sell square,
because parker, the vicar of our parish, was staying in it.
there was an american young lady there -- patrick was the
name -- elsie patrick. in some way we became friends,
until before my month was up i was as much in love as a man
could be. we were quietly married at a registry office,
and we returned to norfolk a wedded couple. you'll think
it very mad, mr. holmes, that a man of a good old family
should marry a wife in this fashion, knowing nothing of her
past or of her people; but if you saw her and knew her it
would help you to understand.
"she was very straight about it, was elsie. i can't say
that she did not give me every chance of getting out of it
if i wished to do so. 'i have had some very disagreeable
associations in my life,' said she; 'i wish to forget all
about them. i would rather never allude to the past, for
it is very painful to me. if you take me, hilton, you will
take a woman who has nothing that she need be personally
ashamed of; but you will have to be content with my word
for it, and to allow me to be silent as to all that passed
up to the time when i became yours. if these conditions
are too hard, then go back to norfolk and leave me to the
lonely life in which you found me.' it was only the day
before our wedding that she said those very words to me. i
told her that i was content to take her on her own terms,
and i have been as good as my word.
"well, we have been married now for a year, and very happy
we have been. but about a month ago, at the end of june, i
saw for the first time signs of trouble. one day my wife
received a letter from america. i saw the american stamp.
she turned deadly white, read the letter, and threw it into
the fire. she made no allusion to it afterwards, and i
made none, for a promise is a promise; but she has never
known an easy hour from that moment. there is always a
look of fear upon her face -- a look as if she were waiting
and expecting. she would do better to trust me. she would
find that i was her best friend. but until she speaks i
can say nothing. mind you, she is a truthful woman, mr.
holmes, and whatever trouble there may have been in her
past life it has been no fault of hers. i am only a simple
norfolk squire, but there is not a man in england who ranks
his family honour more highly than i do. she knows it
well, and she knew it well before she married me. she
would never bring any stain upon it -- of that i am sure.
"well, now i come to the queer part of my story. about a
week ago -- it was the tuesday of last week -- i found on
one of the window-sills a number of absurd little dancing
figures, like these upon the paper. they were scrawled
with chalk. i thought that it was the stable-boy who had
drawn them, but the lad swore he knew nothing about it.
anyhow, they had come there during the night. i had them
washed out, and i only mentioned the matter to my wife
afterwards. to my surprise she took it very seriously, and
begged me if any more came to let her see them. none did
come for a week, and then yesterday morning i found this
paper lying on the sun-dial in the garden. i showed it to
elsie, and down she dropped in a dead faint. since then
she has looked like a woman in a dream, half dazed, and
with terror always lurking in her eyes. it was then that i
wrote and sent the paper to you, mr. holmes. it was not a
thing that i could take to the police, for they would have
laughed at me, but you will tell me what to do. i am not a
rich man; but if there is any danger threatening my little
woman i would spend my last copper to shield her."
he was a fine creature, this man of the old english soil,
simple, straight, and gentle, with his great, earnest blue
eyes and broad, comely face. his love for his wife and his
trust in her shone in his features. holmes had listened to
his story with the utmost attention, and now he sat for
some time in silent thought.
"don't you think, mr. cubitt," said he, at last, "that your
best plan would be to make a direct appeal to your wife,
and to ask her to share her secret with you?"
hilton cubitt shook his massive head.
"a promise is a promise, mr. holmes. if elsie wished to
tell me she would. if not, it is not for me to force her
confidence. but i am justified in taking my own line --
and i will."
"then i will help you with all my heart. in the first
place, have you heard of any strangers being seen in your
neighbourhood?"
"no."
"i presume that it is a very quiet place. any fresh face
would cause comment?"
"in the immediate neighbourhood, yes. but we have several
small watering-places not very far away. and the farmers
take in lodgers."
"these hieroglyphics have evidently a meaning. if it is a
purely arbitrary one it may be impossible for us to solve
it. if, on the other
本文链接:
http://m.picdg.com/38_38018/5748747.html