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classic mystery and detective stories-第71部分

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only claim to respect; indeed; was that it contained the famous

Mervyn cabinet; a fascinating puzzle of which I will speak later;

but which certainly had nothing haunting or horrible about its

appearance。



My uncle's family consisted of three sons。  The eldest; George; the

present baronet; was now in his thirties; married; and with

children of his own。  The second; Jack; was the black…sheep of the

family。  He had been in the Guards; but; about five years back; had

got into some very disgraceful scrape; and had been obliged to

leave the country。  The sorrow and the shame of this had killed his

unhappy mother; and her husband had not long afterwards followed

her to the grave。  Alan; the youngest son; probably because he was

the nearest to us in age; had been our special favorite in earlier

years。  George was grown up before I had well left the nursery; and

his hot; quick temper had always kept us youngsters somewhat in awe

of him。  Jack was four years older than Alan; and; besides; his

profession had; in a way; cut his boyhood short。  When my uncle and

aunt were abroad; as they frequently were for months together on

account of her health; it was Alan; chiefly; who had to spend his

holidays with us; both as school…boy and as undergraduate。  And a

brighter; sweeter…tempered comrade; or one possessed of more

diversified talents for the invention of games or the telling of

stories; it would have been difficult to find。



For five years together now our ancient custom of an annual visit

to Mervyn had been broken。  First there had been the seclusion of

mourning for my aunt; and a year later for my uncle; then George

and his wife; Lucy;she was a connection of our own on our

mother's side; and very intimate with us all;had been away for

nearly two years on a voyage round the world; and since then

sickness in our own family had kept us in our turn a good deal

abroad。  So that I had not seen my cousins since all the calamities

which had befallen them in the interval; and as I steamed

northwards I wondered a good deal as to the changes I should find。

I was to have come out that year in London; but ill…health had

prevented me; and as a sort of consolation Lucy had kindly asked me

to spend a fortnight at Mervyn; and be present at a shooting…party;

which was to assemble there in the first week of October。



I had started early; and there was still an hour of the short

autumn day left when I descended at the little wayside station;

from which a six…mile drive brought me to the Grange。  A dreary

drive I found itthe round; gray; treeless outline of the fells

stretching around me on every side beneath the leaden; changeless

sky。  The night had nearly fallen as we drove along the narrow

valley in which the Grange stood: it was too dark to see the autumn

tints of the woods which clothed and brightened its sides; almost

too dark to distinguish the old tower;Dame Alice's tower as it

was called;which stood some half a mile farther on at its head。

But the light shone brightly from the Grange windows; and all

feeling of dreariness departed as I drove up to the door。  Leaving

maid and boxes to their fate; I ran up the steps into the old;

well…remembered hall; and was informed by the dignified man…servant

that her ladyship and the tea were awaiting me in the morning…room。



I found that there was nobody staying in the house except Alan; who

was finishing the long vacation there: he had been called to the

Bar a couple of years before。  The guests were not to arrive for

another week; so that I had plenty of opportunity in the interval

to make up for lost time with my cousins。  I began my observations

that evening as we sat down to dinner; a cozy party of four。  Lucy

was quite unchangedpretty; foolish; and gentle as ever。  George

showed the full five years' increase of age; and seemed to have

acquired a somewhat painful control of his temper。  Instead of the

old petulant outbursts; there was at times an air of nervous;

irritable self…restraint; which I found the less pleasant of the

two。  But it was in Alan that the most striking alteration

appeared。  I felt it the moment I shook hands with him; and the

impression deepened that evening with every hour。  I told myself

that it was only the natural difference between boy and man;

between twenty and twenty…five; but I don't think that I believed

it。  Superficially the change was not great。  The slight…built;

graceful figure; the deep gray eyes; too small for beauty; the

clear…cut features; the delicate; sensitive lips; close shaven now;

as they had been hairless then;all were as I remembered them。

But the face was paler and thinner than it had been; and there were

lines round the eyes and at the corners of the mouth which were no

more natural to twenty…five than they would have been to twenty。

The old charm indeedthe sweet friendliness of manner; which was

his own peculiar possessionwas still there。  He talked and

laughed almost as much as formerly; but the talk was manufactured

for our entertainment; and the laughter came from his head and not

from his heart。  And it was when he was taking no part in the

conversation that the change showed most。  Then the face; on which

in the old time every passing emotion had expressed itself in a

constant; living current; became cold and impassivewithout

interest; and without desire。  It was at such times that I knew

most certainly that here was something which had been living and

was dead。  Was it only his boyhood?  This question I was unable to

answer。



Still; in spite of all; that week was one of the happiest in my

life。  The brothers were both men of enough ability and cultivation

to be pleasant talkers; and Lucy could perform adequately the part

of conversational accompanist; which; socially speaking; is all

that is required of a woman。  The meals and evenings passed quickly

and agreeably; the mornings I spent in unending gossips with Lucy;

or in games with the children; two bright boys of five and six

years old。  But the afternoons were the best part of the day。

George was a thorough squire in all his tastes and habits; and

every afternoon his wife dutifully accompanied him round farms and

coverts; inspecting new buildings; trudging along half…made roads;

or marking unoffending trees for destruction。  Then Alan and I

would ride by the hour together over moor and meadowland; often

picking our way homewards down the glen…side long after the autumn

evenings had closed in。  During these rides I had glimpses many a

time into depths in Alan's nature of which I doubt whether in the

old days he had himself been aware。  To me certainly they were as a

revelation。  A prevailing sadness; occasionally a painful tone of

bitterness; characterized these more serious moods of his; but I do

not think that; at the end of that week; I would; if I could; have

changed the man; whom I was learning to revere and to pity; for the

light…hearted playmate whom I felt was lost to me for ever。





II





The only feature of the family life which jarred on me was the

attitude of the two brothers towards the children。  I did not

notice this much at first; and at all times it was a thing to be

felt rather than to be seen。  George himself never seemed quite at

ease with them。  The boys were strong and well grown; healthy in

mind and body; and one would have thought that the existence of two

such representatives to carry on his name and inherit his fortune

would have been the very crown of pride and happiness to their

father。  But it was not so。  Lucy indeed was devoted to them; and

in all practical matters no one could have been kinder to them than

was George。  They were free of the whole house; and every

indulgence that money could buy for them they had。  I never heard

him give them a harsh word。  But there was something wrong。  A

constraint in their presence; a relief in their absence; an evident

dislike of discussing them and their affairs; a total want of that

enjoyment of love and possession which in such a case one might

have expected to find。  Alan's state of mind was even more marked。

Never did I hear him willingly address his nephews; or in any way

allude to their existence。  I should have said that he simply

ignored it; but for the heavy gloom which always overspread his

spirits in their company; and for the glances which he would now

and again cast in their directionglances full of some hidden

painful emotion; though of what nature it would have been hard to

define。  Indeed; Alan's attitude towards her children I soon found

to be the only source of friction between Lucy and this otherwise

much…loved member of her husband's family。  I asked her one day why

the boys never appeared at luncheon。



〃Oh; they come when Alan is away;〃 she answered; 〃but they seem to

annoy him so much that George thinks it is better to keep them out

of sight when he is here。  It is very tiresome
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