Donjon Inn, his presence at the chateau might not have puzzled us, but they could not have failed to increase our interest in the man himself. The American must have been at least forty-five years old. He spoke in a perfectly natural tone in reply to Rouletabille’s question.
“I put off my return to America when I heard of the attack on Mademoiselle Stangerson. I wanted to be certain the lady had not been killed, and I shall not go away until she is perfectly recovered.”
Arthur Rance then took the lead in talk, paying no heed16 to some of Rouletabille’s questions. He gave us, without our inviting17 him, his personal views on the subject of the tragedy,—views which, as well as I could make out, were not far from those held by Frederic Larzan. The American also thought that Robert Darzac had something to do with the matter. He did not mention him by name, but there was no room to doubt whom he meant. He told us he was aware of the efforts young Rouletabille was making to unravel18 the tangled19 skein of The Yellow Room mystery. He explained that Monsieur Stangerson had related to him all that had taken place in the inexplicable20 gallery. He several times expressed his regret at Monsieur Darzac’s absence from the chateau on all these occasions, and thought that Monsieur Darzac had done cleverly in allying himself with Monsieur Joseph Rouletabille, who could not fail, sooner or later, to discover the murderer. He spoke the last sentence with unconcealed irony22. Then he rose, bowed to us, and left the inn.
Rouletabille watched him through the window.
“An odd fish, that!” he said.
“Do you think he’ll pass the night at the Glandier?” I asked.
To my amazement23 the young reporter answered that it was a matter of entire indifference24 to him whether he did or not.
As to how we spent our time during the afternoon, all I need say is that Rouletabille led me to the grotto25 of Sainte-Genevieve, and, all the time, talked of every subject but the one in which we were most interested. Towards evening I was surprised to find Rouletabille making none of the preparations I had expected him to make. I spoke to him about it when night had come on, and we were once more in his room. He replied that all his arrangements had already been made, and this time the murderer would not get away from him.
I expressed some doubt on this, reminding him of his disappearance26 in the gallery, and suggested that the same phenomenon might occur again. He answered that he hoped it would. He desired nothing more. I did not insist, knowing by experience how useless that would have been. He told me that, with the help of the concierges27, the chateau had since early dawn been watched in such a way that nobody could approach it without his knowing it, and that he had no concern for those who might have left it and remained without.
It was then six o’clock by his watch. Rising, he made a sign to me to follow him, and, without in the least tying to conceal21 his movements or the sound of his footsteps, he led me through the gallery. We reached the ‘right’ gallery and came to the landing-place which we crossed. We then continued our way in the gallery of the left wing, passing Professor Stangerson’s apartment.
At the far end of the gallery, before coming to the donjon, is the room occupied by Arthur Rance. We knew that, because we had seen him at the window looking on to the court. The door of the room opens on to the end of the gallery, exactly facing the east window, at the extremity28 of the ‘right’ gallery, where Rouletabille had placed Daddy Jacques, and commands an uninterrupted view of the gallery from end to end of the chateau.
“That ‘off-turning’ gallery,” said Rouletabille, “I reserve for myself; when I tell you you’ll come and take your place here.”
And he made me enter a little dark, triangular29 closet built in a bend of the wall, to the left of the door of Arthur Rance’s room. From this recess30 I could see all that occurred in the gallery as well as if I had been standing31 in front of Arthur Rance’s door, and I could watch that door, too. The door of the closet, which was to be my place of observation, was fitted with panels of transparent32 glass. In the gallery, where all the lamps had been lit, it was quite light. In the closet, however, it was quite dark. It was a splendid place from which to observe and remain unobserved.
I was soon to play the part of a spy—a common policeman. I wonder what my leader at the bar would have said had he known! I was not altogether pleased with my duties, but I could not refuse Rouletabille the assistance he had begged me to give him. I took care not to make him see that I in the least objected, and for several reasons. I wanted to oblige him; I did not wish him to think me a coward; I was filled with curiosity; and it was too late for me to draw back, even had I determined33 to do so. That I had not had these scruples34 sooner was because my curiosity had quite got the better of me. I might also urge that I was helping35 to save the life of a woman, and even a lawyer may do that conscientiously36.
We returned along the gallery. On reaching the door of Mademoiselle Stangerson’s apartment, it opened from a push given by the steward37 who was waiting at the dinner-table. (Monsieur Stangerson had, for the last three days, dined with his daughter in the drawing-room on the first floor.) As the door remained open, we distinctly saw Mademoiselle Stangerson, taking advantage of the steward’s absence, and while her father was stooping to pick up something he had let fall, pour the contents of a phial into Monsieur Stangerson’s glass.
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1
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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crimsoned
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| 变为深红色（crimson的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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3
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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4
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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addiction
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| n.上瘾入迷，嗜好 | |
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6
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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8
inebriate
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| v.使醉 | |
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9
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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gall
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| v.使烦恼，使焦躁，难堪；n.磨难 | |
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11
friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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12
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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14
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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15
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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16
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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18
unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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19
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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20
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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22
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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grotto
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| n.洞穴 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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27
concierges
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| n.看门人，门房( concierge的名词复数 ) | |
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28
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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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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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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32
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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33
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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34
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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35
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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36
conscientiously
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| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
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37
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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