"Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce all that remains1. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this system of imprisonment2?"
"Yes, sir."
"And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of the disagreeable persistence3 of Mr. Fowler."
"That was it, sir."
"But Mr. Fowler being a persevering4 man, as a good seaman5 should be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain arguments, metallic6 or otherwise, in convincing you that your interests were the same as his."
"Mr. Fowler was a very kind-spoken, free-handed gentleman," said Mrs. Toller serenely7.
"And in this way he managed that your good man should have no want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment when your master had gone out."
"You have it, sir, just as it happened."
"I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think. Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, as it seems to me that our locus8 standi now is rather a questionable9 one."
And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister10 house with the copper11 beeches12 in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but was always a broken man, kept alive solely13 through the care of his devoted14 wife. They still live with their old servants, who probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were married, by special license15, in Southampton the day after their flight, and he is now the holder16 of a government appointment in the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success.
1 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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2 imprisonment | |
n.关押,监禁,坐牢 | |
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3 persistence | |
n.坚持,持续,存留 | |
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4 persevering | |
a.坚忍不拔的 | |
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5 seaman | |
n.海员,水手,水兵 | |
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6 metallic | |
adj.金属的;金属制的;含金属的;产金属的;像金属的 | |
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7 serenely | |
adv.安详地,宁静地,平静地 | |
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8 locus | |
n.中心 | |
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9 questionable | |
adj.可疑的,有问题的 | |
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10 sinister | |
adj.不吉利的,凶恶的,左边的 | |
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11 copper | |
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的 | |
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12 beeches | |
n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 );山毛榉木材 | |
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13 solely | |
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
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14 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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15 license | |
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许 | |
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16 holder | |
n.持有者,占有者;(台,架等)支持物 | |
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