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Beasts and Superbeasts-Part14_H.H.Munro(Saki)(1870-1916)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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Something in his tone suggested that he rather endorsed

the verdict.



"I believe I once considerably scandalised her by

declaring that clear soup was a more important factor in



life than a clear conscience. She had very little sense

of proportion. By the way, she made you her principal



heir, didn't she?"

"Yes," said Egbert, "and executor as well. It's in



that connection that I particularly want to speak to

you."



"Business is not my strong point at any time," said

Sir Lulworth, "and certainly not when we're on the



immediate threshold of lunch."

"It isn't exactly business," explained Egbert, as he



followed his uncle into the dining-room.

"It's something rather serious. Very serious."



"Then we can't possibly speak about it now," said

Sir Lulworth; "no one could talk seriously during a



borshch. A beautifully constructed borshch, such as you

are going to experience presently, ought not only to



banish conversation but almost to annihilate thought.

Later on, when we arrive at the second stage of olives, I



shall be quite ready to discuss that new book on Borrow,

or, if you prefer it, the present situation in the Grand



Duchy of Luxemburg. But I absolutely decline to talk

anything approaching business till we have finished with



the bird."

For the greater part of the meal Egbert sat in an



abstracted silence, the silence of a man whose mind is

focussed on one topic. When the coffee stage had been



reached he launched himself suddenly athwart his uncle's

reminiscences of the Court of Luxemburg.



"I think I told you that great-aunt Adelaide had

made me her executor. There wasn't very much to be done



in the way of legal matters, but I had to go through her

papers."



"That would be a fairly heavy task in itself. I

should imagine there were reams of family letters."



"Stacks of them, and most of them highly

uninteresting. There was one packet, however, which I



thought might repay a careful perusal. It was a bundle

of correspondence from her brother Peter."



"The Canon of tragic memory," said Lulworth.

"Exactly, of tragic memory, as you say; a tragedy



that has never been fathomed."

"Probably the simplest explanation was the correct



one," said Sir Lulworth; "he slipped on the stone

staircase and fractured his skull in falling."



Egbert shook his head. "The medical evidence all

went to prove that the blow on the head was struck by



some one coming up behind him. A wound caused by violent

contact with the steps could not possibly have been



inflicted at that angle of the skull. They experimented

with a dummy figure falling in every conceivable



position."

"But the motive?" exclaimed Sir Lulworth; "no one



had any interest in doing away with him, and the number

of people who destroy Canons of the Established Church



for the mere fun of killing must be extremely limited.

Of course there are individuals of weak mental balance



who do that sort of thing, but they seldom conceal their

handiwork; they are more generally inclined to parade



it."

"His cook was under suspicion," said Egbert shortly.



"I know he was," said Sir Lulworth, "simply because

he was about the only person on the premises at the time



of the tragedy. But could anything be sillier than

trying to fasten a charge of murder on to Sebastien? He



had nothing to gain, in fact, a good deal to lose, from

the death of his employer. The Canon was paying him



quite as good wages as I was able to offer him when I

took him over into my service. I have since raised them



to something a little more in accordance with his real




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