CHAPTER III

 After three weeks had elapsed, I determined¹ to make a strong appeal to Erskine to do justice to the memory of Cyril Graham, and to give to the world his marvellous interpretation² of the Sonnets³—the only interpretation that thoroughly⁴ explained the problem.  I have not any copy of my letter, I regret to say, nor have I been able to lay my hand upon the original; but I remember that I went over the whole ground, and covered sheets of paper with passionate⁵ reiteration⁶ of the arguments and proofs that my study had suggested to me.  It seemed to me that I was not merely restoring Cyril Graham to his proper place in literary history, but rescuing the honour of Shakespeare himself from the tedious memory of a commonplace intrigue⁸.  I put into the letter all my enthusiasm.  I put into the letter all my faith.

 

No sooner, in fact, had I sent it off than a curious reaction came over me.  It seemed to me that I had given away my capacity for belief in the Willie Hughes theory of the Sonnets, that something had gone out of me, as it were, and that I was perfectly⁹ indifferent to the whole subject.  What was it that had happened?  It is difficult to say.  Perhaps, by finding perfect expression for a passion, I had exhausted¹⁰ the passion itself.  Emotional forces, like the forces of physical life, have their positive limitations.  Perhaps the mere⁷ effort to convert any one to a theory involves some form of renunciation of the power of credence¹¹.  Perhaps I was simply tired of the whole thing, and, my enthusiasm having burnt out, my reason was left to its own unimpassioned judgment¹².  However it came about, and I cannot pretend to explain it, there was no doubt that Willie Hughes suddenly became to me a mere myth, an idle dream, the boyish fancy of a young man who, like most ardent¹³ spirits, was more anxious to convince others than to be himself convinced.

 

As I had said some very unjust and bitter things to Erskine in my letter, I determined to go and see him at once, and to make my apologies to him for my behaviour.  Accordingly, the next morning I drove down to Birdcage Walk, and found Erskine sitting in his library, with the forged picture of Willie Hughes in front of him.

 

‘My dear Erskine!’ I cried, ‘I have come to apologise to you.’

 

‘To apologise to me?’ he said.  ‘What for?’

 

‘For my letter,’ I answered.

 

‘You have nothing to regret in your letter,’ he said.  ‘On the contrary, you have done me the greatest service in your power.  You have shown me that Cyril Graham’s theory is perfectly sound.’

 

‘You don’t mean to say that you believe in Willie Hughes?’ I exclaimed.

 

‘Why not?’ he rejoined.  ‘You have proved the thing to me.  Do you think I cannot estimate the value of evidence?’

 

‘But there is no evidence at all,’ I groaned¹⁴, sinking into a chair.  ‘When I wrote to you I was under the influence of a perfectly silly enthusiasm.  I had been touched by the story of Cyril Graham’s death, fascinated by his romantic theory, enthralled¹⁵ by the wonder and novelty of the whole idea.  I see now that the theory is based on a delusion¹⁶.  The only evidence for the existence of Willie Hughes is that picture in front of you, and the picture is a forgery¹⁷.  Don’t be carried away by mere sentiment in this matter.  Whatever romance may have to say about the Willie Hughes theory, reason is dead against it.’

 

‘I don’t understand you,’ said Erskine, looking at me in amazement¹⁸.  ‘Why, you yourself have convinced me by your letter that Willie Hughes is an absolute reality.  Why have you changed your mind?  Or is all that you have been saying to me merely a joke?’

 

‘I cannot explain it to you,’ I rejoined, ‘but I see now that there is really nothing to be said in favour of Cyril Graham’s interpretation.  The Sonnets are addressed to Lord Pembroke.  For heaven’s sake don’t waste your time in a foolish attempt to discover a young Elizabethan actor who never existed, and to make a phantom¹⁹ puppet the centre of the great cycle of Shakespeare’s Sonnets.’

 

‘I see that you don’t understand the theory,’ he replied.

 

‘My dear Erskine,’ I cried, ‘not understand it!  Why, I feel as if I had invented it.  Surely my letter shows you that I not merely went into the whole matter, but that I contributed proofs of every kind.  The one flaw in the theory is that it presupposes the existence of the person whose existence is the subject of dispute.  If we grant that there was in Shakespeare’s company a young actor of the name of Willie Hughes, it is not difficult to make him the object of the Sonnets.  But as we know that there was no actor of this name in the company of the Globe Theatre, it is idle to pursue the investigation²⁰ further.’

 

‘But that is exactly what we don’t know,’ said Erskine.  ‘It is quite true that his name does not occur in the list given in the first folio; but, as Cyril pointed²¹ out, that is rather a proof in favour of the existence of Willie Hughes than against it, if we remember his treacherous²² desertion of Shakespeare for a rival dramatist.’

 

We argued the matter over for hours, but nothing that I could say could make Erskine surrender his faith in Cyril Graham’s interpretation.  He told me that he intended to devote his life to proving the theory, and that he was determined to do justice to Cyril Graham’s memory.  I entreated²³ him, laughed at him, begged of him, but it was of no use.  Finally we parted, not exactly in anger, but certainly with a shadow between us.  He thought me shallow, I thought him foolish.  When I called on him again his servant told me that he had gone to Germany.

 

Two years afterwards, as I was going into my club, the hall-porter handed me a letter with a foreign postmark.  It was from Erskine, and written at the H?tel d’Angleterre, Cannes.  When I had read it I was filled with horror, though I did not quite believe that he would be so mad as to carry his resolve into execution.  The gist²⁴ of the letter was that he had tried in every way to verify the Willie Hughes theory, and had failed, and that as Cyril Graham had given his life for this theory, he himself had determined to give his own life also to the same cause.  The concluding words of the letter were these: ‘I still believe in Willie Hughes; and by the time you receive this, I shall have died by my own hand for Willie Hughes’s sake: for his sake, and for the sake of Cyril Graham, whom I drove to his death by my shallow scepticism and ignorant lack of faith.  The truth was once revealed to you, and you rejected it.  It comes to you now stained with the blood of two lives,—do not turn away from it.’

 

It was a horrible moment.  I felt sick with misery²⁵, and yet I could not believe it.  To die for one’s theological beliefs is the worst use a man can make of his life, but to die for a literary theory!  It seemed impossible.

 

I looked at the date.  The letter was a week old.  Some unfortunate chance had prevented my going to the club for several days, or I might have got it in time to save him.  Perhaps it was not too late.  I drove off to my rooms, packed up my things, and started by the night-mail from Charing²⁶ Cross.  The journey was intolerable.  I thought I would never arrive.  As soon as I did I drove to the H?tel l’Angleterre.  They told me that Erskine had been buried two days before in the English cemetery²⁷.  There was something horribly grotesque²⁸ about the whole tragedy.  I said all kinds of wild things, and the people in the hall looked curiously²⁹ at me.

 

Suddenly Lady Erskine, in deep mourning, passed across the vestibule.  When she saw me she came up to me, murmured something about her poor son, and burst into tears.  I led her into her sitting-room³⁰.  An elderly gentleman was there waiting for her.  It was the English doctor.

 

We talked a great deal about Erskine, but I said nothing about his motive³¹ for committing suicide.  It was evident that he had not told his mother anything about the reason that had driven him to so fatal, so mad an act.  Finally Lady Erskine rose and said, George left you something as a memento³².  It was a thing he prized very much.  I will get it for you.

 

As soon as she had left the room I turned to the doctor and said, ‘What a dreadful shock it must have been to Lady Erskine!  I wonder that she bears it as well as she does.’

 

‘Oh, she knew for months past that it was coming,’ he answered.

 

‘Knew it for months past!’ I cried.  ‘But why didn’t she stop him?  Why didn’t she have him watched?  He must have been mad.’

 

The doctor stared at me. ‘I don’t know what you mean,’ he said.

 

‘Well,’ I cried, ‘if a mother knows that her son is going to commit suicide—’

 

‘Suicide!’ he answered.  ‘Poor Erskine did not commit suicide.  He died of consumption.  He came here to die.  The moment I saw him I knew that there was no hope.  One lung was almost gone, and the other was very much affected³³.  Three days before he died he asked me was there any hope.  I told him frankly³⁴ that there was none, and that he had only a few days to live.  He wrote some letters, and was quite resigned, retaining his senses to the last.’

 

At that moment Lady Erskine entered the room with the fatal picture of Willie Hughes in her hand.  ‘When George was dying he begged me to give you this,’ she said.  As I took it from her, her tears fell on my hand.

 

The picture hangs now in my library, where it is very much admired by my artistic³⁵ friends.  They have decided³⁶ that it is not a Clouet, but an Oudry.  I have never cared to tell them its true history.  But sometimes, when I look at it, I think that there is really a great deal to be said for the Willie Hughes theory of Shakespeare’s Sonnets.

The End

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

3 sonnets   

n.十四行诗( sonnet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Keats' reputation as a great poet rests largely upon the odes and the later sonnets. 作为一个伟大的诗人，济慈的声誉大部分建立在他写的长诗和后期的十四行诗上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He referred to the manuscript circulation of the sonnets. 他谈到了十四行诗手稿的流行情况。 来自辞典例句

4 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

5 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

6 reiteration   

n. 重覆, 反覆, 重说

参考例句：

• The reiteration of this figure, more than anything else, wrecked the conservative chance of coming back. 重申这数字，比其它任何事情更能打消保守党重新上台的机会。
• The final statement is just a reiteration of U.S. policy on Taiwan. 艾瑞里？最后一个声明只是重复宣读美国对台政策。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 intrigue   

vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋

参考例句：

• Court officials will intrigue against the royal family.法院官员将密谋反对皇室。
• The royal palace was filled with intrigue.皇宫中充满了勾心斗角。

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

10 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

11 credence   

n.信用，祭器台，供桌，凭证

参考例句：

• Don't give credence to all the gossip you hear.不要相信你听到的闲话。
• Police attach credence to the report of an unnamed bystander.警方认为一位不知姓名的目击者的报告很有用。

12 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

13 ardent   

adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的

参考例句：

• He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
• Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。

14 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 enthralled   

迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快

参考例句：

• The child watched, enthralled by the bright moving images. 这孩子看着那明亮的移动的影像，被迷住了。
• The children listened enthralled as the storyteller unfolded her tale. 讲故事的人一步步展开故事情节，孩子们都听得入迷了。

16 delusion   

n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑

参考例句：

• He is under the delusion that he is Napoleon.他患了妄想症，认为自己是拿破仑。
• I was under the delusion that he intended to marry me.我误认为他要娶我。

17 forgery   

n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为）

参考例句：

• The painting was a forgery.这张画是赝品。
• He was sent to prison for forgery.他因伪造罪而被关进监狱。

18 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

19 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

20 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

21 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。

22 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

23 entreated   

恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They entreated and threatened, but all this seemed of no avail. 他们时而恳求，时而威胁，但这一切看来都没有用。
• 'One word,' the Doctor entreated. 'Will you tell me who denounced him?' “还有一个问题，”医生请求道，“你可否告诉我是谁告发他的？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

24 gist   

n.要旨；梗概

参考例句：

• Can you give me the gist of this report?你能告诉我这个报告的要点吗？
• He is quick in grasping the gist of a book.他敏于了解书的要点。

25 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

26 charing   

n.炭化v.把…烧成炭，把…烧焦( char的现在分词 )；烧成炭，烧焦；做杂役女佣

参考例句：

• We married in the chapel of Charing Cross Hospital in London. 我们是在伦敦查令十字医院的小教堂里结的婚。 来自辞典例句
• No additional charge for children under12 charing room with parents. ☆十二岁以下小童与父母同房不另收费。 来自互联网

27 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

28 grotesque   

adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物）

参考例句：

• His face has a grotesque appearance.他的面部表情十分怪。
• Her account of the incident was a grotesque distortion of the truth.她对这件事的陈述是荒诞地歪曲了事实。

29 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

30 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

31 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

32 memento   

n.纪念品，令人回忆的东西

参考例句：

• The photos will be a permanent memento of your wedding.这些照片会成为你婚礼的永久纪念。
• My friend gave me his picture as a memento before going away.我的朋友在离别前给我一张照片留作纪念品。

33 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

34 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

35 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

36 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。