CHAPTER LX. ROBERT AGNOLD'S LAST WORDS.

I resume and conclude the Mystery of M. Felix in my own person. What transpired¹ after the incidents of that exciting night is soon related. Before Gerald Paget was released Dr. Peterssen was put on his trial for the murder. The minor² charge of his attempt upon Sophy's life and mine was set aside, and was only incidentally referred to in the evidence and speech of the prosecuting³ counsel. Guilt⁴ was never more clearly proved than his. The revolver with which the murder was committed was the same he had purloined⁵ from the rooms in Gerard Street, when he sent Mrs. Middlemore upon a false errand to the Bow Street Police Court. On this head Mrs. Middlemore's evidence was valuable; but my evidence on the point was still more valuable. The initial "F." I had scratched on the metal, and the entry I had made in my pocket book, "A Colt's double-action revolver, nickel-plated, 6 shots, No. 819," enabled me to swear positively⁶ to the weapon. Peterssen's own confession⁷ of guilt to me when Sophy and I were imprisoned⁸ in the cavern⁹ in Deering Woods was fatal, and Sophy, who was one of the two heroines of this celebrated¹⁰ trial, won the admiration¹¹ of all England by the manner in which she gave her evidence. It was imperative¹² that Emilia should be called, and she narrated¹³ with great feeling all the circumstances of her brief but fateful acquaintance with Peterssen during the honeymoon¹⁴ tour in Switzerland. There was found upon Peterssen a large sum of money in bank notes, and the manager of the bank in which the murdered man, under the name of M. Felix, kept his account, proved, by the numbers on the notes, that they had been paid to Peterssen's victim across the bank counter. Another witness called was George Street's father, upon whom Peterssen had so long and so successfully imposed. He testified that Gerald Paget was not his son, and said that on every occasion on which he desired to see the patient, Peterssen had declared that a fatal result would be the certain consequence of an interview. Gerald Paget was brought into court, but he was so weak and ill that his evidence could not be taken. The case, however, was complete without him. There was practically no defence; the jury debated for a few minutes only, and brought in a verdict of guilty; the villain¹⁵ was sentenced, and he paid the penalty of his crimes. For Leonard Paget, alias¹⁶ M. Felix, no pity was expressed; the fate he had met with was richly deserved.

Needless to say that the case excited immense interest, and it was universally admitted that its sensational¹⁷ disclosures were without parallel in the history of crime. I may mention that Crawley was not traced; up to this day he has succeeded in concealing¹⁸ himself; but his hour will come.

After all was said and done, I think that Sophy held rank as the heroine of the mystery. A daily paper suggested that a subscription¹⁹ should be got up for her; to this suggestion practical effect was given, and money flowed in from all ranks and classes of people. Close upon a thousand pounds were subscribed²⁰; so Sophy is rich. Fame has not turned her head. She said to me but yesterday, "I ain't proud; not a bit of it. Whenever you want me, Mr. Agnold, you'll find me ready." In time she will improve in her language, and one day she may be really a lady.

The words Sophy addressed to me were spoken in Geneva, where these lines are being written. The wedding of Constance Paget and M. Julian Bordier took place yesterday, and we were invited to it. The father of the bride was present. The rescue from his living tomb, the new and happier life, and the care and devotion of his wife Emilia, upon whose sweet face he never tires of gazing, has already brought about a great change for the better, and confident hopes are entertained that before long his reason will be permanently²¹ restored. It is pleasant to be able to record that the kind and skilful²² oculist²³ who had given evidence in what I may call the marriage certificate case has made a cure of M. Julian Bordier. He can see, and the terror of blindness no longer afflicts²⁴ him.

This morning the oculist (who gave himself a week's holiday to attend the wedding) and I had a chat about M. Felix, whose supposed death in Gerard Street, Soho, caused so great a sensation. He has been hunting up cases of suspended animation²⁵, and he read to me half a dozen, each of which lasted for a much longer time than M. Felix's. Since Peterssen's trial there has been a great deal written in newspapers and magazines concerning these instances of apparent death, and wonder has been expressed that, upon M. Felix's disappearance²⁶, no one thought it was likely that he had gone through such an experience. My answer to this expression of wonder is that it is easy to be wise after the event.

While we were engaged in our conversation, the oculist and I were sitting at a window of the house which Constance and her husband are to occupy when they return from their honeymoon. The window overlooks a garden in which Emilia and Gerald are walking.

"A good and sweet woman," said the oculist, smiling at Emilia, who had looked up and smiled at us. "She deserves happiness."

"She will have it," I said. "The clouds have disappeared from her life. Her trials are over."

The End

1 transpired   

（事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生

参考例句：

• It transpired that the gang had had a contact inside the bank. 据报这伙歹徒在银行里有内应。
• It later transpired that he hadn't been telling the truth. 他当时没说真话，这在后来显露出来了。

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

4 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

5 purloined   

v.偷窃( purloin的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• You have chosen align yourself with those who have purloined the very seat of your existence. 你们选择了将自己与那些盗取了你们存在之真正席位的人相校准。 来自互联网

6 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

7 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

8 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

9 cavern   

n.洞穴，大山洞

参考例句：

• The cavern walls echoed his cries.大山洞的四壁回响着他的喊声。
• It suddenly began to shower,and we took refuge in the cavern.天突然下起雨来，我们在一个山洞里避雨。

10 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

11 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

12 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

13 narrated   

v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Some of the story was narrated in the film. 该电影叙述了这个故事的部分情节。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defoe skilfully narrated the adventures of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. 笛福生动地叙述了鲁滨逊·克鲁索在荒岛上的冒险故事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

15 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

16 alias   

n.化名；别名；adv.又名

参考例句：

• His real name was Johnson,but he often went by the alias of Smith.他的真名是约翰逊，但是他常常用化名史密斯。
• You can replace this automatically generated alias with a more meaningful one.可用更有意义的名称替换这一自动生成的别名。

17 sensational   

adj.使人感动的，非常好的，轰动的，耸人听闻的

参考例句：

• Papers of this kind are full of sensational news reports.这类报纸满是耸人听闻的新闻报道。
• Their performance was sensational.他们的演出妙极了。

18 concealing   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Despite his outward display of friendliness, I sensed he was concealing something. 尽管他表现得友善，我还是感觉到他有所隐瞒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• SHE WAS BREAKING THE COMPACT, AND CONCEALING IT FROM HIM. 她违反了他们之间的约定，还把他蒙在鼓里。 来自英汉文学 - 三万元遗产

19 subscription   

n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方）

参考例句：

• We paid a subscription of 5 pounds yearly.我们按年度缴纳5英镑的订阅费。
• Subscription selling bloomed splendidly.订阅销售量激增。

20 subscribed   

v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意

参考例句：

• It is not a theory that is commonly subscribed to. 一般人并不赞成这个理论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I subscribed my name to the document. 我在文件上签了字。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

22 skilful   

(=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的

参考例句：

• The more you practise,the more skilful you'll become.练习的次数越多，熟练的程度越高。
• He's not very skilful with his chopsticks.他用筷子不大熟练。

23 oculist   

n.眼科医生

参考例句：

• I wonder if the oculist could fit me in next Friday.不知眼科医生能否在下星期五给我安排一个时间。
• If your eyes are infected,you must go to an oculist.如果你的眼睛受到感染，就要去看眼科医生。

24 afflicts   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Level 3-Afflicts a target with the Curse of the Silent. 三级-用静默诅咒折磨一个目标。
• Level 1-Afflicts a target with the Curse of the Silent. 一级-用静默诅咒折磨一个目标。

25 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

26 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。