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第41章

st. ives-第41章

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this danger。'



'Yes; Mr。 Anne;' said Rowley blankly。



'Now there has just arisen one of those rare cases; in which I am 

willing to depart from my principles。  My uncle has given me a box 

… what you would call a Christmas box。  I don't know what's in it; 

and no more do you: perhaps I am an April fool; or perhaps I am 

already enormously wealthy; there might be five hundred pounds in 

this apparently harmless receptacle!'



'Lord; Mr。 Anne!' cried Rowley。



'Now; Rowley; hold up your right hand and repeat the words of the 

oath after me;' said I; laying the despatch…box on the table。  

'Strike me blue if I ever disclose to Mr。 Powl; or Mr。 Powl's 

Viscount; or anything that is Mr。 Powl's; not to mention Mr。 Dawson 

and the doctor; the treasures of the following despatch…box; and 

strike me sky…blue scarlet if I do not continually maintain; 

uphold; love; honour and obey; serve; and follow to the four 

corners of the earth and the waters that are under the earth; the 

hereinafter before…mentioned (only that I find I have neglected to 

mention him) Viscount Anne de Keroual de St。…Yves; commonly known 

as Mr。 Rowley's Viscount。  So be it。  Amen。'



He took the oath with the same exaggerated seriousness as I gave it 

to him。



'Now;' said I。  'Here is the key for you; I will hold the lid with 

both hands in the meanwhile。'  He turned the key。  'Bring up all 

the candles in the room; and range them along…side。  What is it to 

be?  A live gorgon; a Jack…in…the…box; or a spring that fires a 

pistol?  On your knees; sir; before the prodigy!'



So saying; I turned the despatch…box upside down upon the table。  

At sight of the heap of bank paper and gold that lay in front of 

us; between the candles; or rolled upon the floor alongside; I 

stood astonished。



'O Lord!' cried Mr。 Rowley; 'oh Lordy; Lordy; Lord!' and he 

scrambled after the fallen guineas。  'O my; Mr。 Anne! what a sight 

o' money!  Why; it's like a blessed story…book。  It's like the 

Forty Thieves。'



'Now Rowley; let's be cool; let's be businesslike;' said I。  

'Riches are deceitful; particularly when you haven't counted them; 

and the first thing we have to do is to arrive at the amount of my 

… let me say; modest competency。  If I'm not mistaken; I have 

enough here to keep you in gold buttons all the rest of your life。  

You collect the gold; and I'll take the paper。'



Accordingly; down we sat together on the hearthrug; and for some 

time there was no sound but the creasing of bills and the jingling 

of guineas; broken occasionally by the exulting exclamations of 

Rowley。  The arithmetical operation on which we were embarked took 

long; and it might have been tedious to others; not to me nor to my 

helper。



'Ten thousand pounds!' I announced at last。



'Ten thousand!' echoed Mr。 Rowley。



And we gazed upon each other。



The greatness of this fortune took my breath away。  With that sum 

in my hands; I need fear no enemies。  People are arrested; in nine 

cases out of ten; not because the police are astute; but because 

they themselves run short of money; and I had here before me in the 

despatch…box a succession of devices and disguises that insured my 

liberty。  Not only so; but; as I felt with a sudden and 

overpowering thrill; with ten thousand pounds in my hands I was 

become an eligible suitor。  What advances I had made in the past; 

as a private soldier in a military prison; or a fugitive by the 

wayside; could only be qualified or; indeed; excused as acts of 

desperation。  And now; I might come in by the front door; I might 

approach the dragon with a lawyer at my elbow; and rich settlements 

to offer。  The poor French prisoner; Champdivers; might be in a 

perpetual danger of arrest; but the rich travelling Englishman; 

St。…Ives; in his post…chaise; with his despatch…box by his side; 

could smile at fate and laugh at locksmiths。  I repeated the 

proverb; exulting; LOVE LAUGHS AT LOCKSMITHS!  In a moment; by the 

mere coming of this money; my love had become possible … it had 

come near; it was under my hand … and it may be by one of the 

curiosities of human nature; but it burned that instant brighter。



'Rowley;' said I; 'your Viscount is a made man。'



'Why; we both are; sir;' said Rowley。



'Yes; both;' said I; 'and you shall dance at the wedding;' and I 

flung at his head a bundle of bank notes; and had just followed it 

up with a handful of guineas; when the door opened; and Mr。 Romaine 

appeared upon the threshold。









CHAPTER XVIII … MR。 ROMAINE CALLS ME NAMES





FEELING very much of a fool to be thus taken by surprise; I 

scrambled to my feet and hastened to make my visitor welcome。  He 

did not refuse me his hand; but he gave it with a coldness and 

distance for which I was quite unprepared; and his countenance; as 

he looked on me; was marked in a strong degree with concern and 

severity。



'So; sir; I find you here?' said he; in tones of little 

encouragement。  'Is that you; George?  You can run away; I have 

business with your master。'



He showed Rowley out; and locked the door behind him。  Then he sat 

down in an armchair on one side of the fire; and looked at me with 

uncompromising sternness。



'I am hesitating how to begin;' said he。  'In this singular 

labyrinth of blunders and difficulties that you have prepared for 

us; I am positively hesitating where to begin。  It will perhaps be 

best that you should read; first of all; this paragraph。'  And he 

handed over to me a newspaper。



The paragraph in question was brief。  It announced the recapture of 

one of the prisoners recently escaped from Edinburgh Castle; gave 

his name; Clausel; and added that he had entered into the 

particulars of the recent revolting murder in the Castle; and 

denounced the murderer:…





'It is a common soldier called Champdivers; who had himself 

escaped; and is in all probability involved in the common fate of 

his comrades。  In spite of the activity along all the Forth and the 

East Coast; nothing has yet been seen of the sloop which these 

desperadoes seized at Grangemouth; and it is now almost certain 

that they have found a watery grave。'





At the reading of this paragraph; my heart turned over。  In a 

moment I saw my castle in the air ruined; myself changed from a 

mere military fugitive into a hunted murderer; fleeing from the 

gallows; my love; which had a moment since appeared so near to me; 

blotted from the field of possibility。  Despair; which was my first 

sentiment; did not; however; endure for more than a moment。  I saw 

that my companions had indeed succeeded in their unlikely design; 

and that I was supposed to have accompanied and perished along with 

them by shipwreck … a most probable ending to their enterprise。  If 

they thought me at the bottom of the North Sea; I need not fear 

much vigilance on the streets of Edinburgh。  Champdivers was 

wanted: what was to connect him with St。 Ives?  Major Chevenix 

would recognise me if he met me; that was beyond bargaining: he had 

seen me so often; his interest had been kindled to so high a point; 

that I could hope to deceive him by no stratagem of disguise。  

Well; even so; he would have a competition of testimony before him: 

he knew Clausel; he knew me; and I was sure he would decide for 

honour。  At the same time the image of Flora shot up in my mind's 

eye with such a radiancy as fairly overwhelmed all other 

considerations; the blood sprang to every corner of my body; and I 

vowed I would see and win her; if it cost my neck。



'Very annoying; no doubt;' said I; as I returned the paper to Mr。 

Romaine。



'Is annoying your word for it?' said he。



'Exasperating; if you like;' I admitted。



'And true?' he inquired。



'Well; true in a sense;' said I。  'But perhaps I had better answer 

that question by putting you in possession of the facts?

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