CHAPTER XVI. ALAN'S DEFENSE

"Dead!" repeated Sophy, after a pause. "Then was this Mr. Beauchamp really my father or a relative?"

"I think he was Mr. Marlow, dear," said her lover gravely. "No doubt your father intended to feign¹ death to escape Lestrange, but it would seem that he overdid² it, and really died. I saw the manager of the Occidental Bank. He informed me that he had received a letter telling him that Beauchamp was dead."

"How long ago was this?"

"A little over a week."

"Who wrote the letter?"

"That he refused to tell me."

"Had he seen this Mr. Beauchamp, to whom the money was to be paid?"

"Never. Your father had informed him that he had left an income to Beauchamp, and that drafts for the money were to be sent to a certain place--where, I don't know. The manager sent a draft, but it was returned to him with a letter stating that the man was dead. For my own part, I believe that Mr. Marlow was Beauchamp. His plan to hide himself from Lestrange has succeeded only too well."

Mr. Phelps now joined in.

"Then I understand, Alan, that you think Marlow is really dead?"

"I do. If he had only feigned³ death, then Beauchamp would be receiving his income. In my opinion, the two men are one and the same. I believe Lestrange's story so far."

"Humph!" said the Rector, who was really of the same opinion. "But let us leave this question for the moment and talk of the other. You say that Lestrange arrived on the day and by the boat he asserted that he did?"

"I saw the passenger-list myself. If he had not been on board, his name would not have been there. Even he could not falsify a passenger-list."

"Then our idea that Lestrange was the Quiet Gentleman is false?"

"It must be, sir. The man--Lestrange I mean--was not in England when the Quiet Gentleman lived in this village. I believe Brown had to do with the stealing of the body and the murder. But, then, Brown is not Lestrange. Who he is I don't know!"

"Alan!" cried Sophy--for if what Lestrange stated was true, this hypocrisy⁴ was detestable--"you are not straightforward⁵ with me!"

"Indeed I am," he said, with a stare of astonishment⁶. "I have told you of my discoveries. Why should I deceive you?"

"Why, indeed!" said the girl bitterly. "You know how much I love you, yet you keep me in the dark about matters which concern us both--matters which I, if any one, have a right to know."

He might have had some inkling of what she meant, for his face turned a dark red. Nevertheless, he held himself well in hand, and looked inquiringly at the Rector.

"What does she mean, sir?"

"I think you can guess," said Phelps, more coldly than he had ever before spoken to Alan.

"No; upon my word, I----"

Sophy rose from her chair and closed his mouth with her hand.

"Don't! don't!" she cried despairingly.

"I can't bear it. Captain Lestrange----" She hesitated.

"Ah!" said Alan fiercely. "I might have guessed he had been making mischief⁷. Well, and what does he say?"

"That you stole my father's body, Alan!"

"I--I--stole the body?"

"Yes!" chimed in the Rector. "And he further says that you took it to the hut on the heath, where Warrender's corpse⁸ was found."

"Oh, indeed!" cried the young man derisively⁹. "And did I murder Warrender, too?"

"Alan! Alan! Oh, don't jest! If you love me, Alan, tell me the truth."

"Sophy! What do you mean?" He pushed away his plate and rose. "Do you believe this man's tale for one moment? Am I the man to violate a grave--to drag the remains¹⁰ of a man I respected and honored to the light of day? You must be mad to think of such a thing! How dare he bring forward such a terrible--such a dastardly accusation¹¹? For what reason does he say that I did it?"

"Out of revenge, I expect," said Phelps. "He dislikes you, Alan. He says you took poor Marlow's body to dissect¹² it."

"And bases his lie upon some gossip of my having been a medical student, I suppose?" cried the young man, now thoroughly¹³ angry. "I'll thrash the scoundrel within an inch of his life!"

"Oh, Alan, I am so glad--so thankful! I said so, didn't I, Mr. Phelps? You didn't do it!"

"Do it--of course I didn't do it! Why should I? Phelps,"--Alan forgot his respect for the Rector in his rage--"do you believe this lying story?"

"Knowing you as I do, I don't believe it. But I must say that Lestrange--he is a very dangerous man--makes out a strong case against you."

"Oh! Let me hear on what grounds."

"Alan!" Sophy came forward and took him by the lapels of his coat, "before we tell you anything, confess if you have kept anything from us."

He looked at her in a puzzled manner. Then a light seemed to dawn upon him. He glanced at the Rector.

"Now I understand, Mr. Phelps. Jarks has told you."

"Told me what?" asked the Rector, with well-feigned ignorance.

"I see! I see!" Alan sat down again. "It's all right, Sophy. I kept that from you only that you should not be worried. So Lestrange found out--from Jarks, I suppose--that I was at Heathton on the night of the funeral?"

"Yes, yes. Oh, Alan, is it true?"

"True--of course it is. Why should it not be true? Does the fact of my having been here corroborate¹⁴ this cock-and-bull story? You ought to know me better, Sophy, and you too, Phelps."

"I couldn't believe it--I didn't," cried the girl.

"Nor I. We both told him that he lied. But I must admit that things looked bad for you, as he put it. Why didn't you tell us you were at Heathton on that night? Why did you come? Was there any serious reason for such secrecy¹⁵?"

"No reason whatsoever," replied the young man frankly¹⁶, "save the trifling¹⁷ one that I did not want to bother Sophy with my suspicions. Yes, I came by the 8.30 train from Bournemouth, and I returned at half-past eleven. I had to go to another station to keep my secret, you know. Jarks saw me in the graveyard¹⁸ about ten, and as I wished to keep my visit quiet, for the reason I have told you, I gave him something to hold his tongue. It appears that he did not. I suppose Lestrange bribed¹⁹ him?"

"Well, no," said the Rector, "not exactly. Jarks, in his cups, told that scoundrel Gramp, and he told Lestrange."

"Oh! So there are two of them in league to make trouble. A proper pair of scoundrels!"

"But," said Sophy, more composedly, "you have not told us why you came."

"I came," said her lover, determined²⁰ now to make a clean breast of it, "to look at the vault²¹--to see that all was safe."

The Rector uttered an exclamation²² of astonishment.

"Did you expect, then, that there would be some foul²³ play?"

"Well, I hardly know, sir. It was this way: After Mr. Marlow received that letter from the West Indies--which doubtless warned him that Lestrange was on his track--he was much worried. He would not tell me the reason, but kept speaking of some shock he had had which might cause his death. 'And I don't know if the scoundrel will let my body rest in its grave,' he said in a fit of passion. I asked to whom he alluded²⁴, but he would say no more. When he died so unexpectedly, his words came back to me. I wondered if he had enemies who might disturb his remains, and all that day after the funeral I felt so bothered about it that I could not rest without coming back to see if all was well."

"And you found nothing wrong?"

"Nothing, sir. I was in the churchyard for about a quarter of an hour. I examined the door of the vault, and saw everything was right. As I came away I met Jarks; the rest you know."

"You saw no signs of that tramp in the churchyard?"

"None! I expect he was sleeping when I was there. According to his story, it was after midnight when the vault was opened."

"Alan," said Sophy, much relieved, "how is it they did not know at Heathton Station that you were here?"

"I did not go to Heathton Station. I stopped at Murbury, and walked from there across the heath. I went back the same way. I did so simply to keep the tongues of gossips quiet. I did not want you to be worried, Sophy; and after all," he said, after a pause, "beyond the chance words of your father I had no reason to think that anything was wrong. Ah! if I had only stayed in the churchyard all night, I should have prevented this trouble. The vault would never have been broken into, and poor Warrender would still be alive."

The Rector nodded approval of this speech, and poured himself out a glass of wine, which, poor man, he sadly needed. Lestrange's accusation had been disproved; still, there remained the evidence of Cicero. Sophy put the question which was in the Rector's mind.

"Captain Lestrange brought Cicero here, Alan," she said abruptly²⁵, "and he--Cicero, I mean--declared that you were in the hut on the moor²⁶ that night."

"I was not!" cried young Thorold hotly. "I was never near the hut. Why should I have been? Ask yourself, as I had to walk to and from Murbury, and spend a quarter of an hour in the churchyard, had I time to cross the moor all the distance to the hut?"

"Of course, you know I don't believe it. But Cicero----"

"Well, and how can he prove I was there?" he said impatiently.

"He found something there which belonged to you."

"What?"

"A lancet."

"A lancet! And why mine? Warrender was a doctor; he took away the body--why should the lancet not belong to him? If he had intended to dissect the body--which he might have, for all I know--he would want one."

"No doubt," Mr. Phelps said dryly. "But this lancet had your initials on the ivory handle. It is your lancet, Alan, and it is now in Cicero's possession."

"H'm! that's queer. Initials?--yes, it might be mine. But how did it get there?"

"Did you ever lend a lancet to Dr. Warrender?"

"No, not that I can remember."

"Then there was the other man, his accomplice²⁷, Brown the----"

"Ha!" cried Alan, starting up and pacing the room. "I see, I see!"

"See what?" cried Sophy eagerly.

"How the lancet came to be found in the hut. The Quiet Gentleman stole it."

"Stole it?"

"Of course. Did he not steal the key of the vault from my desk? There was a case of lancets in the same drawer; he took one. Ha! this proves to me that Brown stole the body and murdered Warrender. A clever scoundrel! He stole my lancet to throw suspicion on me." Alan clenched²⁸ his hands and looked upward. "In God's name, what does this roguery mean?"

It was indeed a perplexing case. They were all in the dark, and such gleams of light as came served only to confuse them the more. Lestrange could not be the Quiet Gentleman, for, as had been proved by Alan, he had landed in England only the week before. Brown was the deus ex machina who could put matters right, and Brown had vanished. He could reappear only at the risk of being charged with murder.

Why had the body been removed? If it were a case of blackmailing²⁹, the claim would have been made long since. The police were apparently³⁰ as much at a loss as Alan himself. And Blair----

"Does Blair know of this accusation?" asked Mr. Thorold suddenly.

"I am certain he does not," answered the Rector emphatically. "In the first place, it was only made to-day. Lestrange, I am sure, wants money, and would come to us before going to the police."

"If he does not want money, Cicero does," put in Sophy scornfully.

"In the second place," resumed Mr. Phelps, "Blair is away."

"Where has he gone?"

"I can't say, but he will be back in a fortnight."

"Well," said Alan moodily³¹, "I don't know if he will be much good when he does come. I shall see this firm of scoundrels at the Good Samaritan, and threaten them with the police, unless they tell all they know. Lestrange is as bad as Cicero, and I know him to be a scoundrel. What's that?"

This exclamation was drawn³² from him by the violent ringing of the door-bell. Before the sounds had ceased, Miss Vicky, red, hot and agitated³³, rushed in a most unladylike manner into the room.

"Oh, Sophy! Mr. Phelps! Mr. Alan! I really never! Joseph Brill--oh, that Joseph Brill! He's back again!"

1 feign   

vt.假装，佯作

参考例句：

• He used to feign an excuse.他惯于伪造口实。
• She knew that her efforts to feign cheerfulness weren't convincing.她明白自己强作欢颜是瞒不了谁的。

2 overdid   

v.做得过分( overdo的过去式 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• We overdid the meat and it didn't taste good. 我们把肉煮得太久，结果味道不好了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He overdid and became extremely tired. 他用力过猛，感到筋疲力尽。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 feigned   

a.假装的，不真诚的

参考例句：

• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work. 他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。
• He accepted the invitation with feigned enthusiasm. 他假装热情地接受了邀请。

4 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

5 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

6 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

7 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

8 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

9 derisively   

adv. 嘲笑地，嘲弄地

参考例句：

• This answer came derisively from several places at the same instant. 好几个人都不约而同地以讥讽的口吻作出回答。
• The others laughed derisively. 其余的人不以为然地笑了起来。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

12 dissect   

v.分割；解剖

参考例句：

• In biology class we had to dissect a frog.上生物课时我们得解剖青蛙。
• Not everyone can dissect and digest the public information they receive.不是每个人都可以解析和消化他们得到的公共信息的。

13 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。

14 corroborate   

v.支持，证实，确定

参考例句：

• He looked at me anxiously,as if he hoped I'd corroborate this.他神色不安地看着我，仿佛他希望我证实地的话。
• It appeared that what he said went to corroborate my account.看来他所说的和我叙述的相符。

15 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

16 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。

17 trifling   

adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的

参考例句：

• They quarreled over a trifling matter.他们为这种微不足道的事情争吵。
• So far Europe has no doubt, gained a real conveniency,though surely a very trifling one.直到现在为止,欧洲无疑地已经获得了实在的便利，不过那确是一种微不足道的便利。

18 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

19 bribed   

v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• They bribed him with costly presents. 他们用贵重的礼物贿赂他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He bribed himself onto the committee. 他暗通关节，钻营投机挤进了委员会。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

20 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。

21 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

22 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

23 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

24 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

25 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

26 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

27 accomplice   

n.从犯，帮凶，同谋

参考例句：

• She was her husband's accomplice in murdering a rich old man.她是她丈夫谋杀一个老富翁的帮凶。
• He is suspected as an accomplice of the murder.他涉嫌为这次凶杀案的同谋。

28 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 blackmailing   

胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The policemen kept blackmailing him, because they had sth. on him. 那些警察之所以经常去敲他的竹杠是因为抓住把柄了。
• Democratic paper "nailed" an aggravated case of blackmailing to me. 民主党最主要的报纸把一桩极为严重的讹诈案件“栽”在我的头上。

30 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

31 moodily   

adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地

参考例句：

• Pork slipped from the room as she remained staring moodily into the distance. 阿宝从房间里溜了出来，留她独个人站在那里瞪着眼睛忧郁地望着远处。 来自辞典例句
• He climbed moodily into the cab, relieved and distressed. 他忧郁地上了马车，既松了一口气，又忧心忡忡。 来自互联网

32 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

33 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。