"Oh, I can," the Countess cried. "Two years ago--"
"Be silent!" Silva cried furiously. "I beg your pardon, madam, but I am forgetting myself. I will venture to remind you that your train will not wait."
"That is quite sufficient," Vera said, with dignity. "I will return to my room again. Perhaps the next time I see you, you will have more time for an explanation."
The girl turned and left the room. She walked slowly and sadly up the stairs, and locked herself in. It was not long before she heard the click of the fastening outside. She knew that she was a prisoner once more. It was out of the question to try and realise the meaning of all this extraordinary mystery. There was a certain sense of comfort in the knowledge that she was safe from personal violence. But, beyond this, there was little to light up the dreary2 prospect3. Vera sat there thinking the matter over till the clock struck eleven. Then she glanced up at the ceiling, and stared at the trap-door long and thoughtfully.
She could not hear a sound in the house. Doubtless Silva had retired4 long ago. Perhaps he was asleep by this time. As to the servants, they were probably not returning till an early hour in the morning. Vera calculated that the house was sufficiently5 far from London to make a return after the theatre impossible. She was going to risk it. If Silva caught her attempting to escape she could only return to her room again. She changed her dress rapidly. In the pocket of her skirt she placed a a box of matches and a night-light, which she found on the dressing-table. To get through the trap was a matter of a moment. With the aid of a match she found the top of the iron ladder, and when she had let herself down she came at length, as she had expected, to the top of the servants' staircase. The house was absolutely quiet, and plunged6 in darkness. Vera scarcely dared to breathe, till, at length, she found herself in the hall. It was tense and nervous work, and the girl was trembling from head to foot. She hardly dared to touch the bolts. She drew them back a fraction at a time. Then she slid off the chain; the links clicked together with a noise that sounded in the girl's ears almost like a pistol shot. She turned the handle hurriedly. One moment more, and she would be in the garden.
The disappointment was swift and cruel. The door was locked, and the key was not there. Evidently this was no way of escape. After the first feeling of despair Vera shot the bolts back, and put up the chain once more. It was no use trying the back door, for that would probably be locked, and the key gone. The only possible exit was by way of one of the windows on the ground floor. But here again Vera was doomed7 to disappointment, for every door was fastened and every key had vanished.
Vera blew out her night-light, and crept softly up the stairs again. She wondered if it were possible to open one of the bedroom windows and leap to the ground. Trembling in every limb she groped her way into one of the rooms, the door of which was open. Once more she ventured to strike a light. The room she was in was furnished like a study. Here was a large table with paper and pens and ink. The walls were lined with books. A strong current of air came in from somewhere; then Vera realised that one of the windows was open. There was a balcony beyond, and on to this she stepped, trying to measure with her eye the distance to the ground. But it was too dark for that. The risk was too great to take. It was like standing8 on the edge of a precipice9. Vera drew back with a shudder10. She really had not the courage for such a desperate venture. It would be far better for her to remain where she was until her friends came to her assistance.
With this thought uppermost in her mind Vera turned back to the room again. A sudden gust11 of air from the open window extinguished the night-light. It was just as well, for almost at the same instant another door opened on the landing, and a shaft12 of brilliant light shot out. In its rays Vera could see Silva and another man who was a stranger to her. Silva appeared to be in high good spirits. He was chatting gaily13 to his companion.
"Now you know exactly what I want," he said. "You are to wait by the gate till two o'clock if necessary, and when those people come along, you are to give me the signal. If they don't come by two o'clock, then we can conclude that something has interfered14 with their plans, and the thing has been postponed15."
"Oh, I'll do what you want," the other man said hoarsely16.
"I'll see that you do," Silva went on. "I suppose those fools thought they deceived me this morning. It was just as well that I followed them. Well, if they like to come here, they will be pretty sure of a welcome. And now I will just come and let you out, and fasten the door behind you. It will be fun to sit here watching till they are overhead, and then I shall have them in a fine trap. I am looking forward to it with the greatest possible pleasure. Then you had better meet me in London tomorrow, and I will give you the money I promised. Ah, my good Stevens, this is the best week's work you ever did in your life. A few more such jobs and you will be able to retire from your honorable profession."
The man addressed as Stevens smiled sourly. Vera made a note of the name; she also made a note of the man's features. Then, as the two of them went down into the hall, she slipped back to her own room again by means of the iron ladder. Her breath was coming thick and fast, but her courage had returned, and she felt braced17 up and ready to meet any emergency.
It was quite clear to her what was happening. As far as she herself was concerned, she was practically a prisoner. She could not get away even if she wished to. And now she had no desire to leave. Her instincts had been quite correct. Beyond all question the men on the lawn in the earlier part of the day had been her own friends. The dog had guided them here, and even at that moment they were probably on their way to effect a rescue.
But they had not been quite clever enough for Silva. He had been too suspicious to let an incident like that pass. He had appeared to bow to the inevitable18, but, all the same, he had followed his unwelcome visitors, and probably discovered their secret. And the worst of it was, Silva was now quite prepared for the intruders. It was impossible, too, for Vera to warn her friends. She racked her brains for some way of giving them a signal. There was only one desperate step to take, and she decided19 to risk it. Back once more she went until she came at length to the landing on the first floor. Her idea was to find out where Silva was hiding. There was a strong smell of cigarette smoke in the house, which appeared to come from the ground floor. There was only one thing for it, and that was to descend20 to the hall. Under the morning-room door there was just a thin slit21 of light. It was here that the smell of cigarette smoke was the strongest. It was here, no doubt, that Silva was waiting for the fray22. So far as Vera could judge the morning-room was on one side of the house, so that in all probability the light would not be seen, or perhaps there were some heavy curtains or drapery over the window. From his own lips Vera knew something of what Silva's plans were. He was going to wait there till he had his enemies trapped overhead. He probably would not move till the critical moment came.
It was a desperate idea, but there was nothing else for it. Vera crept up to the little sitting-room23, and hastily dashed off a few words of warning which she hoped might fall into Walter's hands. She did not doubt for a moment that he would be one of the rescuers. It seemed to her that if she placed the note on the little table with the night-light behind it, and left the door open, it would be bound to attract Walter's attention. Then he would be prepared for the attack from below. There was practically no chance of Silva coming upstairs in the meantime, so that there was no reason why the little plot should fail. It was done at length, and then Vera again crept up the iron ladder to the side of the tank. But she did not return to her room. She knew that she was perfectly24 safe where she was. And, besides, at any moment her assistance might be of the greatest value. She stood there in the pitchy darkness, the leaden moments creeping on like so many hours.
Her ears were strained to catch the slightest sound; even the trickle25 of a water-tap sounded like pistol shots. A mouse behind the wainscot appeared to be making noise enough to wake the dead. Then, above the creeping silence, came a quick snap, which was like the breaking of wood. Vera's heart gave a great leap. It seemed to her that the attack was commencing in earnest.
A minute or two later and she fancied she could hear footsteps in the hall. But this she dismissed as mere fancy. She could hear the trees rustling26 outside as they swayed to a sudden breeze. She hoped the wind would not be strong enough to blow out her night-light. She wished now that she had closed the window. Then she jumped with a nervous start as a door banged like the thud of artillery27. She heard a quick, sharp cry, and then the laboured breathing as if two men were locked in a struggle to the death.
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1
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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2
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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3
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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4
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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5
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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6
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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7
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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8
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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9
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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10
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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11
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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12
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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13
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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14
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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15
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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16
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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17
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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18
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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19
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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20
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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21
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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22
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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23
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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24
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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25
trickle
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| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
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26
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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27
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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