"You!" he faltered5, staring at Mavis, as though she were indeed the ghost he almost believed her to be. "You!"
"Ah!" murmured Macandrew complacently6, "so Geary did not deliver my message to you after all."
"Geary!" The Major stood erect7, braced8 for the coming struggle, and his face hardened. "Did Geary know this----" And he pointed9 to Mavis.
"I told him the truth last night."
"And he never told me; he never warned me." Rebb clenched10 his fists. "Oh the scoundrel! I might have---- But there, it is too late--too late."
"What do you mean by too late?" said Mrs. Berch imperiously, and throwing a protecting arm round her daughter, "fight for Madge if you will not for yourself."
But Rebb paid no attention to her. "Geary! Geary!" he muttered, looking round with bloodshot eyes, "he was in the courtyard an hour ago, and he did not tell me, curse him! He may be---- Geary! Geary!" he raised his voice to an angry cry and ran swiftly along the terrace through the arch and into the quadrangle.
Gerald took the hand of his wife and followed quickly, with Tod and the ex-tutor behind. They did not wish to lose sight of Rebb. For one moment Mrs. Berch and her daughter looked at one another, and Madge hung back, trembling. But the mother suddenly seized the widow's wrist and dragged her, a miserable11 figure, pale-faced, and shaking in her gay attire12, into the quadrangle. "We must see what Michael will do," whispered Mrs. Berch, passing her tongue over her dry lips. "He may win the day yet."
"No, no," moaned Mrs. Crosbie; "he is lost."
At the far end of the quadrangle Gerald and Mavis saw the token of Geary's drunken handiwork. A considerable portion of the ivy-clothed wall had fallen outward, and lay in ruins on the lip of the cliff. Three or four trees had been dashed into the pool below, and there was a clear view across the Ruddle to the green forest beyond. The mystery of the Enchanted13 Castle was at an end, and, no longer a palace of the Sleeping Beauty, it lay open to the world, as Morgan had said. And now in its romantic quadrangle there were sterner doings than the moonlight wooings of lovers who had, for the moment, recalled the Golden Age, when the gods came down to men.
"Geary! Geary!" shouted Rebb, rushing towards the fallen wall, and mounting its ruins. There was no response, and Gerald fancied that Rebb had merely made an excuse, so as to get near the river and throw himself in. But, guilty or innocent, the Major was sufficiently14 brave to face the sins he had committed, and came down again slowly to the group near the battered15 sundial. He was still livid, but more self-controlled.
"I shall deal with Geary later," he said thickly, "in the meanwhile I can deal with you."
"We are quite ready," said Gerald tranquilly16.
"Who are we?" questioned Rebb scathingly.
"Myself and my wife."
"She is not your wife. A marriage with a madwoman is not legal."
Mavis shuddered17, and clung to Gerald's arm. It was the first time that she had been called mad to her face. "Oh, guardian," she wailed18, "how can you say that of me when I was so fond of you?"
"You had every reason to be fond of me," said Rebb harshly, and his eyes gleamed as he thought the girl was weakening. "I gave you a happy home, in this delightful19 place, because your brain was not strong enough to bear the troubles of this world."
Mavis withdrew her hand from Gerald's arm, and looked scornfully at the liar20, whom she now saw in his true colors. "You kept me here that you might enjoy the money which my father left to me," she declared, in haughty21 tones, "you betrayed the trust your dead friend placed in you. I was a weak girl, and an ignorant one, to believe in your lies: but now," she added, stepping forward a pace, "now, Major Rebb," and her use of the name showed the attitude she intended to adopt, "I call upon you to give me back my money, and leave this place, which belongs to me."
"No madwoman can possess money," said Mrs. Crosbie shrilly22. She saw the Major's income was about to be lost, and that it would be useless to marry him. "Michael, call the police and have her removed."
"One moment," said Gerald quietly. "You go too fast, Mrs. Crosbie. But I am glad to see you at last as you really are. I thought you were my friend. I now see that you are my enemy. My wife is perfectly23 sane24, and, as her husband, I shall see that her sanity25 is proved."
"Call the police--call the police!" cried Mrs. Crosbie furiously; and she broke from her mother's grip. "How dare you stand there and insult me, Gerald? I was your friend, and I will be your friend still, if you will shut up that girl, and apologize."
Tod laughed at the weakness of this speech. "If you cannot find anything better to say, Mrs. Crosbie, you had better hold your tongue," he said caustically26. "Even if Mrs. Haskins is shut up the money still belongs to her husband. Major Rebb has lost that for ever. It is the money you are after, madam."
"Yes, it is; yes, it is," said Mrs. Crosbie, utterly27 reckless, and defying the efforts of her mother to keep her silent. "If you knew the miserable years of poverty I have had you would not wonder at my wishing for the money. My marriage with Michael will save me from shame and misery28 and--and----" She choked with mingled29 terror and rage, and Mrs. Berch pulled her back roughly.
"Are you a fool to talk like this?" she muttered. "Hold your tongue, you silly child." She shook her angrily. "Wait until Michael settles this affair. Major Rebb?" she turned inquiringly to her proposed son-in-law.
"I shall settle this affair very speedily," said Rebb, walking across the lawn towards the archway, "my man shall go for the police. Or, better still, that coachman who drove you from Silbury, Mavis, shall go back to bring Inspector30 Morgan. I am very sorry that you have thrust yourself into danger. But I should not be doing my duty by society if I did not have you imprisoned31."
"As a lunatic?" asked Mavis scornfully. She had quite lost her old dread32 of the Major by this time.
"As a murderess," he retorted.
"Prove that," said Haskins, stepping in Rebb's path.
"You have brought a serious accusation34 against my wife," persisted the young man, "and I intend to make you prove it. On what grounds do you say that my wife is crazy?"
"She has been all her life," said the Major, forced to answer, for he saw very plainly that Haskins would knock him down if he attempted to pass the archway. Not that the Major feared a fight, but his situation was so desperate that he wished to adjust things as quietly as possible. His threat to call the police was bluff35, as Gerald knew, and because Gerald did know Rebb was furious.
"Prove that she has been mad all her life," said Haskins coolly. "Mavis has been with Mrs. Pelham Odin since she left here, and that very clever old woman cannot see that my wife is mad: nor can Macandrew, nor Arnold, nor anyone else."
"I can, I can!" cried Mrs. Crosbie, with a bright red spot burning on either cheek, and looked very angry.
"Ah! you are a prejudiced witness, seeing that you wish to marry Major Rebb, for the income he is now losing."
"That he has lost," interposed Tod, in a dry legal tone: "the conditions of Julian Durham's will have been fulfilled, and Mrs. Haskins now takes possession of her property."
"How can you prove that my wife is mad?" asked Gerald again, and taking no notice of the interruption, "have you had her examined by two doctors, according to law?"
"No," replied Rebb grudgingly36.
"Then how dare you shut her up in this house? I shall bring an action against you, on behalf of my wife, for false imprisonment37."
"You had better think twice before you do that," said the Major, in icy tones, "for I shall retort with an accusation of murder."
"You say that my wife murdered Bellaria?"
"I dare say; but you have yet to prove your accusation. I am quite willing to allow Mavis to be arrested." Gerald stepped aside. "Go and fetch the police, Rebb. They will be here soon."
"Here!" Rebb started and turned a shade paler.
"I left instructions at the police station before coming here that Inspector Morgan was to come with two men. When they arrive you can give Mavis in charge and then we can submit your accusation of insanity39 to a couple of doctors, and your charge of murder to a jury."
"Then," cried Mrs. Crosbie viciously, "Michael will get back his money."
"I think not," replied Gerald coldly. "I take charge of that."
By this time the courage was oozing40 out of Rebb, who had not expected the young man to take up such an attitude. "Cannot we arrange this matter quietly?" he asked, trying to appear composed.
"No," said the other quietly. "The offer you made me in yonder room does not suit me."
"An offer?" said Mrs. Berch, in her deep voice.
"I offered to let Haskins marry Mavis and take her to America, if he--or rather she--surrendered half the income."
"I refuse, as Gerald refused," said Mavis proudly. "I prefer to stand my trial. I am not going to pass the rest of my life under a cloud for your sake, Major Rebb."
"Your sister--your twin sister--shall get the money," cried Rebb, at his wits' end how to deal with the situation. "Ah, you never knew that."
"I knew when Gerald told me," said Mrs. Haskins composedly, "and I more than suspected it before. Indeed Charity allowed me to pass as herself, so as to save me from you. I shall repay that, with three thousand a year. My husband and I have arranged that."
"You passed as Charity," cried Rebb, amazed.
"Yes; I danced at the Belver Theatre, and----"
"It's a lie--you couldn't. What became of Charity, if you did that?"
"Charity was with me," said Tod, stepping forward.
"With you?"
"Yes, as my wife."
Major Rebb jumped, and staggered against the sundial. "So both the sisters are married?" he muttered.
"They are," said Tod, "and they have agreed to share the income you have held all these years. I am afraid that the game is up, Major."
Rebb said nothing. The game was indeed up, and he did not know which way to turn, or how to get the better of his pitiless opponents. Mrs. Berch left her daughter for the moment and touched his arm. "Why did you not tell me that there was another girl?" she asked hoarsely41 and savagely42.
"There was no need." And the Major shook her off.
"There was every need. You told me, you told Madge, that your income depended upon Mavis Durham----"
"Mavis Haskins, if you please," interpolated that young lady.
Mrs. Berch paid no attention. "On Mavis Durham not marrying. You said that if in some way her insanity could be proved, and she could be stopped from marriage, that your income would be safe. For that reason my daughter wished to marry you."
"She loved me," said Rebb unsteadily, and looked at Mrs. Crosbie.
"I loved you as well as any other man," she said coolly, and shrugging her shoulders, "but I would have married anyone to escape from debt and duns and hideous44 poverty. As you are now poor, of course I cannot marry you. Come, mother. There is nothing more to be got here. Let us go back to our misery."
Rebb said nothing, but turned very white. The woman for whom he had sold his soul was ready to cast him aside like an old glove. Mrs. Crosbie, with a vicious glance at Mavis, and a look of indifference45 at the man she had professed46 to love, took her mother's arm. Mrs. Berch was quite ready to go, and indeed seemed to be in a hurry to depart. But the path of the two was blocked by the tiny figure of Arnold, who had hitherto held his peace.
"So you did know that the Major's income depended upon Mavis being prevented, even by the murder of Bellaria, from marrying?"
"We," Arnold waved his hand to include Gerald and Tod, "we thought that you were ignorant, and so could not guess what was your motive48 for murdering that unfortunate woman."
Rebb started and came forward.
"You must be mistaken," he said, in shaking tones to Arnold.
"He is a foul51 liar," said Mrs. Berch, grasping her daughter to keep her from falling. "Let us pass, sir."
"No," said Arnold, still holding his ground, and speaking loudly, while the others kept silence. "When Inspector Morgan comes you shall be arrested. I shall give you in charge for this murder, of which Mrs. Haskins is wrongfully accused."
Mrs. Crosbie shrieked52, looking a pitiable spectacle of fear and shame, as she clung to her mother. But that stern lady, although white and also terrified, controlled her feelings with iron nerve. "On what grounds do you accuse my daughter?" she demanded.
"I saw you and her in a motor car at Belldown--I saw you on the way here--you were at the gates of the Pixy's House shortly before twelve o'clock, waiting for Bellaria, whom you lured53 to the gate by means of a letter."
"I was at Bognor--I was at Bognor," cried Mrs. Crosbie, shaking with fear.
"No," interposed Tod. "My clerk went to watch you at Bognor. Neither you nor Mrs. Berch went there at all. You were down here. Come, Mrs. Crosbie, you may as well confess. We can prove all about the motor car, and your presence here."
But Mrs. Crosbie only clung sobbing55 to her mother, being terrified almost to death. At the same moment that Rebb spoke56 Inspector Morgan, with a couple of policemen, entered the quadrangle, and advanced towards the group. "You wanted me here, Mr. Haskins?" he asked inquiringly. "I got your message, and here I am with my men. What is it?"
"In the first place," said Gerald quietly, "allow me to present to you my wife," then when Morgan saluted57 in a puzzled way, he continued, "once known as Mavis Durham."
"What!" Morgan grew red, and his eyes almost started out of his head. "Do you mean to say that this lady is Mavis Durham?"
"Mavis Haskins now," said the girl, with a perfectly calm smile, "and I surrender myself to you willingly."
"I arrest you in the King's name for murder," gabbled Morgan, trying to recover his official dignity. "Anything you say now will be used in evidence against you." And he signed to his subordinates, likewise startled out of their wits, to take charge of the girl. Arnold sprang forward as a young constable58 placed his hand on Mavis' arm.
"Stop," he cried. "Mrs. Haskins is innocent. Here is the guilty woman." And he pointed to Mrs. Crosbie.
"No, no! You can't prove that--you dare not--you----"
"I can prove it!" cried Arnold, bluffing59. "Mrs. Crosbie was at the gate of the Pixy's House at the time Bellaria Dondi was murdered. A dozen witnesses can swear that she was in the neighborhood."
"Is this true?" Morgan asked the little widow, whose gaiety was all gone, and who suddenly looked twice her age.
"It is not true! It is not true!" she cried. "Mother and I were at Belldown. We went on to see Major Rebb at Denleigh."
"You never came near me there!" cried Rebb, and then became aware that, on the impulse of the moment, he had ruined the widow. In a paroxysm of shame and terror, for the man did love the miserable woman, he added: "Mrs. Crosbie is innocent. I swear she is. I know who is guilty."
"You?" everyone cried out, Inspector Morgan loudest of all. The scene was beyond his comprehension, and he was on the verge61 of an apoplectic62 fit. The whole scene was melodramatic and unreal, and, on the stage, or when written in a book, would have been described so by critics.
"Who is guilty?" demanded Morgan fiercely.
"Geary--Adonis Geary," said Rebb. "The knife was his, and I found him in the grounds when I arrived."
There was a savage43 shout before he could finish, and Geary sprang from behind the ruined river wall. He had been concealed63 there, and had heard everything: but he did not appear until his adored master accused him of the crime. Then terror and rage made him leap forward, half mad and half drunk. "You say one big lie, sah!" he shouted, with rolling eyes, and a thick voice. "I lubbed you once, but now you would kill me with a lie. I tell who did kill dat poor Bellaria."
"Who killed her?" asked Gerald, for Morgan was too bewildered to ask.
Geary looked slowly round, and pointed to Mrs. Berch.
"Oh, mother, mother," cried Mrs. Crosbie, "I would have saved you if I could."
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收听单词发音
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1
dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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crumble
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| vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁 | |
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5
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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6
complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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7
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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8
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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9
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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13
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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14
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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15
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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16
tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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18
wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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24
sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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sanity
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| n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确 | |
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caustically
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| adv.刻薄地；挖苦地；尖刻地；讥刺地 | |
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27
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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29
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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inspector
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| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
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31
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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33
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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grudgingly
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imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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39
insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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40
oozing
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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41
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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42
savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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43
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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44
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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46
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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47
haughtily
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| adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地 | |
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48
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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49
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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50
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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51
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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52
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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54
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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55
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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56
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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57
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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58
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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59
bluffing
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| n. 威吓，唬人 动词bluff的现在分词形式 | |
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60
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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61
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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apoplectic
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| adj.中风的；愤怒的；n.中风患者 | |
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63
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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