And in to-day already walks to-morrow.”
Coleridge.
INSTANTLY a great dread1 seized me. What revelations might not this man be going to make! But I subdued2 the feeling; and, greeting him with what cordiality I could, settled myself to listen to his explanations.
But Trueman Harwell had no explanations to give, or so it seemed; on the contrary, he had come to apologize for the very violent words he had used the evening before; words which, whatever their effect upon me, he now felt bound to declare had been used without sufficient basis in fact to make their utterance3 of the least importance.
“But you must have thought you had grounds for so tremendous an accusation4, or your act was that of a madman.”
His brow wrinkled heavily, and his eyes assumed a very gloomy expression. “It does not follow,” he returned. “Under the pressure of surprise, I have known men utter convictions no better founded than mine without running the risk of being called mad.”
“Surprise? Mr. Clavering’s face or form must, then, have been known to you. The mere5 fact of seeing a strange gentleman in the hall would have been insufficient6 to cause you astonishment7, Mr. Harwell.”
He uneasily fingered the back of the chair before which he stood, but made no reply.
“Sit down,” I again urged, this time with a touch of command in my voice. “This is a serious matter, and I intend to deal with it as it deserves. You once said that if you knew anything which might serve to exonerate8 Eleanore Leavenworth from the suspicion under which she stands, you would be ready to impart it.”
“Pardon me. I said that if I had ever known anything calculated to release her from her unhappy position, I would have spoken,” he coldly corrected.
“Do not quibble. You know, and I know, that you are keeping something back; and I ask you, in her behalf, and in the cause of justice, to tell me what it is.”
“You are mistaken,” was his dogged reply. “I have reasons, perhaps, for certain conclusions I may have drawn9; but my conscience will not allow me in cold blood to give utterance to suspicions which may not only damage the reputation of an honest man, but place me in the unpleasant position of an accuser without substantial foundation for my accusations10.”
“You occupy that position already,” I retorted, with equal coldness. “Nothing can make me forget that in my presence you have denounced Henry Clavering as the murderer of Mr. Leavenworth. You had better explain yourself, Mr. Harwell.”
He gave me a short look, but moved around and took the chair. “You have me at a disadvantage,” he said, in a lighter11 tone. “If you choose to profit by your position, and press me to disclose the little I know, I can only regret the necessity under which I lie, and speak.”
“Yes, and by the meagreness of the facts at my command.”
“I will judge of the facts when I have heard them.”
He raised his eyes to mine, and I was astonished to observe a strange eagerness in their depths; evidently his convictions were stronger than his scruples. “Mr. Raymond,” he began, “you are a lawyer, and undoubtedly15 a practical man; but you may know what it is to scent16 danger before you see it, to feel influences working in the air over and about you, and yet be in ignorance of what it is that affects you so powerfully, till chance reveals that an enemy has been at your side, or a friend passed your window, or the shadow of death crossed your book as you read, or mingled17 with your breath as you slept?”
“Then you cannot understand me, or what I have suffered these last three weeks.” And he drew back with an icy reserve that seemed to promise but little to my now thoroughly19 awakened20 curiosity.
“I beg your pardon,” I hastened to say; “but the fact of my never having experienced such sensations does not hinder me from comprehending the emotions of others more affected21 by spiritual influences than myself.”
He drew himself slowly forward. “Then you will not ridicule22 me if I say that upon the eve of Mr. Leavenworth’s murder I experienced in a dream all that afterwards occurred; saw him murdered, saw”—and he clasped his hands before him, in an attitude inexpressibly convincing, while his voice sank to a horrified23 whisper, “saw the face of his murderer!”
“And was that——” I began.
“My reason for denouncing the man I beheld25 before me in the hall of Miss Leavenworth’s house last night? It was.” And, taking out his handkerchief, he wiped his forehead, on which the perspiration26 was standing27 in large drops.
“You would then intimate that the face you saw in your dream and the face you saw in the hall last night were the same?”
He gravely nodded his head.
I drew my chair nearer to his. “Tell me your dream,” said I.
“It was the night before Mr. Leavenworth’s murder. I had gone to bed feeling especially contented28 with myself and the world at large; for, though my life is anything but a happy one,” and he heaved a short sigh, “some pleasant words had been said to me that day, and I was revelling29 in the happiness they conferred, when suddenly a chill struck my heart, and the darkness which a moment before had appeared to me as the abode30 of peace thrilled to the sound of a supernatural cry, and I heard my name, ‘Trueman, Trueman, Trueman,’ repeated three times in a voice I did not recognize, and starting from my pillow beheld at my bedside a woman. Her face was strange to me,” he solemnly proceeded, “but I can give you each and every detail of it, as, bending above me, she stared into my eyes with a growing terror that seemed to implore31 help, though her lips were quiet, and only the memory of that cry echoed in my ears.”
“Describe the face,” I interposed.
“It was a round, fair, lady’s face. Very lovely in contour, but devoid32 of coloring; not beautiful, but winning from its childlike look of trust. The hair, banded upon the low, broad forehead, was brown; the eyes, which were very far apart, gray; the mouth, which was its most charming feature, delicate of make and very expressive33. There was a dimple in the chin, but none in the cheeks. It was a face to be remembered.”
“Go on,” said I.
“Meeting the gaze of those imploring34 eyes, I started up. Instantly the face and all vanished, and I became conscious, as we sometimes do in dreams, of a certain movement in the hall below, and the next instant the gliding35 figure of a man of imposing36 size entered the library. I remember experiencing a certain thrill at this, half terror, half curiosity, though I seemed to know, as if by intuition, what he was going to do. Strange to say, I now seemed to change my personality, and to be no longer a third party watching these proceedings37, but Mr. Leavenworth himself, sitting at his library table and feeling his doom38 crawling upon him without capacity for speech or power of movement to avert39 it. Though my back was towards the man, I could feel his stealthy form traverse the passage, enter the room beyond, pass to that stand where the pistol was, try the drawer, find it locked, turn the key, procure40 the pistol, weigh it in an accustomed hand, and advance again. I could feel each footstep he took as though his feet were in truth upon my heart, and I remember staring at the table before me as if I expected every moment to see it run with my own blood. I can see now how the letters I had been writing danced upon the paper before me, appearing to my eyes to take the phantom41 shapes of persons and things long ago forgotten; crowding my last moments with regrets and dead shames, wild longings42, and unspeakable agonies, through all of which that face, the face of my former dream, mingled, pale, sweet, and searching, while closer and closer behind me crept that noiseless foot till I could feel the glaring of the assassin’s eyes across the narrow threshold separating me from death and hear the click of his teeth as he set his lips for the final act. Ah!” and the secretary’s livid face showed the touch of awful horror, “what words can describe such an experience as that? In one moment, all the agonies of hell in the heart and brain, the next a blank through which I seemed to see afar, and as if suddenly removed from all this, a crouching43 figure looking at its work with starting eyes and pallid44 back-drawn lips; and seeing, recognize no face that I had ever known, but one so handsome, so remarkable45, so unique in its formation and character, that it would be as easy for me to mistake the countenance46 of my father as the look and figure of the man revealed to me in my dream.”
“And this face?” said I, in a voice I failed to recognize as my own.
“Was that of him whom we saw leave Mary Leavenworth’s presence last night and go down the hall to the front door.”
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1
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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2
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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3
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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4
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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5
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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6
insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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7
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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8
exonerate
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| v.免除责任，确定无罪 | |
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9
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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10
accusations
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| n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名 | |
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11
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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12
deterred
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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14
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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15
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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17
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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18
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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21
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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23
horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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26
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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27
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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28
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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29
revelling
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| v.作乐( revel的现在分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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30
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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31
implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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32
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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33
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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34
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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36
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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39
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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40
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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41
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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42
longings
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| 渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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43
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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44
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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45
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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46
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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