Luke felt a tightening1 of his muscles as Bridget approached.
He had had no word alone with her since the day of the tennis party. Bymutual consent they had avoided each other. He stole a glance at her now.
She looked provokingly calm, cool and indifferent.
She said lightly:
“I was beginning to wonder what on earth had become of you, Gordon?”
Lord Whitfield grunted2:
“Had a bit of a dust up! That fellow Rivers had the impertinence to takethe Rolls out this afternoon.”
“Lèse-majesté,” said Bridget.
“It’s no good making a joke out of it, Bridget. The thing’s serious. He tooka girl out.”
“I don’t suppose it would have given him any pleasure to go solemnlyfor a drive by himself!”
Lord Whitfield drew himself up.
“On my estate I’ll have decent moral behaviour.”
“It isn’t actually immoral3 to take a girl joyriding.”
“It is when it’s my car.”
“That, of course, is worse than immorality4! It practically amounts toblasphemy. But you can’t cut out the sex stuff altogether, Gordon. Themoon is at the full and it’s actually Midsummer Eve.”
“Is it, by Jove?” said Luke.
Bridget threw him a glance.
“That seems to interest you?”
“It does.”
Bridget turned back to Lord Whitfield.
“Three extraordinary people have arrived at the Bells and Motley. Itemone, a man with shorts, spectacles and a lovely plum-coloured silk shirt!
Item two, a female with no eyebrows5, dressed in a peplum, a pound of as-sorted sham6 Egyptian beads7 and sandals. Item three, a fat man in a laven-der suit and co-respondent shoes. I suspect them of being friends of ourMr. Ellsworthy! Says the gossip writer: ‘Someone has whispered that therewill be gay doings in the Witches’ Meadow tonight.’”
Lord Whitfield turned purple and said:
“I won’t have it!”
“You can’t help it, darling. The Witches’ Meadow is public property.”
“I won’t have this irreligious mumbo jumbo going on down here! I’ll ex-pose it in Scandals.” He paused, then said, “Remind me to make a noteabout that and get Siddely on to it. I must go up to town tomorrow.”
“Lord Whitfield’s campaign against witchcraft,” said Bridget flippantly.
“Medieval superstitions8 still rife9 in quiet country village.”
Lord Whitfield stared at her with a puzzled frown, then he turned andwent into the house.
Luke said pleasantly:
“You must do your stuff better than that, Bridget!”
“What do you mean?”
“It would be a pity if you lost your job! That hundred thousand isn’tyours yet. Nor are the diamonds and pearls. I should wait until after themarriage ceremony to exercise your sarcastic10 gifts if I were you.”
Her glance met his coolly.
“You are so thoughtful, dear Luke. It’s kind of you to take my future somuch to heart!”
“Kindness and consideration have always been my strong points.”
“I hadn’t noticed it.”
“No? You surprise me.”
Bridget twitched11 the leaf off a creeper. She said:
“What have you been doing today?”
“The usual spot of sleuthing.”
“Any results?”
“Yes and no, as the politicians say. By the way, have you got any tools inthe house?”
“I expect so. What kind of tools?”
“Oh, any handy little gadgets12. Perhaps I could inspect some.”
Ten minutes later Luke had made a selection from a cupboard shelf.
“That little lot will do nicely,” he said, slapping the pocket in which hehad stowed them away.
“Are you thinking of doing a spot of forcing and entering?”
“Maybe.”
“You’re very uncommunicative on the subject.”
“Well, after all, the situation bristles13 with difficulties. I’m in the hell of aposition. After our little knock up on Saturday I suppose I ought to clearout of here.”
“To behave as a perfect gentleman, you should.”
“But since I’m convinced that I am pretty hot on the trail of a homicidalmaniac, I’m more or less forced to remain. If you could think of any con-vincing reason for me to leave here and take up my quarters at the Bellsand Motley, for goodness’ sake trot14 it out.”
Bridget shook her head.
“That’s not feasible—you being a cousin and all that. Besides, the inn isfull of Mr. Ellsworthy’s friends. They only run to three guest rooms.”
“So I am forced to remain, painful as it must be for you.”
Bridget smiled sweetly at him.
“Not at all. I can always do with a few scalps to dangle15.”
“That,” said Luke appreciatively, “was a particularly dirty crack. What Iadmire about you, Bridget, is that you have practically no instincts of kind-ness. Well, well. The rejected lover will now go and change for dinner.”
The evening passed uneventfully. Luke won Lord Whitfield’s approvaleven more deeply than before by the apparent absorbed interest withwhich he listened to the other’s nightly discourse16.
When they came into the drawing room Bridget said:
“You men have been a long time.”
Luke replied:
“Lord Whitfield was being so interesting that the time passed like aflash. He was telling me how he founded his first newspaper.”
Mrs. Anstruther said:
“These new little fruiting trees in pots are perfectly17 marvellous, I be-lieve. You ought to try them along the terrace, Gordon.”
The conversation then proceeded on normal lines.
Luke retired18 early.
He did not, however, go to bed. He had other plans.
It was just striking twelve when he descended19 the stairs noiselessly intennis shoes, passed through the library and let himself out by a window.
The wind was still blowing in violent gusts20 interspersed22 with brief lulls23.
Clouds scudded24 across the sky, obliterating25 the moon so that darkness al-ternated with bright moonlight.
Luke made his way by a circuitous26 route to Mr. Ellsworthy’s establish-ment. He saw his way clear to doing a little investigation27. He was fairlycertain that Ellsworthy and his friends would be out together on this par-ticular date. Midsummer Eve, Luke thought, was sure to be marked bysome ceremony or other. Whilst this was in progress, it would be a goodopportunity to search Mr. Ellsworthy’s house.
He climbed a couple of walls, got round to the back of the house, tookthe assorted28 tools from his pocket and selected a likely implement29. Hefound a scullery window amenable30 to his efforts. A few minutes later hehad slipped back the catch, raised the sash and hoisted31 himself over.
He had a torch in his pocket. He used it sparingly—a brief flash to showhim his way and to avoid running into things.
In a quarter of an hour he had satisfied himself that the house wasempty. The owner was out and abroad on his own affairs.
Luke smiled with satisfaction and settled down to his task.
He made a minute and thorough search of every available nook andcorner. In a locked drawer, below two or three innocuous water-coloursketches, he came upon some artistic33 efforts which caused him to lift hiseyebrows and whistle. Mr. Ellsworthy’s correspondence was unilluminat-ing, but some of his books—those tucked away at the back of a cupboard—repaid attention.
Besides these, Luke accumulated three meagre but suggestive scraps34 ofinformation. The first was a pencil scrawl35 in a little notebook. “Settle withTommy Pierce”—the date being a couple of days before the boy’s death.
The second was a crayon sketch32 of Amy Gibbs with a furious red crossright across the face. The third was a bottle of cough mixture. None ofthese things were in any way conclusive36, but taken together they might beconsidered as encouraging.
Luke was just restoring some final order, replacing things in their place,when he suddenly stiffened37 and switched off his torch.
He had heard the key inserted in the lock of a side door.
He stepped across to the door of the room he was in, and applied38 an eyeto a crack. He hoped Ellsworthy, if it was he, would go straight upstairs.
The side door opened and Ellsworthy stepped in, switching on a halllight as he did so.
As he passed along the hall, Luke saw his face and caught his breath.
It was unrecognizable. There was foam39 on the lips, the eyes were alightwith a strange mad exultation40 as he pranced41 along the hall in little dan-cing steps.
But what caused Luke to catch his breath was the sight of Ellsworthy’shands. They were stained a deep brownish red — the colour of driedblood….
He disappeared up the stairs. A moment later the light in the hall wasextinguished.
Luke waited a little longer, then very cautiously he crept out of the hall,made his way to the scullery and left by the window. He looked up at thehouse, but it was dark and silent.
He drew a deep breath.
“My God,” he said, “the fellow’s mad all right! I wonder what he’s up to?
I’ll swear that was blood on his hands!”
He made a detour42 round the village and returned to Ashe Manor43 by aroundabout route. It was as he was turning into the side lane that a sud-den rustle44 of leaves made him swing round.
“Who’s there?”
A tall figure wrapped in a dark cloak came out from the shadow of atree. It looked so eerie45 that Luke felt his heart miss a beat. Then he recog-nized the long pale face under the hood46.
“Bridget? How you startled me!”
She said sharply:
“Where have you been? I saw you go out.”
“And you followed me?”
“No. You’d gone too far. I’ve been waiting till you came back.”
“That was a damned silly thing to do,” Luke grumbled47.
She repeated her question impatiently.
“Where have you been?”
Luke said gaily48:
“Raiding our Mr. Ellsworthy!”
Bridget caught her breath.
“Did you—find anything?”
“I don’t know. I know a bit more about the swine—his pornographicaltastes and all that, and there are three things that might be suggestive.”
She listened attentively49 as he recounted the result of his search.
“It’s very slight evidence, though,” he ended. “But, Bridget, just as I wasleaving Ellsworthy came back. And I tell you this—the man’s as mad as ahatter!”
“You really think so?”
“I saw his face—it was—unspeakable! God knows what he’d been up to!
He was in a delirium50 of mad excitement. And his hands were stained. I’llswear with blood.”
Bridget shivered.
“Horrible…” she murmured.
Luke said irritably51:
“You shouldn’t have come out by yourself, Bridget. It was absolute mad-ness. Somebody might have knocked you on the head.”
She laughed shakily.
“The same applies to you, my dear.”
“I can look after myself.”
“I’m pretty good at taking care of myself, too. Hard-boiled, I should thinkyou’d call me.”
A sharp gust21 of wind came. Luke said suddenly:
“Take off that hood thing.”
“Why?”
With an unexpected movement he snatched at her cloak and whipped itaway. The wind caught her hair and blew it out straight up from her head.
She stared at him, her breath coming fast.
Luke said:
“You certainly are incomplete without a broomstick, Bridget. That’s howI saw you first.” He stared a minute longer and said, “You’re a cruel devil.”
With a sharp impatient sigh he tossed the cloak back to her.
“There—put it on. Let’s get home.”
“Wait….”
“Why?”
She came up to him. She spoke52 in a low, rather breathless voice.
“Because I’ve got something to say to you—that’s partly why I waited foryou here—outside the Manor. I want to say it to you now—before we goinside—into Gordon’s property….”
“Well?”
She gave a short, rather bitter laugh.
“Oh, it’s quite simple. You win, Luke. That’s all!”
He said sharply:
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that I’ve given up the idea of being Lady Whitfield.”
He took a step nearer.
“Is that true?” he demanded.
“Yes, Luke.”
“You’ll marry me?”
“Yes.”
“Why, I wonder?”
“I don’t know. You say such beastly things to me—and I seem to likeit….”
He took her in his arms and kissed her. He said:
“It’s a mad world!”
“Are you happy, Luke?”
“Not particularly.”
“Do you think you’ll ever be happy with me?”
“I don’t know. I’ll risk it.”
“Yes—that’s what I feel….”
He slipped his arm through hers.
“We’re rather queer about all this, my sweet. Come along. Perhaps weshall be more normal in the morning.”
“Yes—it’s rather frightening the way things happen to one…” She lookeddown and tugged53 him to a standstill. “Luke—Luke—what’s that…?”
The moon had come out from the clouds. Luke looked down to whereBridget’s shoe trembled by a huddled54 mass.
With a startled exclamation55 he dragged his arm free and knelt down. Helooked from the shapeless heap to the gatepost above. The pineapple wasgone.
He stood up at last. Bridget was standing56, her hands pressed together onher mouth.
He said:
“It’s the chauffeur—Rivers. He’s dead….”
“That beastly stone thing—it’s been loose for some time—I suppose itblew down on him?”
Luke shook his head.
“The wind wouldn’t do a thing like that. Oh! that’s what it’s meant tolook like—that’s what it’s meant to be—another accident! But it’s a fake.
It’s the killer57 again….”
“No—no, Luke—”
“I tell you it is. Do you know what I felt on the back of his head—in withthe stickiness and mess—grains of sand. There’s no sand about here. I tellyou, Bridget, somebody stood here and slugged him as he came throughthe gate back to his cottage. Then laid him down and rolled that pineapplething down on top of him.”
Bridget said faintly:
“Luke—there’s blood—on your hands….”
Luke said grimly:
“There was blood on someone else’s hands. Do you know what I wasthinking this afternoon—that if there were to be one more crime we’dsurely know. And we do know! Ellsworthy! He was out tonight and hecame in with blood on his hands capering58 and prancing59 and mad—drunkwith the homicidal maniac’s expression….”
Looking down, Bridget shivered and said in a low voice: “Poor Rivers….”
Luke said pityingly:
“Yes, poor fellow. It’s damnable bad luck. But this will be the last, Brid-get! Now we know, we’ll get him!”
He saw her sway and in two steps he had caught her in his arms.
She said in a small childlike voice:
“Luke, I’m frightened….”
He said, “It’s all over, darling. It’s all over….”
She murmured:
“Be kind to me—please. I’ve been hurt so much.”
He said: “We’ve hurt each other. We won’t do that anymore.”
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1
tightening
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| 上紧，固定，紧密 | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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immorality
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| n. 不道德, 无道义 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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gadgets
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| n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ） | |
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bristles
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| 短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 ) | |
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trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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15
dangle
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| v.(使)悬荡，(使)悬垂 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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17
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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lulls
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| n.间歇期（lull的复数形式）vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的第三人称单数形式） | |
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24
scudded
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| v.（尤指船、舰或云彩）笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
obliterating
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| v.除去( obliterate的现在分词 )；涂去；擦掉；彻底破坏或毁灭 | |
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26
circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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assorted
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| adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的 | |
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implement
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| n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行 | |
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amenable
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| adj.经得起检验的；顺从的；对负有义务的 | |
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hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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scrawl
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| vt.潦草地书写；n.潦草的笔记，涂写 | |
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conclusive
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| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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pranced
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| v.（马）腾跃( prance的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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detour
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| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
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manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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eerie
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| adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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47
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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52
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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53
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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56
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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killer
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| n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者 | |
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58
capering
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| v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的现在分词 )；蹦蹦跳跳 | |
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prancing
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| v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 ) | |
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