The trio of gentlemen proceeded to their task. The first epistle which was casually1 unfolded, exhibited but a few lines, wide asunder2, and in their purport3 so unimportant, that Mr. Jackson flung the letter, spread open as it happened to be, on the top of the fire, and proceeded to take up a second. Lord L?, chancing to rest his eyes on the first while the heat was causing it to roll itself up, perceived, with some surprise, that the spaces between the lines, as well as all else that had appeared blank, was rapidly becoming, as by magic, covered with bright green characters. He snatched up the paper just as the devouring4 flame was about to[395] envelope it, and succeeded in saving all but a small part. The green writing was in the hand of Henry; and, to the utter astonishment5 of all the party, addressed to his father—so long supposed dead. The contents of the letter equally puzzled and confounded our secret committee, and decided6 them on comparing all the hitherto unexamined, because supposed to be unimportant, papers of Henry with those before them.
They were accordingly sent for, and the letters on both sides found to present, in black ink, what appeared to be but the idle, careless correspondence of two young messmates, while, on being submitted to the ordeal7 of heat, they were all found to contain, in green writing, which, as it cooled, gradually disappeared again, the strange and mysterious communications, for many years, of father and son. From these letters the following wonderful discoveries were collected. The captain of the[396] privateer, the murderer of the younger St. Aubin, was shown to be the elder St. Aubin—the father of the unfortunate Henry, who was thus proved to have died by the hand of a parent! The silent, heart-broken being, who had so tenderly watched Julia, and who, there can be little doubt, met her death by the explosion of the smuggler8, it appeared from all the circumstances, was the ill-fated Maria, Mrs. Montgomery’s sister. She, it seems, as well as her depraved husband, had escaped from the wreck9 of the vessel10 in which they had both so many years since been supposed to be lost.
The vessel in question, it may be remembered, had specie on board. Some of the letters contained casual expressions, from which it might be gathered, that her foundering11 by night was not quite accidental. And one in particular, addressed by the elder St. Aubin to the younger, contained an account of his fortunate[397] escape, as he termed it, with his black, as much of the money as could conveniently be carried, and his wife; and their landing on the coast of France. The money obtained by this very suspicious adventure seems, from many after-allusions12, to have been the first setting up of the desperate St. Aubin, in his triple calling of pirate, privateer, and smuggler, carried on for so many years after, with various degrees of success.
The whole correspondence, from its commencement to its conclusion, proved that the St. Aubins, father and son, had, from Julia’s infancy13, meditated14, and ever since, step by step, proceeded with the plot for carrying her away, as soon as she should be of age. The spoils of her very large fortune, (rendered, by the death of Lady L? and her infant son, unalienable,) they were ultimately to have divided, while the income of the Craigs would have been the present[398] reward of their diabolical15 labours. Their victim, poor Julia, was to have been kept abroad, in strict concealment16—the wife, by compulsion, of Henry, till cruel treatment and horrible threats should compel her to declare herself married to him by her own free choice. He was to have corresponded, meanwhile, in her name, with her family; having, it appeared, for this purpose, actually practised, for years, the imitation of her handwriting. It was also found that he had possessed17 himself of impressions of her seals, duplicates of her keys, &c. On the subject of his being the intercepter of Fitz-Ullin’s proposals, and the writer of Julia’s supposed rejection18, there was a letter of his, which exulted19 in the fact, and related his good fortune in having himself taken the precious epistle, as he termed it, from the postman, and having been inspired to suspect the truth on seeing it directed to Julia, in our hero’s hand. There could be no doubt[399] that Henry was also the author of all the other forged letters.
Parts of the correspondence contained expressions and allusions which proved that the elder St. Aubin was the person who, under the name of Lauson, and assisted with keys and vouchers20 provided by Henry, had stripped the Craigs of all its valuables. By the produce of these it appeared the necessary funds had been raised for carrying on the desperate design on Julia herself, shortly after attempted. It further appeared that, by a curious combination of circumstances, the St. Aubins had, since a short time before the memorable21 attempt on our hero’s life at the masquerade at Arandale, been acquainted with the real birth of Fitz-Ullin, then known as the poor Edmund Montgomery.
The circumstances were as follows. Jin of the Gins, (whose identity with the strolling beggar, who stole Edmund when a child, is[400] not, we trust, forgotten,) had, it seems, been so long in the employ of the elder St. Aubin as a confidential22 agent for the concealment and disposal of smuggled23 goods, and the conduct of various other transactions of a like nature, that she had, in her turn, confided24 to him the secret of our hero’s birth, for the purpose of consulting him as to whether the said secret was, or was not marketable. She had even offered to go shares with him, provided he would assist her in making something of the business. He had, of course, dissuaded25 her from taking any step that might risk discovery before the marriage of Julia to Henry should be effected, after which he promised to put her in the way of extorting26 a sum, either from the nurse and her son for keeping the secret, or from Lord Fitz-Ullin, the father, then living, and Edmund his rightful heir, for disclosing it. All this was explained in a letter from the outlaw27 to his[401] son, as an argument for redoubled vigilance in the watch the latter always kept over Julia and Edmund. In the elder St. Aubin’s next letter, his fears of the consequences of Julia’s attachment28 to our hero seem to have been much increased by some late accounts from Henry; for he even hints at how desirable it would be to rid themselves of all apprehension29 of danger from that quarter, and concludes by commanding his son to procure30 him a ticket to the Arandale masquerade, where, by approaching the parties in disguise, he should be enabled, he says, to judge himself of the urgency of the case. This epistle left no doubt that the elder St. Aubin had acted the part of the Indian juggler31. Another letter contained allusions identifying him with the false pilot, who had attempted to run the Euphrasia aground at Leith.
In an early part of the correspondence the fate of poor Betsy Park was spoken of as having[402] been untimely; but so darkly that whether the dreadful apprehensions32 which cost poor David his life, were well or ill founded must remain for ever involved in mystery. One of the letters of the elder St. Aubin, however, was of a very suspicious tendency, as it expressed the most unbridled rage towards Henry for having committed any folly33 which might ultimately interfere34 with the perfect legality of his projected marriage with Julia; adding, with savage35 ferocity, that whatever step his own imprudence had made necessary must be taken without flinching36. Those letters may appear, considering the subjects of which they treat, to have been imprudently written: but the precaution of the invisible ink seems by the correspondents to have been thought all sufficient. It must also be observed that the information now obtained is collected from scattered37 hints darkly enough given, but elucidated38 on the present occasion by a comparison[403] of both sides of the correspondence, a contingency39 scarcely to have been anticipated. That such letters, however, were not all regularly destroyed is only one proof more, added to the many already extant, of the glaring imprudence with which vicious proceedings40 of every description are almost invariably carried on.
Lord L? expressed himself greatly shocked at those proofs of Henry’s depravity. “We certainly have before us,” rejoined Mr. Jackson, “melancholy41 evidence that he has, from a boy, lived the base tool of his desperate father, the convenient link of the outlaw with civilized42 society, the slave of a tyrant43 whom he could not love, yet, from the spell of habit unbroken from childhood, dared not resist. How he at last died by the hand of that parent, we have seen: and, that the blow by which he fell may be invested with its full portion of horror, we must remember that it was struck with[404] the intent to murder, though not to murder Henry.”
“To facilitate the retaking of his ship,” said Fitz-Ullin, “by the death of the only officer on board, was, I should think, all that the elder St. Aubin could have had in view by his wanton assassination44, in cold blood, of a person he believed to be a stranger.”
Henry’s having no knowledge to whom the privateer belonged, when he went on board her as prize-master, was accounted for by an attention to dates, which showed that she had been entirely45 fitted out and manned, since he, Henry, had last gone to sea in the Euphrasia. Each shocking discovery had been discussed, as the letter or letters throwing light on each, had been severally perused46. The final decision of the gentlemen was, that none of the circumstances should ever be mentioned to Mrs. Montgomery; and that even to Julia and Frances, the disgusting scene of guilt47 and misery[405] should be but partially48, and gradually laid open.
Lord L? was the first to leave the library: the retrospect49 of past years always spread a shade over his brow, and occasioned him to seek the retirement50 of his own apartment. Fitz-Ullin was also hurrying away, when Mr. Jackson drew him back, and, with a countenance51 of the deepest melancholy, showed him a letter which he had, he said, succeeded in setting apart while examining the papers.
This letter contained allusions to the death of Lady L?, worded in a style which made it appear but too probable, that there has been some foul52 play.
The vengeance53 which the elder St. Aubin had long since sworn to accomplish, and, in its accomplishment54, to render his wretched child his tool, is adverted55 to in evident connexion with other allusions to the immense fortune thus by the nature of certain settlements, secured[406] beyond contingency to a certain individual: expressions which, all circumstances considered, seemed scarcely to admit of other construction.
When Fitz-Ullin had finished the perusal56 of the lines pointed57 out to him, both gentlemen looked at each other for some seconds in silence. Mr. Jackson then, taking the letter from the hand of our hero, said solemnly, “With your approval, my Lord, I shall commit this paper to the flames: the surmise58 it suggests, is too horrible to be suffered to poison the future reflections of a bereft59 husband.
“If the crime which that surmise presents to the appalled60 imagination, has indeed been perpetrated, both the perpetrators already stand before a higher, and more unerring tribunal, than earth affords.” So saying, he flung the letter on the fire, and stood to see its last vestiges61 consumed.
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1
casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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4
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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5
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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7
ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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8
smuggler
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| n.走私者 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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10
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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foundering
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| v.创始人( founder的现在分词 ) | |
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allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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14
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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rejection
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| n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃 | |
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exulted
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| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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vouchers
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| n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据 | |
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memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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smuggled
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| 水货 | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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dissuaded
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| 劝（某人）勿做某事，劝阻( dissuade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
extorting
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| v.敲诈( extort的现在分词 )；曲解 | |
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outlaw
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| n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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juggler
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| n. 变戏法者, 行骗者 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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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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36
flinching
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| v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的现在分词 ) | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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elucidated
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| v.阐明，解释( elucidate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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40
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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41
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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42
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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43
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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44
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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45
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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46
perused
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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47
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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48
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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49
retrospect
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| n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯 | |
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50
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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51
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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52
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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53
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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54
accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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55
adverted
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| 引起注意（advert的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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56
perusal
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| n.细读，熟读；目测 | |
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57
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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58
surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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59
bereft
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| adj.被剥夺的 | |
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60
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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61
vestiges
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| 残余部分( vestige的名词复数 )； 遗迹； 痕迹； 毫不 | |
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