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The Haunted Hotel-Part6_WILKIE COLLINS (1824-1899)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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The open envelope was addressed (evidently in a feigned hand-writing)

to 'Mrs. Ferrari.' The post-mark was 'Venice.' The contents of the



envelope were a sheet of foreign note-paper, and a folded enclosure.

On the note-paper, one line only was written. It was again



in a feigned handwriting, and it contained these words:

'To console you for the loss of your husband'



Agnes opened the enclosure next.

It was a Bank of England note for a thousand pounds.



CHAPTER VI

The next day, the friend and legal adviser of Agnes Lockwood,



Mr. Troy, called on her by appointment in the evening.

Mrs. Ferrari--still persisting in the conviction of her husband's death--



had sufficiently recovered to be present at the consultation.

Assisted by Agnes, she told the lawyer the little that was



known relating to Ferrari's disappearance, and then produced

the correspondence connected with that event. Mr. Troy read



(first) the three letters addressed by Ferrari to his wife;

(secondly) the letter written by Ferrari's courier-friend,



describing his visit to the palace and his interview with

Lady Montbarry; and (thirdly) the one line of anonymous writing



which had accompanied the extraordinary gift of a thousand pounds

to Ferrari's wife.



Well known, at a later period, as the lawyer who acted for Lady Lydiard,

in the case of theft, generally described as the case of 'My Lady's Money,'



Mr. Troy was not only a man of learning and experience in his profession--

he was also a man who had seen something of society at home and abroad.



He possessed a keen eye for character, a quainthumour, and a kindly

nature which had not been deteriorated even by a lawyer's professional



experience of mankind. With all these personal advantages, it is

a question, nevertheless, whether he was the fittest adviser whom



Agnes could have chosen under the circumstances. Little Mrs. Ferrari,

with many domestic merits, was an essentiallycommonplace woman.



Mr. Troy was the last person living who was likely to attract

her sympathies--he was the exact opposite of a commonplace man.



'She looks very ill, poor thing!' In these words the lawyer

opened the business of the evening, referring to Mrs. Ferrari



as unceremoniously as if she had been out of the room.

'She has suffered a terrible shock,' Agnes answered.



Mr. Troy turned to Mrs. Ferrari, and looked at her again,

with the interest due to the victim of a shock. He drummed absently



with his fingers on the table. At last he spoke to her.

'My good lady, you don't really believe that your husband is dead?'



Mrs. Ferrari put her handkerchief to her eyes. The word 'dead' was

ineffectual to express her feelings. 'Murdered!' she said sternly,



behind her handkerchief.

'Why? And by whom?' Mr. Troy asked.



Mrs. Ferrari seemed to have some difficulty in answering.

'You have read my husband's letters, sir,' she began. 'I believe



he discovered--' She got as far as that, and there she stopped.

'What did he discover?'



There are limits to human patience--even the patience of a bereaved wife.

This cool question irritated Mrs. Ferrari into expressing herself



plainly at last.

'He discovered Lady Montbarry and the Baron!' she answered,



with a burst of hystericalvehemence. 'The Baron is no more

that vile woman's brother than I am. The wickedness of those two



wretches came to my poor dear husband's knowledge. The lady's maid

left her place on account of it. If Ferrari had gone away too,



he would have been alive at this moment. They have killed him.

I say they have killed him, to prevent it from getting to Lord



Montbarry's ears.' So, in short sharp sentences, and in louder

and louder accents, Mrs. Ferrari stated her opinion of the case.



Still keeping his own view in reserve, Mr. Troy listened

with an expression of satirical approval.



'Very strongly stated, Mrs. Ferrari,' he said. 'You build up your

sentences well; you clinch your conclusions in a workmanlike manner.



If you had been a man, you would have made a good lawyer--

you would have taken juries by the scruff of their necks.



Complete the case, my good lady--complete the case.

Tell us next who sent you this letter, enclosing the bank-note.



The "two wretches" who murdered Mr. Ferrari would hardly put




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