"And yet I am not convinced of it," I answered. "The cases which come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, neither fascinating nor artistic6."
"A certain selection and discretion7 must be used in producing a realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the police report, where more stress is laid perhaps upon the platitudes8 of the magistrate9 than upon the details, which to an observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend upon it, there is nothing so unnatural10 as the commonplace."
I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser11 and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is strange and bizarre. But here"—I picked up the morning paper from the ground—"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without reading it that it is all perfectly12 familiar to me. There is, of course, the other woman, the drink, the push, the blow, the bruise13, the unsympathetic sister or landlady14. The crudest of writers could invent nothing more crude."
"Indeed your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," said Holmes, taking the paper, and glancing his eye down it. "This is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of winding15 up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling16 them at his wife, which you will allow is not an action likely to occur to the imagination of the average story teller17. Take a pinch of snuff, doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over you in your example."
He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst18 in the center of the lid. Its splendor19 was in such contrast to his homely20 ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon it.
"Ah!" said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia, in return for my assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers."
"And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable21 brilliant which sparkled upon his finger.
"It was from the reigning22 family of Holland, though the matter in which I served them was of such delicacy23 that I cannot confide24 it even to you, who have been good enough to chronicle one or two of my little problems."
"And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest.
"Some ten or twelve, but none which present any features of interest. They are important, you understand, without being interesting. Indeed I have found that it is usually in unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the charm to an investigation25. The larger crimes are apt to be the simpler, for the bigger the crime, the more obvious, as a rule, is the motive26. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, that I may have something better before very many minutes are over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken."
He had risen from his chair, and was standing27 between the parted blinds, gazing down into the dull, neutral-tinted28 London street. Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was tilted29 in a coquettish Duchess-of-Devonshire fashion over her ear.
From under this great panoply30 she peeped up in a nervous, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge31, as of the swimmer who leaves the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp clang of the bell.
"I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure that the matter is not too delicate for communication. And yet even here we may discriminate32. When a woman has been seriously wronged by a man, she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love matter, but that the maiden33 is not so much angry as perplexed34 or grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts."
As he spoke35, there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself loomed36 behind his small black figure like a full-sailed merchantman behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and having closed the door, and bowed her into an armchair, he looked her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was peculiar37 to him.
"Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a little trying to do so much typewriting?"
"I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters are without looking." Then, suddenly realizing the full purport38 of his words, she gave a violent start, and looked up with fear and astonishment39 upon her broad, good-humored face. "You've heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know all that?"
"Never mind," said Holmes, laughing, "it is my business to know things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?"
"I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, whose husband you found so easily when the police and everyone had given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel."
"Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked Sherlock Holmes, with his finger tips together, and his eyes to the ceiling.
Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous40 face of Miss Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, "for it made me angry to see the easy way in which Mr. Windibank—that is, my father—took it all. He would not go to the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he would do nothing, and kept on saying that there was no harm done, it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away to you."
"Your father?" said Holmes. "Your stepfather, surely, since the name is different."
"Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself."
"And your mother is alive?"
"Oh, yes; mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father was a plumber41 in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy business behind him, which mother carried on with Mr. Hardy42, the foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the business, for he was very superior, being a traveler in wines. They got four thousand seven hundred for the good-will and interest, which wasn't near as much as father could have got if he had been alive."
I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this rambling43 and inconsequential narrative44, but, on the contrary, he had listened with the greatest concentration of attention.
"Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the business?"
"Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate, and was left me by my Uncle Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying four and half per cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can only touch the interest."
"You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the bargain, you no doubt travel a little, and indulge yourself in every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely upon an income of about sixty pounds."
"I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while I am staying with them. Of course that is only just for the time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter, and pays it over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day."
"You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. "This is my friend, Doctor Watson, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Kindly45 tell us now all about your connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel."
A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked nervously46 at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I wanted so much as to join a Sunday School treat. But this time I was set on going, and I would go, for what right had he to prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, he went off to France upon the business of the firm; but we went, mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel."
"I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from France, he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball?"
"Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and shrugged47 his shoulders, and said there was no use denying anything to a woman, for she would have her way."
"I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel?"
"Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if we had got home all safe, and after that we met him—that is to say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house any more."
"No?"
"Well, you know, father didn't like anything of the sort. He wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to begin with, and I had not got mine yet."
"But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see you?"
"Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he used to write every day. I took the letters in the morning, so there was no need for father to know."
"Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?"
"Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that we took. Hosmer—Mr. Angel—was a cashier in an office in Leadenhall Street—and—"
"What office?"
"That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes; I don't know."
"Where did he live, then?"
"He slept on the premises48."
"And you don't know his address?"
"No—except that it was Leadenhall Street."
"Where did you address your letters, then?"
"To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think of."
"It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?"
"He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to be conspicuous49. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen50 glands51 when he was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare."
"Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, returned to France?"
"Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again, and proposed that we should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest, and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament52, that whatever happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. Mother was all in his favor from the first, and was even fonder of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards and mother said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on the very morning of the wedding."
"It missed him, then?"
"Yes, sir, for he had started to England just before it arrived."
"Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for the Friday. Was it to be in church?"
"Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were two of us, he put us both into it, and stepped himself into a four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and when the cabman got down from the box and looked, there was no one there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything since then to throw any light upon what became of him."
"It seems to me that you have been very shamefully53 treated," said Holmes.
"Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed strange talk for a wedding morning, but what has happened since gives a meaning to it."
"Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some unforeseen catastrophe55 has occurred to him?"
"Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw happened."
"But you have no notion as to what it could have been?"
"None."
"One more question. How did your mother take the matter?"
"She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter again."
"And your father? Did you tell him?"
"Yes, and he seemed to think, with me, that something had happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the door of the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, there might be some reason; but Hosmer was very independent about money, and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet what could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh! it drives me half mad to think of, and I can't sleep a wink56 at night." She pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff, and began to sob57 heavily into it.
"I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life."
"Then you don't think I'll see him again?"
"I fear not."
"Then what has happened to him?"
"You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an accurate description of him, and any letters of his which you can spare."
"I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. "Here is the slip, and here are four letters from him."
"Thank you. And your address?"
"No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell."
"Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your father's place of business?"
"He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers of Fenchurch Street."
"Thank you. You have made your statement very clearly. You will leave the papers here, and remember the advice which I have given you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it to affect your life."
"You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be true to Hosmer. He shall find me ready when he comes back."
For all the preposterous58 hat and the vacuous face, there was something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon the table, and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever she might be summoned.
Sherlock Holmes sat silent for a few minutes with his finger tips still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a counselor59, and, having lighted it, he leaned back in his chair, with thick blue cloud wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of infinite languor60 in his face.
"Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, is rather a trite61 one. You will find parallel cases, if you consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, there were one or two details which were new to me. But the maiden herself was most instructive."
"You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite invisible to me," I remarked.
"Not invisible, but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring you to realize the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of thumb nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot lace. Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe it."
"Well, she had a slate-colored, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads62 sewed upon it and a fringe of little black jet ornaments63. Her dress was brown, rather darker than coffee color, with a little purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were grayish, and were worn through at the right forefinger64. Her boots I didn't observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings65, and a general air of being fairly well-to-do, in a vulgar, comfortable, easy-going way."
Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled66.
"'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method, and you have a quick eye for color. Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you observe, this woman had plush upon her sleeve, which is a most useful material for showing traces. The double line a little above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, was beautifully defined. The sewing machine, of the hand type, leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and observing the dint67 of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed to surprise her."
"It surprised me."
"But, surely, it was very obvious. I was then much surprised and interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were really odd ones, the one having a slightly decorated toe cap and the other a plain one. One was buttoned only in the two lower buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly68 dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, it is no great deduction69 to say that she came away in a hurry."
"And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by my friend's incisive70 reasoning.
"I noted71, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving home, but after being fully54 dressed. You observed that her right glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not, apparently72, see that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had written in a hurry, and dipped her pen too deep. It must have been this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?"
I held the little printed slip to the light. "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman named Hosmer Angel. About five feet seven inches in height; strongly built, sallow complexion73, black hair, a little bald in the center, bushy black side-whiskers and mustache; tinted glasses; slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert chain, and gray Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing," etc., etc.
"That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no clew in them to Mr. Angel, save that he quotes Balzac once. There is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike you."
"They are typewritten," I remarked.
"Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive—in fact, we may call it conclusive74."
"Of what?"
"My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it bears upon the case?"
"I cannot say that I do, unless it were that he wished to be able to deny his signature if an action for breach75 of promise were instituted."
"No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the other is to the young lady's stepfather, Mr. Windibank, asking him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock to-morrow evening. It is just as well that we should do business with the male relatives. And now, doctor, we can do nothing until the answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem upon the shelf for the interim76."
I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers of reasoning, and extraordinary energy in action, that I felt that he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy demeanor77 with which he treated the singular mystery which he had been called upon to fathom78. Once only had I known him to fail, in the case of the King of Bohemia and the Irene Adler photograph, but when I looked back to the weird79 business of the "Sign of the Four," and the extraordinary circumstances connected with the "Study in Scarlet," I felt that it would be a strange tangle80 indeed which he could not unravel81.
I left him then, still puffing82 at his black clay pipe, with the conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would find that he held in his hands all the clews which would lead up to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary Sutherland.
A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six o'clock that I found myself free, and was able to spring into a hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin form curled up in the recesses83 of his armchair. A formidable array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent84, cleanly smell of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the chemical work which was so dear to him.
"Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered.
"Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta."
"No, no; the mystery!" I cried.
"Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel."
"Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss Sutherland?"
The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the passage, and a tap at the door.
"This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at six. Come in!"
The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some thirty years of age, clean shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a bland85, insinuating86 manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and penetrating87 gray eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of us, placed his shiny top hat upon the sideboard, and, with a slight bow, sidled down into the nearest chair.
"Good evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an appointment with me for six o'clock?"
"Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland has troubled you about this little matter, for I think it is far better not to wash linen88 of the sort in public. It was quite against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, impulsive89 girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?"
"On the contrary," said Holmes, quietly, "I have every reason to believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel."
Mr. Windibank gave a violent start, and dropped his gloves. "I am delighted to hear it," he said.
"It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless they are quite new no two of them write exactly alike. Some letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one side. Now, you remark in this note of yours, Mr. Windibank, that in every case there is some little slurring90 over the e, and a slight defect in the tail of the r. There are fourteen other characteristics, but those are the more obvious."
"We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes.
"And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another little monograph91 some of these days on the typewriter and its relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted92 some little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not only are the e's slurred93 and the r's tailless, but you will observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen other characteristics to which I have alluded94 are there as well."
Mr. Windibank sprung out of his chair, and picked up his hat. "I cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know when you have done it."
"Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in the door. "I let you know, then, that I have caught him!"
"What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips, and glancing about him like a rat in a trap.
"Oh, it won't do—really it won't," said Holmes, suavely95. "There is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too transparent96, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's right! Sit down, and let us talk it over."
Our visitor collapsed97 into a chair, with a ghastly face, and a glitter of moisture on his brow. "It—it's not actionable," he stammered98.
"I am very much afraid that it is not; but between ourselves, Windibank, it was as cruel, and selfish, and heartless a trick in a petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong."
The man sat huddled99 up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his breast, like one who is utterly100 crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up on the corner of the mantelpiece, and, leaning back with his hands in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, than to us.
"The man married a woman very much older than himself for her money," said he, "and he enjoyed the use of the money of the daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. The daughter was of a good, amiable101 disposition102, but affectionate and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of keeping her at home, and forbidding her to seek the company of people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not answer forever. She became restive103, insisted upon her rights, and finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the connivance104 and assistance of his wife, he disguised himself, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses masked the face with a mustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off other lovers by making love himself."
"It was only a joke at first," groaned105 our visitor. "We never thought that she would have been so carried away."
"Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very decidedly carried away, and having quite made up her mind that her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the loudly expressed admiration106 of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as far as if would go, if a real effect were to be produced. There were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the girl's affections from turning toward anyone else. But the deception107 could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind, and prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to come. Hence those vows108 of fidelity109 exacted upon a Testament, and hence also the allusions110 to a possibility of something happening on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that that was the chain of events, Mr. Windibank!"
Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold sneer111 upon his pale face.
"It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he; "but if you are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal constraint112."
"The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat myself to—" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he could grasp it there was a wild clatter113 of steps upon the stairs, the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road.
"There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing as he threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad and ends on a gallows114. The case has, in some respects, been not entirely115 devoid116 of interest."
"I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I remarked.
"Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognize even the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated117 facts, together with many minor118 ones, all pointed119 in the same direction."
"And how did you verify them?"
"Having once spotted120 my man, it was easy to get corroboration121. I knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed description, I eliminated everything from it which could be the result of a disguise,—the whiskers, the glasses, the voice,—and I sent it to the firm with a request that they would inform me whether it answered to the description of any of their travelers. I had already noticed the peculiarities122 of the typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business address, asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his reply was typewritten, and revealed the same trivial but characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from Westhouse & Marbank, of Fenchurch Street, to say that the description tallied123 in every respect with that of their employee, James Windibank. Voilà tout124!"
"And Miss Sutherland?"
"If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger cub125, and danger also for whoso snatcheth a delusion126 from a woman.' There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much knowledge of the world."
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1
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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2
baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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3
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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4
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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5
hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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7
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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8
platitudes
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| n.平常的话，老生常谈，陈词滥调( platitude的名词复数 )；滥套子 | |
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9
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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10
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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12
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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13
bruise
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| n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤 | |
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14
landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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15
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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16
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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17
teller
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| n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员 | |
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18
amethyst
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| n.紫水晶 | |
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19
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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20
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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21
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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22
reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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23
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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24
confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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25
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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26
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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27
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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28
tinted
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| adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词 | |
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29
tilted
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| v. 倾斜的 | |
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30
panoply
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| n.全副甲胄，礼服 | |
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31
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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32
discriminate
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| v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待 | |
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33
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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34
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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35
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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36
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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37
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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38
purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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39
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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40
vacuous
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| adj.空的，漫散的，无聊的，愚蠢的 | |
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41
plumber
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| n.(装修水管的)管子工 | |
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42
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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43
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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44
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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45
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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46
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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47
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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48
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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49
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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50
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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51
glands
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| n.腺( gland的名词复数 ) | |
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52
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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53
shamefully
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| 可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地 | |
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54
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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55
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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56
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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57
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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58
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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59
counselor
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| n.顾问，法律顾问 | |
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60
languor
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| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
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61
trite
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| adj.陈腐的 | |
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62
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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63
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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64
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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65
earrings
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| n.耳环( earring的名词复数 )；耳坠子 | |
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66
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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68
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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69
deduction
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| n.减除，扣除，减除额；推论，推理，演绎 | |
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70
incisive
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| adj.敏锐的，机敏的，锋利的，切入的 | |
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71
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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72
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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73
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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74
conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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75
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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76
interim
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| adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间 | |
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77
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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78
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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79
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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80
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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81
unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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82
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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83
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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84
pungent
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| adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的 | |
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85
bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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86
insinuating
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| adj.曲意巴结的，暗示的v.暗示( insinuate的现在分词 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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87
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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88
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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89
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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90
slurring
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| 含糊地说出( slur的现在分词 )； 含糊地发…的声； 侮辱； 连唱 | |
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91
monograph
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| n.专题文章，专题著作 | |
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92
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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93
slurred
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| 含糊地说出( slur的过去式和过去分词 )； 含糊地发…的声； 侮辱； 连唱 | |
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94
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95
suavely
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96
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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97
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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98
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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99
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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100
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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101
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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102
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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103
restive
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| adj.不安宁的，不安静的 | |
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104
connivance
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| n.纵容；默许 | |
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105
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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108
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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111
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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113
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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114
gallows
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| n.绞刑架，绞台 | |
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115
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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corroboration
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| n.进一步的证实，进一步的证据 | |
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peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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tallied
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| v.计算，清点( tally的过去式和过去分词 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合 | |
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tout
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| v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱 | |
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cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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