巴斯克维尔的猎犬 回忆（11）

 

"It only remains to indicate the part which she had played throughout. There can be no doubtthat Stapleton exercised an influence over her which may have been love or may have been fear,or very possibly both, since they are by no means incompatible emotions. It was, at least,absolutely effective. At his command she consented to pass as his sister, though he found thelimits of his power over her when he endeavoured to make her the direct accessory to murder. Shewas ready to warn Sir Henry so far as she could without implicating her husband, and again andagain she tried to do so. Stapleton himself seems to have been capable of jealousy, and when hesaw the baronet paying court to the lady, even though it was part of his own plan, still he could nothelp interrupting with a passionate outburst which revealed the fiery soul which his self-containedmanner so cleverly concealed. By encouraging the intimacy he made it certain that Sir Henrywould frequently come to Merripit House and that he would sooner or later get the opportunitywhich he desired. On the day of the crisis, however, his wife turned suddenly against him. She hadlearned something of the death of the convict, and she knew that the hound was being kept in theouthouse on the evening that Sir Henry was coming to dinner. She taxed her husband with hisintended crime, and a furious scene followed in which he showed her for the first time that she hada rival in his love. Her fidelity turned in an instant to bitter hatred, and he saw that she wouldbetray him. He tied her up, therefore, that she might have no chance of warning Sir Henry, and hehoped, no doubt, that when the whole countryside put down the baronet's death to the curse of hisfamily, as they certainly would do, he could win his wife back to accept an accomplished fact andto keep silent upon what she knew. In this I fancy that in any case he made a miscalculation, andthat, if we had not been there, his doom would none the less have been sealed. A woman ofSpanish blood does not condone such an irjury so lightly. And now, my dear Watson, withoutreferring to my notes, I cannot give you a more detailed account of this curious case. I do notknow that anything essential has been left unexplained."

“现在剩下需要说明的就是她在此中所扮演的角色了。 无疑地， 她是受着斯台普吞的左右的。 其原因也许是爱情， 也许是恐惧， 更可能是两样都有， 因为这决不是两种不可以同时存在的感情。 这种控制的力量， 至少是绝对有效的， 在他的命令之下， 她同意了 装作是他的妹妹， 虽然在他想要使她直接参加谋杀的时候， 也发现了 他对她的控制力还是有限的。 只要不把她的丈夫牵连进去， 她就准备去警告亨利爵士， 而且她也曾一再地确想这样做。 看来斯台普吞似乎还有着嫉妒心， 当他看到准男爵向女士求婚的时候， 虽然这一点也是在他自己的计划之内， 他还是忍不住要大发雷霆地出面干涉， 这样一来就把他聪明地靠着强自抑制而掩盖起来的火暴性格暴露出来了 。 他用笼络感情的办法使亨利爵士经常到梅利琵宅邸来， 以便早晚能获得他所期望的好机会， 可是在事情危急的那一天， 他太太突然和他对立起来。 她已稍知那逃犯死亡的事， 而且她也知道， 亨利爵士来吃晚饭的那一傍晚， 那只猎狗就关在外边的小屋里。 她谴责了 她丈夫预谋要干的罪行； 他狂怒了， 他第一次向她透露他已另有所爱。

她那往日的柔顺突然变成了深深的仇恨， 他看得出来， 她会将他出卖的， 因此他就把她捆了起来， 以免她一得机会就去警告亨利爵士， 无疑地， 他是希望当全乡 的人都把准男爵的死归之于他家的厄运的时候——他们当然会这样想——他就能争取他太太接受既成事实， 并要她保守秘密了。 在这个问题上， 我想， 无论如何他是打错算盘了， 即使咱们不到那里去， 他的命运也同样是注定了 的。 一个有着西班牙血统的女人是不会那么轻易地宽恕这样的侮辱的。

我亲爱的华生， 不参考摘记， 我是无法更详细地给你叙述这一奇异的案件了。 我不知道是否还剩下了什么重要的东西没有解释到。”