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雙語·非洲的百萬富翁 第四章 蒂羅爾城堡

所屬教程:譯林版·非洲的百萬富翁

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2022年04月23日

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We went to Meran. The place was practically decided for us by Amelia's French maid, who really acts on such occasions as our guide and courier.

She is such a clever girl, is Amelia's French maid. Whenever we are going anywhere, Amelia generally asks(and accepts)her advice as to choice of hotels and furnished villas.Césarine has been all over the Continent in her time;and, being Alsatian by birth, she of course speaks German as well as she speaks French, while her long residence with Amelia has made her at last almost equally at home in our native English.She is a treasure, that girl;so neat and dexterous, and not above dabbling in anything on earth she may be asked to turn her hand to.She walks the world with a needle-case in one hand and an etna in the other.She can cook an omelette on occasion, or drive a Norwegian cariole;she can sew, and knit, and make dresses, and cure a cold, and do anything else on earth you ask her.Her salads are the most savoury I ever tasted;while as for her coffee(which she prepares for us in the train on long journeys),there isn’t a chef de cuisine at a West-end club to be named in the same day with her.

So, when Amelia said, in her imperious way,“Césarine, we want to go to the Tyrol—now—at once—in mid-October;where do you advise us to put up?”—Césarine answered, like a shot,“The Erzherzog Johann, ofcourse, at Meran, for the autumn, madame.”

“Is he……an archduke?”Amelia asked, a little staggered at such apparent familiarity with Imperial personages.

“Ma foi!no, madame. He is an hotel—as you would say in England, the‘Victoria'or the‘Prince of Wales's'—the most comfortable hotel in all South Tyrol;and at this time of year, naturally, you must go beyond the Alps;it begins already to be cold at Innsbruck.”

So to Meran we went;and a prettier or more picturesque place, I confess, I have seldom set eyes on. A rushing torrent;high hills and mountain peaks;terraced vineyard slopes;old walls and towers;quaint, arcaded streets;a craggy waterfall;a promenade after the fashion of a German Spa;and when you lift your eyes from the ground, jagged summits of Dolomites:it was a combination such as I had never before beheld;a Rhine town plumped down among green Alpine heights, and threaded by the cool colonnades of Italy.

I approved Césarine’s choice;and I was particularly glad she had pronounced for an hotel, where all is plain sailing, instead of advising a furnished villa, the arrangements for which would naturally have fallen in large part upon the shoulders of the wretched secretary.As in any case I have to do three hours’work a day, I feel that such additions to my normal burden may well be spared me.I tipped Césarine half a sovereign, in fact, for her judicious choice.Césarine glanced at it on her palm in her mysterious, curious, half-smiling way, and pocketed it at once with a“Merci, monsieur!”that had a touch of contempt in it.I always fancy Césarine has large ideas of her own on the subject of tipping, and thinks very small beer of the modest sums a mere secretary can alone afford to bestow upon her.

The great peculiarity of Meran is the number of schlosses(I believemy plural is strictly irregular, but very convenient to English ears)which you can see in every direction from its outskirts. A statistical eye, it is supposed, can count no fewer than forty of these picturesque, ramshackled old castles from a point on the Küchelberg.For myself, I hate statistics(except as an element in fnancial prospectuses),and I really don’t know how many ruinous piles Isabel and Amelia counted under Césarine’s guidance;but I remember that most of them were quaint and beautiful, and that their variety of architecture seemed positively bewildering.One would be square, with funny little turrets stuck out at each angle;while another would rejoice in a big round keep, and spread on either side long, ivy-clad walls and delightful bastions.Charles was immensely taken with them.He loves the picturesque, and has a poet hidden in that fnancial soul of his.(Very effectually hidden, though, I am ready to grant you.)From the moment he came he felt at once he would love to possess a castle of his own among these romantic mountains.“Seldon!”he exclaimed contemptuously.“They call Seldon a castle!But you and I know very well, Sey, it was built in 1860,with sham antique stones, for Macpherson of Seldon, at market rates, by Cubitt and Co.,worshipful contractors of London.Macpherson charged me for that sham antiquity a preposterous price, at which one ought to procure a real ancestral mansion.Now, these castles are real.They are hoary with antiquity.Schloss Tyrol is Romanesque—tenth or eleventh century.”(He had been reading it up in Baedeker.)“That’s the sort of place for me!—tenth or eleventh century.I could live here, remote from stocks and shares, for ever;and in these sequestered glens, recollect, Sey, my boy, there are no Colonel Clays, and no arch Madame Picardets!”

As a matter of fact, he could have lived there six weeks, and then tired for Park Lane, Monte Carlo, Brighton.

As for Amelia, strange to say, she was equally taken with this new fad of Charles's. As a rule she hates everywhere on earth save London, except during the time when no respectable person can be seen in town, and when modest blinds shade the scandalised face of Mayfair and Belgravia.She bores herself to death even at Seldon Castle, Ross-shire, and yawns all day long in Paris or Vienna.She is a confrmed Cockney.Yet, for some occult reason, my amiable sister-in-law fell in love with South Tyrol.She wanted to vegetate in that lush vegetation.The grapes were being picked;pumpkins hung over the walls;Virginia creeper draped the quaint gray schlosses with crimson cloaks;and everything was as beautiful as a dream of Burne-Jones's.(I know I am quite right in mentioning Burne-Jones, especially in connection with Romanesque architecture, because I heard him highly praised on that very ground by our friend and enemy, Dr.Edward Polperro.)So perhaps it was excusable that Amelia should fall in love with it all, under the circumstances;besides, she is largely infuenced by what Césarine says, and Césarine declares there is no climate in Europe like Meran in winter.I do not agree with her.The sun sets behind the hills at three in the afternoon, and a nasty warm wind blows moist over the snow in January and February.

However, Amelia set Césarine to inquire of the people at the hotel about the market price of tumbledown ruins, and the number of such eligible family mausoleums just then for sale in the immediate neighbourhood.Césarine returned with a full, true, and particular list, adorned with fowers of rhetoric which would have delighted the soul of good old John Robins.They were all picturesque, all Romanesque, all richly ivy-clad, all commodious, all historical, and all the property of high well-born Grafs and very honourable Freiherrs.Most of them had been the scene of celebrated tournaments;several of them had witnessed thegorgeous marriages of Holy Roman Emperors;and every one of them was provided with some choice and selected frst-class murders.Ghosts could be arranged for or not, as desired;and armorial bearings could be thrown in with the moat for a moderate extra remuneration.

The two we liked best of all these tempting piles were Schloss Planta and Schloss Lebenstein. We drove past both, and even I myself, I confess, was distinctly taken with them.(Besides, when a big purchase like this is on the stocks, a poor beggar of a secretary has always a chance of exerting his infuence and earning for himself some modest commission.)Schloss Planta was the most striking externally, I should say, with its Rhine-like towers, and its great gnarled ivy-stems, that looked as if they antedated the House of Hapsburg;but Lebenstein was said to be better preserved within, and more ftted in every way for modern occupation.Its staircase has been photographed by 7000 amateurs.

We got tickets to view. The invaluable Césarine procured them for us.Armed with these, we drove off one fine afternoon, meaning to go to Planta, by Césarine’s recommendation.Half-way there, however, we changed our minds, as it was such a lovely day, and went on up the long, slow hill to Lebenstein.I must say the drive through the grounds was simply charming.The castle stands perched(say rather poised, like St.Michael the archangel in Italian pictures)on a solitary stack or crag of rock, looking down on every side upon its own rich vineyards.Chestnuts line the glens;the valley of the Etsch spreads below like a picture.

The vineyards alone make a splendid estate, by the way;they produce a delicious red wine, which is exported to Bordeaux, and there bottled and sold as a vintage claret under the name of Chateau Monnivet. Charles revelled in the idea of growing his own wines.

“Here we could sit,”he cried to Amelia,“in the most literal sense, under our own vine and fg-tree. Delicious retirement!For my part, I'm sick and tired of the hubbub of Threadneedle Street.”

We knocked at the door—for there was really no bell, but a ponderous, old-fashioned, wrought-iron knocker. So deliciously medi?val!The late Graf von Lebenstein had recently died, we knew;and his son, the present Count, a young man of means, having inherited from his mother’s family a still more ancient and splendid schloss in the Salzburg district, desired to sell this outlying estate in order to afford himself a yacht, after the manner that is now becoming increasingly fashionable with the noblemen and gentlemen in Germany and Austria.

The door was opened for us by a high well-born menial, attired in a very ancient and honourable livery. Nice antique hall;suits of ancestral armour, trophies of Tyrolese hunters, coats of arms of ancient counts—the very thing to take Amelia's aristocratic and romantic fancy.The whole to be sold exactly as it stood;ancestors to be included at a valuation.

We went through the reception-rooms. They were lofty, charming, and with glorious views, all the more glorious for being framed by those graceful Romanesque windows, with their slender pillars and quaint, round-topped arches.Sir Charles had made his mind up.“I must and will have it!”he cried.“This is the place for me.Seldon!Pah, Seldon is a modern abomination.”

Could we see the high well-born Count?The liveried servant(somewhat haughtily)would inquire of his Serenity. Sir Charles sent up his card, and also Lady Vandrift's.These foreigners know title spells money in England.

He was right in his surmise. Two minutes later the Count entered with our cards in his hands.A good-looking young man, with the characteristic Tyrolese long black moustache, dressed in a gentlemanlyvariant on the costume of the country.His air was a jager's;the usual blackcock's plume stuck jauntily in the side of the conical hat(which he held in his hand),after the universal Austrian fashion.

He waved us to seats. We sat down.He spoke to us in French;his English, he remarked, with a pleasant smile, being a négligeable quantity.We might speak it, he went on;he could understand pretty well;but he preferred to answer, if we would allow him, in French or German.

“French,”Charles replied, and the negotiation continued thenceforth in that language. It is the only one, save English and his ancestral Dutch, with which my brother-in-law possesses even a nodding acquaintance.

We praised the beautiful scene. The Count's face lighted up with patriotic pride.Yes;it was beautiful, beautiful, his own green Tyrol.He was proud of it and attached to it.But he could endure to sell this place, the home of his fathers, because he had a fner in the Salzkammergut, and a pied-à-terre near Innsbruck.For Tyrol lacked just one joy—the sea.He was a passionate yachtsman.For that he had resolved to sell this estate;after all, three country houses, a ship, and a mansion in Vienna, are more than one man can comfortably inhabit.

“Exactly,”Charles answered.“If I can come to terms with you about this charming estate I shall sell my own castle in the Scotch Highlands.”And he tried to look like a proud Scotch chief who harangues his clansmen.

Then they got to business. The Count was a delightful man to do business with.His manners were perfect.While we were talking to him, a surly person, a steward or bailiff, or something of the sort, came into the room unexpectedly and addressed him in German, which none of us understand.We were impressed by the singular urbanity and benignity of the nobleman's demeanour towards this sullen dependant.He evidentlyexplained to the fellow what sort of people we were, and remonstrated with him in a very gentle way for interrupting us.The steward understood, and clearly regretted his insolent air;for after a few sentences he went out, and as he did so he bowed and made protestations of polite regard in his own language.The Count turned to us and smiled.“Our people,”he said,“are like your own Scotch peasants—kind-hearted, picturesque, free, musical, poetic, but wanting, hélas, in polish to strangers.”He was certainly an exception, if he described them aright;for he made us feel at home from the moment we entered.

He named his price in frank terms. His lawyers at Meran held the needful documents, and would arrange the negotiations in detail with us.It was a stiff sum, I must say—an extremely stiff sum;but no doubt he was charging us a fancy price for a fancy castle.“He will come down in time,”Charles said.“The sum first named in all these transactions is invariably a feeler.They know I'm a millionaire;and people always imagine millionaires are positively made of money.”

I may add that people always imagine it must be easier to squeeze money out of millionaires than out of other people—which is the reverse of the truth, or how could they ever have amassed their millions?Instead of oozing gold as a tree oozes gum, they mop it up like blotting-paper, and seldom give it out again.

We drove back from this first interview none the less very well satisfied. The price was too high;but preliminaries were arranged, and for the rest, the Count desired us to discuss all details with his lawyers in the chief street, Unter den Lauben.We inquired about these lawyers, and found they were most respectable and respected men;they had done the family business on either side for seven generations.

They showed us plans and title-deeds. Everything quite en régle.Tillwe came to the price there was no hitch of any sort.

As to price, however, the lawyers were obdurate. They stuck out for the Count's frst sum to the uttermost forin.It was a very big estimate.We talked and shilly-shallied till Sir Charles grew angry.He lost his temper at last.

“They know I'm a millionaire, Sey,”he said,“and they're playing the old game of trying to diddle me. But I won't be diddled.Except Colonel Clay, no man has ever yet succeeded in bleeding me.And shall I let myself be bled as if I were a chamois among these innocent mountains?Perish the thought!”Then he refected a little in silence.“Sey,”he mused on, at last,“the question is, are they innocent?Do you know, I begin to believe there is no such thing left as pristine innocence anywhere.This Tyrolese Count knows the value of a pound as distinctly as if he hung out in Capel Court or Kimberley.”

Things dragged on in this way, inconclusively, for a week or two. We bid down;the lawyers stuck to it.Sir Charles grew half sick of the whole silly business.For my own part, I felt sure if the high well-born Count didn't quicken his pace, my respected relative would shortly have had enough of the Tyrol altogether, and be proof against the most lovely of crag-crowning castles.But the Count didn't see it.He came to call on us at our hotel—a rare honour for a stranger with these haughty and exclusive Tyrolese nobles—and even entered unannounced in the most friendly manner.But when it came to L.s.d.,he was absolute adamant.Not one kreutzer would he abate from his original proposal.

“You misunderstand,”he said, with pride.“We Tyrolese gentlemen are not shopkeepers or merchants. We do not higgle.If we say a thing we stick to it.Were you an Austrian, I should feel insulted by your ill-advised attempt to beat down my price.But as you belong to a great commercialnation—”he broke off with a snort and shrugged his shoulders compassionately.

We saw him several times driving in and out of the schloss, and every time he waved his hand at us gracefully. But when we tried to bargain, it was always the same thing:he retired behind the shelter of his Tyrolese nobility.We might take it or leave it.‘Twas still Schloss Lebenstein.

The lawyers were as bad. We tried all we knew, and got no forrarder.

At last Charles gave up the attempt in disgust. He was tiring, as I expected.“It's the prettiest place I ever saw in my life,”he said;“but, hang it all, Sey, I won't be imposed upon.”

So he made up his mind, it being now December, to return to London. We met the Count next day, and stopped his carriage, and told him so.Charles thought this would have the immediate effect of bringing the man to reason.But he only lifted his hat, with the blackcock's feather, and smiled a bland smile.“The Archduke Karl is inquiring about it,”he answered, and drove on without parley.

Charles used some strong words, which I will not transcribe(I am a family man),and returned to England.

For the next two months we heard little from Amelia save her regret that the Count wouldn't sell us Schloss Lebenstein. Its pinnacles had fairly pierced her heart.Strange to say, she was absolutely infatuated about the castle.She rather wanted the place while she was there, and thought she could get it;now she thought she couldn't, her soul(if she has one)was wildly set upon it.Moreover, Césarine further inflamed her desire by gently hinting a fact which she had picked up at the courier’s table d’h?te at the hotel—that the Count had been far from anxious to sell his ancestral and historical estate to a South African diamond king.He thought the honour of the family demanded, at least, that he should secure a wealthybuyer of good ancient lineage.

One morning in February, however, Amelia returned from the Row all smiles and tremors.(She had been ordered horse-exercise to correct the increasing excessiveness of her fgure.)

“Who do you think I saw riding in the Park?”she inquired.“Why, the Count of Lebenstein.”

“No!”Charles exclaimed, incredulous.

“Yes,”Amelia answered.

“Must be mistaken,”Charles cried.

But Amelia stuck to it. More than that, she sent out emissaries to inquire diligently from the London lawyers, whose name had been mentioned to us by the ancestral frm in Unter den Lauben as their English agents, as to the whereabouts of our friend;and her emissaries learned in effect that the Count was in town and stopping at Morley's.

“I see through it,”Charles exclaimed.“He fnds he's made a mistake;and now he's come over here to reopen negotiations.”

I was all for waiting prudently till the Count made the first move.“Don't let him see your eagerness,”I said. But Amelia's ardour could not now be restrained.She insisted that Charles should call on the Graf as a mere return of his politeness in the Tyrol.

He was as charming as ever. He talked to us with delight about the quaintness of London.He would be ravished to dine next evening with Sir Charles.He desired his respectful salutations meanwhile to Miladi Vandrift and Madame Ventvorth.

He dined with us, almost en famille. Amelia's cook did wonders.In the billiard-room, about midnight, Charles reopened the subject.The Count was really touched.It pleased him that still, amid the distractions of the City of Five Million Souls, we should remember with affection hisbeloved Lebenstein.

“Come to my lawyers,”he said,“to-morrow, and I will talk it all over with you.”

We went—a most respectable frm in Southampton Row;old family solicitors. They had done business for years for the late Count, who had inherited from his grandmother estates in Ireland;and they were glad to be honoured with the confdence of his successor.Glad, too, to make the acquaintance of a prince of finance like Sir Charles Vandrift.Anxious(rubbing their hands)to arrange matters satisfactorily all round for everybody.(Two capital families with which to be mixed up, you see.)

Sir Charles named a price, and referred them to his solicitors. The Count named a higher, but still a little come-down, and left the matter to be settled between the lawyers.He was a soldier and a gentleman, he said, with a Tyrolese toss of his high-born head;he would abandon details to men of business.

As I was really anxious to oblige Amelia, I met the Count accidentally next day on the steps of Morley's.(Accidentally, that is to say, so far as he was concerned, though I had been hanging about in Trafalgar Square for half an hour to see him.)I explained, in guarded terms, that I had a great deal of infuence in my way with Sir Charles;and that a word from me—I broke off. He stared at me blankly.

“Commission?”he inquired, at last, with a queer little smile.

“Well, not exactly commission,”I answered, wincing.“Still, a friendly word, you know. One good turn deserves another.”

He looked at me from head to foot with a curious scrutiny. For one moment I feared the Tyrolese nobleman in him was going to raise its foot and take active measures.But the next, I saw that Sir Charles was right after all, and that pristine innocence has removed from this planet to otherquarters.

He named his lowest price.“M. Ventvorth,”he said,“I am a Tyrolese seigneur;I do not dabble, myself, in commissions and percentages.But if your infuence with Sir Charles—we understand each other, do we not?—as between gentlemen—a little friendly present—no money, of course—but the equivalent of say 5 per cent in jewellery, on whatever sum above his bid to-day you induce him to offer—eh?—c'est convenu?”

“Ten per cent is more usual,”I murmured.

He was the Austrian hussar again.“Five, monsieur—or nothing!”

I bowed and withdrew.“Well, fve then,”I answered,“just to oblige your Serenity.”

A secretary, after all, can do a great deal. When it came to the scratch, I had but little difficulty in persuading Sir Charles, with Amelia's aid, backed up on either side by Isabel and Césarine, to accede to the Count’s more reasonable proposal.The Southampton Row people had possession of certain facts as to the value of the wines in the Bordeaux market which clinched the matter.In a week or two all was settled;Charles and I met the Count by appointment in Southampton Row, and saw him sign, seal, and deliver the title-deeds of Schloss Lebenstein.My brother-in-law paid the purchase-money into the Count’s own hands, by cheque, crossed on a frst-class London frm where the Count kept an account to his high well-born order.Then he went away with the proud knowledge that he was owner of Schloss Lebenstein.And what to me was more important still, I received next morning by post a cheque for the fve per cent, unfortunately drawn, by some misapprehension, to my order on the self-same bankers, and with the Count’s signature.He explained in the accompanying note that the matter being now quite satisfactorily concluded, he saw no reason of delicacy why the amount he had promised should not be paid to meforthwith direct in money.

I cashed the cheque at once, and said nothing about the affair, not even to Isabel. My experience is that women are not to be trusted with intricate matters of commission and brokerage.

Though it was now late in March, and the House was sitting, Charles insisted that we must all run over at once to take possession of our magnifcent Tyrolese castle. Amelia was almost equally burning with eagerness.She gave herself the airs of a Countess already.We took the Orient Express as far as Munich;then the Brenner to Meran, and put up for the night at the Erzherzog Johann.Though we had telegraphed our arrival, and expected some fuss, there was no demonstration.Next morning we drove out in state to the schloss, to enter into enjoyment of our vines and fg-trees.

We were met at the door by the surly steward.“I shall dismiss that man,”Charles muttered, as Lord of Lebenstein.“He's too sour-looking for my taste. Never saw such a brute.Not a smile of welcome!”

He mounted the steps. The surly man stepped forward and murmured a few morose words in German.Charles brushed him aside and strode on.Then there followed a curious scene of mutual misunderstanding.The surly man called lustily for his servants to eject us.It was some time before we began to catch at the truth.The surly man was the real Graf von Lebenstein.

And the Count with the moustache?It dawned upon us now. Colonel Clay again!More audacious than ever!

Bit by bit it all came out. He had ridden behind us the frst day we viewed the place, and, giving himself out to the servants as one of our party, had joined us in the reception-room.We asked the real Count why he had spoken to the intruder.The Count explained in French that theman with the moustache had introduced my brother-in-law as the great South African millionaire, while he described himself as our courier and interpreter.As such he had had frequent interviews with the real Graf and his lawyers in Meran, and had driven almost daily across to the castle.The owner of the estate had named one price from the frst, and had stuck to it manfully.He stuck to it still;and if Sir Charles chose to buy Schloss Lebenstein over again he was welcome to have it.How the London lawyers had been duped the Count had not really the slightest idea.He regretted the incident, and(coldly)wished us a very good morning.

There was nothing for it but to return as best we might to the Erzherzog Johann, crestfallen, and telegraph particulars to the police in London.

Charles and I ran across post-haste to England to track down the villain. At Southampton Row we found the legal firm by no means penitent;on the contrary, they were indignant at the way we had deceived them.An impostor had written to them on Lebenstein paper from Meran to say that he was coming to London to negotiate the sale of the schloss and surrounding property with the famous millionaire, Sir Charles Vandrift;and Sir Charles had demonstratively recognised him at sight as the real Count von Lebenstein.The frm had never seen the present Graf at all, and had swallowed the impostor whole, so to speak, on the strength of Sir Charles's obvious recognition.He had brought over as documents some most excellent forgeries—facsimiles of the originals—which, as our courier and interpreter, he had every opportunity of examining and inspecting at the Meran lawyers'.It was a deeply-laid plot, and it had succeeded to a marvel.Yet, all of it depended upon the one small fact that we had accepted the man with the long moustache in the hall of the schloss as the Count von Lebenstein on his own representation.

He held our cards in his hands when he came in;and the servant had not given them to him, but to the genuine Count. That was the one unsolved mystery in the whole adventure.

By the evening's post two letters arrived for us at Sir Charles's house:one for myself, and one for my employer. Sir Charles's ran thus:—

“HIGH WELL-BORN INCOMPETENCE,—

“I only just pulled through!A very small slip nearly lost me everything.I believed you were going to Schloss Planta that day, not to Schloss Lebenstein.You changed your mind en route.That might have spoiled all.Happily I perceived it, rode up by the short cut, and arrived somewhat hurriedly and hotly at the gate before you.Then I introduced myself.I had one more bad moment when the rival claimant to my name and title intruded into the room.But fortune favours the brave:your utter ignorance of German saved me.The rest was pap.It went by itself almost.

“Allow me, now, as some small return for your various welcome cheques, to offer you a useful and valuable present—a German dictionary, grammar, and phrase-book!

“I kiss your hand.

“No longer

“VON LEBENSTEIN.

The other note was to me. It was as follows:—

“DEAR GOOD MR.VENTVORTH,—

“Ha, ha, ha;just a W misplaced sufficed to take you in, then!And I risked the TH, though anybody with a head on his shoulders would

surely have known our TH is by far more difficult than our W for foreigners!However, all’s well that ends well;and now I’ve got you.The Lord has delivered you into my hands, dear friend—on your own initiative.I hold my cheque, endorsed by you, and cashed at my banker’s, as a hostage, so to speak, for your future good behaviour.If ever you recognise me, and betray me to that solemn old ass, your employer, remember, I expose it, and you with it to him.So now we understand each other.I had not thought of this little dodge;it was you who suggested it.However, I jumped at it.Was it not well worth my while paying you that slight commission in return for a guarantee of your future silence?Your mouth is now closed.And cheap too at the price.—Yours, dear Comrade, in the great confraternity of rogues,

“CUTHBERT CLAY, Colonel.”

Charles laid his note down, and grizzled.“What's yours, Sey?”he asked.

“From a lady,”I answered.

He gazed at me suspiciously.“Oh, I thought it was the same hand,”he said. His eye looked through me.

“No,”I answered.“Mrs. Mortimer's.”But I confess I trembled.

He paused a moment.“You made all inquiries at this fellow's bank?”he went on, after a deep sigh.

“Oh, yes,”I put in quickly.(I had taken good care about that, you may be sure, lest he should spot the commission.)“They say the self-styled Count von Lebenstein was introduced to them by the Southampton Row folks, and drew, as usual, on the Lebenstein account:so they were quite unsuspicious. A rascal who goes about the world on that scale, you know, and arrives with such credentials as theirs and yours, naturallyimposes on anybody.The bank didn't even require to have him formally identifed.The frm was enough.He came to pay money in, not to draw it out.And he withdrew his balance just two days later, saying he was in a hurry to get back to Vienna.”

Would he ask for items?I confess I felt it was an awkward moment. Charles, however, was too full of regrets to bother about the account.He leaned back in his easy chair, stuck his hands in his pockets, held his legs straight out on the fender before him, and looked the very picture of hopeless despondency.

“Sey,”he began, after a minute or two, poking the fre, refectively,“what a genius that man has!‘Pon my soul, I admire him. I sometimes wish—”He broke off and hesitated.

“Yes, Charles?”I answered.

“I sometimes wish……we had got him on the Board of the Cloetedorp Golcondas. Mag—nifcent combinations he would make in the City!”

I rose from my seat and stared solemnly at my misguided brother-in-law.

“Charles,”I said,“you are beside yourself. Too much Colonel Clay has told upon your clear and splendid intellect.There are certain remarks which, however true they may be, no self-respecting financier should permit himself to make, even in the privacy of his own room, to his most intimate friend and trusted adviser.”

Charles fairly broke down.“You are right, Sey,”he sobbed out.“Quite right. Forgive this outburst.At moments of emotion the truth will sometimes out, in spite of everything.”

I respected his feebleness. I did not even make it a ftting occasion to ask for a trifing increase of salary.

我們?nèi)チ嗣诽m。實(shí)際上,這個(gè)地方是艾米莉亞的法國女仆替我們定的。在這種事情上,她就是我們的向?qū)Ш颓閳?bào)員。

艾米莉亞的這位法國女仆非常聰明。無論我們?nèi)ツ膬海x哪家酒店,住哪家?guī)Ъ揖叩膭e墅,艾米莉亞一般都會(huì)問問(并接受)她的建議。西塞琳早已把整個(gè)歐洲大陸都轉(zhuǎn)遍了,并且,她是阿爾薩斯人,當(dāng)然德語說得跟法語一樣流利。此外,她長(zhǎng)期同艾米莉亞在一起生活,這讓她把我們的母語英語也說得同樣上口。那位姑娘,是個(gè)不可多得的萬事通;她干凈利落、敏捷靈巧,不論讓她做什么事,都能得心應(yīng)手。不管走到哪兒,她都一手拿著針線盒,一手拿著小酒精爐。她偶爾會(huì)做個(gè)煎蛋卷,也能駕馭挪威雪橇;她會(huì)針線,能編織,會(huì)做衣服,也能治感冒,你要她做什么,全都能做得來。她做的沙拉,是我嘗過最可口的。說到她煮的咖啡(她在我們坐火車長(zhǎng)途旅行時(shí)準(zhǔn)備的),在西區(qū)俱樂部里,沒有哪位主廚能和她相提并論。

因此,當(dāng)艾米莉亞頤指氣使地說道:“西塞琳,我們打算去蒂羅爾——現(xiàn)在十月中旬——立刻就動(dòng)身,你建議我們住在哪里?”西塞琳旋即答道:“夫人,要是秋天,肯定就是約翰大公爵了,在梅蘭。”

“他是——大公爵嗎?”艾米莉亞問道,看到她同皇室的要人這么熟,感到有些吃驚。

“是的!不,夫人。這只是個(gè)酒店的名字——就像在英國所說的‘維多利亞’酒店,或者‘威爾士親王’酒店——這是蒂羅爾南部最舒適的酒店。一年之中的這個(gè)時(shí)候,你肯定是要到阿爾卑斯山的那邊去的,因斯布魯克已經(jīng)開始冷了。”

于是,我們?nèi)チ嗣诽m。說實(shí)話,我很少見過比這更漂亮、更秀麗的地方。滔滔的水流,高高的山峰,沿坡種植的葡萄園,古老的城墻與塔樓,古雅的帶有拱廊的街道,崎嶇峭壁上的瀑布,模仿德國溫泉療養(yǎng)勝地風(fēng)格的人行漫步道;舉目遠(yuǎn)眺,會(huì)看到起伏的多洛米蒂山山峰。我之前從未目睹過這么一派景象。一個(gè)萊茵小鎮(zhèn)沿著阿爾卑斯山巒順勢(shì)而下,中間點(diǎn)綴著雄偉的意大利柱廊。

我贊成西塞琳的選擇,當(dāng)她建議住一切從簡(jiǎn)的酒店,而不是住配有家具的別墅時(shí),我非常高興,因?yàn)檫@樣我就無須費(fèi)心;而如果選擇后者,大部分各項(xiàng)安排,自然要落到我這可憐的秘書頭上。不論哪種情形,我都得每天工作三小時(shí),這種正常工作之外的額外負(fù)擔(dān),還是能少些就少些的好。我給西塞琳半個(gè)金鎊作為小費(fèi),說實(shí)在的,是為了她做的這個(gè)明智的決策。西塞琳神秘、好奇、似笑非笑地瞥了一眼手心中的金幣,然后立刻丟到了兜里,用法語說了聲:“謝謝,先生!”有點(diǎn)瞧不起的意味。我一直以為,西塞琳在小費(fèi)這件事上,有著很高的期望,根本看不上我這小小的秘書所能給得起的這點(diǎn)錢。

梅蘭最為特別之處在于,它有許多城堡(我覺得,嚴(yán)格來講,這個(gè)地方用復(fù)數(shù)是不符合語法規(guī)則的,不過英國人能立刻會(huì)意),你站在郊區(qū)向任何一個(gè)方向都能看得到。據(jù)說,要是站在庫切爾伯格山上數(shù)一數(shù),能看到不下四十座這種別具一格、搖搖欲墜的老城堡。就我個(gè)人而言,我不喜歡統(tǒng)計(jì)(金融招股說明書除外),我也確實(shí)不知道,在西塞琳的指點(diǎn)下,伊莎貝爾和艾米莉亞到底數(shù)出了多少座破敗的城堡。不過,我記得,大部分城堡都十分典雅、美觀,它們所呈現(xiàn)的各式建筑,的確看似讓人眼花繚亂。這座是方形的,每個(gè)角都會(huì)探出古怪的小炮塔;而那座則坐擁一棟高大的主樓,長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的城墻向兩邊延展,上面爬滿了常春藤,還有賞心悅目的棱堡。查爾斯對(duì)這些城堡十分癡迷,他喜歡這種美景,在他那金融靈魂的深處,潛伏著詩人的影子(只不過隱藏得特別深,這一點(diǎn)我可以向你保證)。自從到這兒的那一刻起,他便立刻想在這些浪漫的山巒中擁有一座屬于自己的城堡。“塞爾登!”他不屑地大聲說道,“人們把塞爾登稱作城堡!西,你我都很清楚,它不過是在一八六〇年由丘比特公司——倫敦那家聲名顯赫的承包商——按市價(jià)為塞爾登的麥克弗森建造的,用的全是些假的古石。對(duì)于那座假城堡,麥克弗森向我開了一個(gè)荒唐的價(jià)格,這個(gè)價(jià)都能買下一座真正的古代宅第了??匆豢?,這些城堡才是真正的城堡,歷盡滄桑,顏色都有些灰白了。蒂羅爾城堡有羅馬風(fēng)格——十世紀(jì)或十一世紀(jì)的風(fēng)格。”(這些話他是在旅行指南中讀到的。)“這才是我想要的地方!——十世紀(jì)或十一世紀(jì)的東西。我可以在這里生活,遠(yuǎn)離那些公債還有股票,徹底地遠(yuǎn)離它們。在這幽靜的峽谷中,西,伙計(jì),想想,不會(huì)有什么克雷上校,也不會(huì)有什么傲慢的皮卡迪特夫人!”

實(shí)際上,他只能在那兒待上六周,之后就會(huì)厭倦,接著就想去帕克港、蒙特卡洛,還有布萊頓轉(zhuǎn)轉(zhuǎn)。

說來也怪,艾米莉亞也被查爾斯這一時(shí)興起的念頭迷住了。這個(gè)世界上,除了倫敦,她一向哪兒都不喜歡。不過,要是在倫敦也沒什么有頭有臉的人物可見,或者當(dāng)樸實(shí)無華的百葉窗遮住了梅費(fèi)爾還有貝爾格拉維亞區(qū)那讓人反感的外觀,那就另當(dāng)別論。即便在羅斯郡的塞爾登城堡,她也無聊得要命,在巴黎或維也納,也成天提不起精神。她是個(gè)不折不扣的倫敦佬??墒?,我那和藹可親的舅嫂鬼使神差地愛上了南蒂羅爾區(qū)這個(gè)地方。她想在那片郁郁蔥蔥的草木間平平淡淡地過日子。人們正在采摘葡萄,南瓜掛在墻上,攀緣植物從灰白而古雅的墻頭垂下,像是給墻披了件深紅色的外衣;這里的一切都如同伯恩·瓊斯的夢(mèng)境般美麗(我知道,自己提到伯恩·瓊斯很合時(shí)宜,尤其是和羅馬風(fēng)格的建筑聯(lián)系到一起時(shí),因?yàn)槲以牭轿覀兡且鄶骋嘤训膼鄣氯A·伯爾派羅博士對(duì)此地大肆稱贊過)。因此,這樣一來,艾米莉亞竟能喜歡上這個(gè)地方,這也許是情理之中的事了。此外,她也很大程度上受西塞琳的影響,西塞琳信誓旦旦地說,全歐洲沒有哪個(gè)地方冬天的氣候能像梅蘭這么好。這一點(diǎn)我可不同意。因?yàn)橄挛缛c(diǎn),太陽就落山了,在一二月份,猛烈的暖風(fēng)會(huì)在雪面上吹起一股潮氣。

雖然這樣,艾米莉亞還是派西塞琳向酒店的人打聽一下這些破敗的城堡市價(jià)幾何,再打聽打聽附近有多少符合條件的城堡此刻在售。西塞琳帶著一個(gè)寫得滿滿的、精準(zhǔn)可靠、非常特別的單子回來了,又花言巧語了一番,即便讓老約翰·羅賓斯聽到,也定會(huì)滿心歡喜。這些城堡個(gè)個(gè)都景致如畫,都是羅馬風(fēng)格,都爬滿了常春藤,都寬敞明亮,都有歷史底蘊(yùn),并且其主人都是出身高貴的伯爵以及聲譽(yù)卓著的男爵。大部分城堡都曾舉辦過知名的賽事,其中一些還舉辦過神圣的羅馬皇帝的盛大婚禮;每個(gè)都牽扯到一些絕妙一流的兇殺案。鬧不鬧鬼,可以根據(jù)要求安排;要是再適當(dāng)加點(diǎn)錢,還可以有護(hù)城河,另外免費(fèi)贈(zèng)送徽章。

在這些所有讓人心馳神往的城堡中,我們最喜歡的兩座是普蘭塔城堡和萊本斯坦城堡。我們駕車從它們旁邊經(jīng)過,說真的,甚至連我自己也被它們深深吸引。(另外,還有一個(gè)原因,當(dāng)購買這么一大宗物品時(shí),一位窮似乞丐的秘書也總有機(jī)會(huì)做做工作,給自己賺點(diǎn)回扣。)我覺得,從外面看,普蘭塔堡最為震撼,有著萊茵河一般雄偉的塔樓,常春藤枝干粗壯多瘤,看起來似乎比哈布斯堡王朝還要久遠(yuǎn);但據(jù)說,萊本斯坦堡內(nèi)部保存較好,各方面都更適合現(xiàn)代居家,它那樓梯前前后后被七千位業(yè)余愛好者拍過照。

我們拿到了參觀的門票,是得力助手西塞琳替我們買的。這樣,我們?cè)谝粋€(gè)風(fēng)和日麗的下午就駕車出發(fā)了,打算去看普蘭塔城堡,這是西塞林的建議。不過我們?cè)诎肼犯牧酥饕?,因?yàn)樘鞖夂懿诲e(cuò),我們就沿著長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的緩坡上山,去看萊本斯坦城堡。我必須得提一句,沿路駕車從這些宅第中間穿梭而過,真是再愜意不過了。城堡孤獨(dú)地屹立在一堆石塊,或者說峭壁上(就像意大利畫作中的天使長(zhǎng)圣米迦勒那般泰然自若),從各個(gè)方向都能俯瞰到自家茂盛的葡萄園。峽谷兩旁是些栗樹,埃施這片谷地如畫一般在腳下延展開來。

順便說一句,光是這些葡萄園就是一份相當(dāng)不錯(cuò)的產(chǎn)業(yè);這些葡萄園產(chǎn)出一種香醇的紅酒,出口到波爾多,在那兒以蒙尼維酒莊的名義裝瓶,作為年份紅酒售賣。查爾斯對(duì)于自己種葡萄釀酒這一想法陶醉不已。

“在這兒,”他向艾米莉亞高聲說道,“咱們是確確實(shí)實(shí)坐在自家的葡萄樹和無花果樹下!多么美好的閑居之處!我是受夠了針線街的喧囂了。”

我們敲了敲門——因?yàn)闆]有門鈴,只有一個(gè)笨重、老式的鍛鐵門環(huán)。這種中世紀(jì)的風(fēng)格真讓人心醉!我們了解到,萊本斯坦伯爵最近過世,他兒子,也就是現(xiàn)在的伯爵,這位年輕的富豪,從他母親家里繼承了一座位于薩爾茨堡更為古老、更為宏偉的城堡,于是打算出售這份較為偏遠(yuǎn)的產(chǎn)業(yè),來給自己買艘游艇,這股潮流當(dāng)前在德國還有奧地利的貴族紳士們中方興未艾。

一位高貴的仆人給我們開了門,穿著古樸、體面的制服。精致典雅的大廳,先人的盔甲套裝,蒂羅爾狩獵者的戰(zhàn)利品,古代伯爵的盾徽——這些東西剛好滿足了艾米莉亞對(duì)貴族、羅馬遺風(fēng)的神往。整座城堡按照目前的樣子原封不動(dòng)進(jìn)行出售,包括先人們留下的這些東西。

我們穿過接待室,房間高高聳立,引人入勝,看起來光彩奪目,再加上那些雅致的羅馬風(fēng)格的窗戶、纖細(xì)的頂柱、古雅的圓頂拱門,就更顯得如此。查爾斯爵士下定了決心。“我必須并且一定會(huì)得到它!”他大聲說道,“這才是我想要的地方。塞爾登,哼,塞爾登不過是個(gè)惹人厭的現(xiàn)代品。”

我們能不能見一見高貴的伯爵?那身著制服的仆人(略顯高傲地)說,他會(huì)去問一下他尊貴的主人。查爾斯遞上自己還有凡德里夫特夫人的名片,這些外國人明白,在英國,頭銜就意味著金錢。

他猜對(duì)了。兩分鐘后,伯爵手持名片進(jìn)來了。他是位相貌堂堂的年輕人,嘴巴上方留著蒂羅爾這一帶典型的黑長(zhǎng)胡須,一身依照本國服飾改裝的紳士行頭。他一副打獵的派頭,一根常見的黑雄松雞的羽毛插在圓錐形帽子(他拿在手上)的一側(cè),歡快地抖動(dòng)著。這追隨的是奧地利普遍的流行時(shí)尚。

他招手示意我們坐下,我們就坐了下來。他用法語同我們交談,臉上掛著和善的笑容,說自己不怎么說英語。他繼續(xù)道,說我們可以說英語,他聽起來沒有任何問題,但如果我們同意,他想用法語或德語回答我們。

“法語吧。”查爾斯答道,商談就繼續(xù)用法語進(jìn)行。除了英語,還有他祖先的荷蘭語之外,這是我那內(nèi)兄唯一能用來和一位點(diǎn)頭之交交談的語言了。

我們稱贊這兒的美景。伯爵面露喜色,流露出一股民族自豪感。的確,這兒挺漂亮,這青翠漂亮的蒂羅爾是屬于他自己的。他為之感到自豪,也十分喜愛這個(gè)地方。他之所以能狠下心把這塊父輩們的家園賣掉,是因?yàn)樗谒_爾茨卡默古特有一個(gè)更好的地方,在因斯布魯克附近有個(gè)臨時(shí)住所。蒂羅爾這里只是少了一點(diǎn)樂趣——大海,而他又對(duì)游艇癡迷,于是決定出售此處地產(chǎn)。再者,畢竟三處鄉(xiāng)下房產(chǎn)、一艘游艇、維也納一處莊園,這么多地方,他一個(gè)人也住不過來。

“一點(diǎn)不錯(cuò)!”查爾斯答道,“要是你我能就此處漂亮的地產(chǎn)達(dá)成協(xié)議,我就把自己在蘇格蘭高地的宅邸賣掉。”他努力使自己看起來像位自豪的蘇格蘭酋長(zhǎng)正對(duì)著族人慷慨陳詞。

接著他們轉(zhuǎn)入正題。和那位伯爵做買賣十分愉快,他的言談舉止無可挑剔。我們正談著,一個(gè)板著臉的家伙,約莫是招待員之類的,突然走進(jìn)房間,用德語跟他說什么事情,我們誰也聽不懂。他對(duì)這位慍怒的仆人舉止中流露出的罕見的風(fēng)度和慈愛,讓我們大為觸動(dòng)。很明顯,他在向這家伙解釋我們是誰,并十分溫和地斥責(zé)他不應(yīng)該打攪我們。那位管家會(huì)意后,顯然為自己的無禮態(tài)度感到抱歉,因?yàn)樗f了幾句話之后就出去了,邊說邊鞠躬,還用德語客氣地解釋了一番。伯爵轉(zhuǎn)向我們,微笑著說:“我們國家的人同你們蘇格蘭的農(nóng)民很像——熱心腸,有個(gè)性,不拘束,愛音樂,有詩才。不過,嗯,對(duì)待陌生人,需要再多些禮貌。”要是他的這種說法成立,那他自己絕對(duì)是個(gè)例外,因?yàn)樽源蜻M(jìn)門的那一刻起,我們就感到賓至如歸。

他坦誠地報(bào)出了自己的價(jià)格。他在梅蘭的律師手里有些必要的文件,他們會(huì)同我們安排具體的商談。不得不說,這個(gè)要價(jià)太高了——高得離譜,不過話又說回來,他為一座頂呱呱的城堡開出了個(gè)頂呱呱的價(jià)格。“他早晚會(huì)把價(jià)格降下來的,”查爾斯說道,“在所有的交易中,第一次出的價(jià)都只是想試探你一下。他們知道我是百萬富翁,別人總覺得百萬富翁渾身上下全都是錢。”

我得補(bǔ)充一句,別人總覺得從百萬富翁身上榨出點(diǎn)錢,肯定要比從別人身上弄出點(diǎn)錢容易——而事實(shí)恰恰相反,要不然他們?cè)趺磿?huì)攢出自己那份百萬家產(chǎn)呢?他們不是像樹上滲出樹膠那樣往外冒金子,而是像吸墨紙那樣把金子吸得一干二凈,卻幾乎再也不吐出來。

在這第一次會(huì)面之后,我們駕車回府,非常滿意。價(jià)格太高了,不過雙方已經(jīng)做了初步的安排,至于其余的細(xì)節(jié)問題,伯爵希望我們?nèi)ズ退诹值谴蟮赖穆蓭焸兩陶劇N覀円泊蚵犃诉@些律師,了解到他們極為德高望重,他們這份家族事業(yè)已經(jīng)延續(xù)了七代人,買賣雙方的生意都做。

他們給我們看了看房屋平面圖,還有地契,一切都按部就班。在談到價(jià)格之前,一切都進(jìn)行得十分順利。

不過,這些律師在價(jià)格問題上很執(zhí)拗。他們堅(jiān)持伯爵第一次的要價(jià),一個(gè)子兒也不降。那估價(jià)相當(dāng)高,我們的商談進(jìn)展很慢,有些僵持,最后查爾斯終于受不了了,發(fā)了脾氣。

“西,他們知道我是百萬富翁,”他說道,“想故技重施來詐我一把。我才不吃這一套。這世上除了克雷上校,還沒有誰能宰過我一把。我會(huì)像這與世無爭(zhēng)的大山深處那巖羚羊一樣任人宰割嗎?休想!”接著,他靜靜地想了一會(huì)兒,最后,若有所思地講道,“西,問題是,他們果真沒什么惡意嗎?知不知道,我現(xiàn)在開始覺得,這世上再也沒有最初的那份純真了。這位蒂羅爾的伯爵十分清楚每一塊錢的價(jià)值,好像他在卡佩爾廳和金伯利混過似的。”

事情就這樣拖拖拉拉了一兩周,沒有任何結(jié)果。我們壓低價(jià)格,律師們則堅(jiān)持原價(jià)。查爾斯開始對(duì)這筆荒唐的買賣有點(diǎn)厭煩。要我說,我敢保證,要是那位尊貴的伯爵再不加快點(diǎn)進(jìn)度,我那位可敬的內(nèi)兄很快就會(huì)對(duì)整個(gè)蒂羅爾心生厭煩,到時(shí)候哪怕峰頂?shù)某潜ぴ倜匀?,也勾不起他的半點(diǎn)興趣??上?,伯爵沒有意識(shí)到這一點(diǎn)。他到酒店來拜訪我們——對(duì)于陌生人而言,蒂羅爾這些上流的高傲貴族的造訪,是極其難得的榮耀——甚至拿出最友好的姿態(tài),未提前打招呼就進(jìn)來了。不過當(dāng)談到價(jià)錢時(shí),他又固執(zhí)得不行。哪怕降一個(gè)子兒,他都不愿意。

“你不知道,”他傲慢地說,“我們蒂羅爾的紳士不是什么商人,也不是什么店鋪老板。我們說一不二,不討價(jià)還價(jià)。假如你是奧地利人,還想試圖砍價(jià)的話,這就太欠考慮了,我會(huì)覺得你是在侮辱我。不過,你來自一個(gè)偉大的商業(yè)國度——”他鼻子哼了一聲,突然打住,同情地聳了聳肩。

好幾次我們見他駕車從城堡里進(jìn)進(jìn)出出,每次他都優(yōu)雅地向我們揮揮手。但我們每次砍價(jià),結(jié)果都一樣:他總會(huì)拿自己的蒂羅爾貴族身份做擋箭牌。要么買下,要么走人。這可是萊本斯坦城堡。

律師們也好不到哪兒去。我們用盡渾身解數(shù),卻還在原地踏步。

查爾斯對(duì)此事感到厭煩,最終放棄了。如我所料,他也煩得慌。“這是我這輩子見到的最美的地方,”他說,“不過,西,去他媽的,誰也別想宰我一把。”

現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)到了十二月,他于是決定回倫敦。我們第二天又碰到了伯爵,便攔住了他的馬車,向他說了我們的打算。查爾斯本以為這會(huì)立刻讓那家伙清醒過來,但他只是揚(yáng)了揚(yáng)插著黑雄松雞羽毛的帽子,漠然一笑,答道:“卡爾大公目前也正打聽本宅。”說罷便揚(yáng)長(zhǎng)而去。

查爾斯說了幾句難聽的話,我在此也就不轉(zhuǎn)述了(家丑不可外揚(yáng)),我們于是就這樣回了英國。

在接下來的兩個(gè)月里,艾米莉亞除了對(duì)伯爵不愿把萊本斯坦城堡賣給我們這事表示遺憾,我們幾乎沒聽過她說過其他的事情。那座城堡的尖頂將她的心刺得好痛。說來也怪,她一如既往地迷戀著那城堡。她在蒂羅爾時(shí)想得到它,并且覺得一定會(huì)得到;現(xiàn)在感覺得不到了,但她的靈魂(要是她有的話)卻還瘋狂地?fù)湓谏厦?。另外,西塞琳稍稍向她暗示說——也是她在酒店信使的飯桌上偶然聽到的——那伯爵根本不急著把這份祖?zhèn)鞯臍v史遺產(chǎn)賣給南非的鉆石大王。他覺得,考慮到家族的榮耀,他至少也得找一位出身于古老望族的有錢買主。這番話進(jìn)一步點(diǎn)燃了她的欲望。

不過,二月的一天早上,艾米莉亞從弓街回來,滿臉的興奮與笑容(查爾斯見她衣帶漸緊,就讓她騎騎馬,瘦瘦腰身)。

“你猜,我看到誰在公園里騎馬?”她說道,“哈,萊本斯坦伯爵。”

“不可能。”查爾斯說,有點(diǎn)懷疑。

“千真萬確。”艾米莉亞答道。

“你肯定看錯(cuò)了。”查爾斯大聲說道。

但艾米莉亞堅(jiān)持說自己沒看走眼,并且還派了人到倫敦的律師那里——就是林登大道上那家祖?zhèn)鞯墓驹岬降乃麄冊(cè)谟拇砺蓭?mdash;—不斷地打聽伯爵的行蹤。據(jù)了解,伯爵現(xiàn)在就在倫敦,住在莫利酒店。

“我明白了,”查爾斯大聲說,“他意識(shí)到自己犯了個(gè)錯(cuò)誤,現(xiàn)在到這兒來,打算重新談判一下。”

我極力主張要耐心等待,要讓伯爵主動(dòng)找上門,便說:“不要讓他看出你的迫切心理。”但艾米莉亞現(xiàn)在的那股迫切勁兒,捂也捂不住。她堅(jiān)持說,查爾斯應(yīng)當(dāng)去拜訪一下伯爵,不為別的,就為了回饋伯爵在蒂羅爾的殷勤接待。

伯爵還是那么風(fēng)度翩翩,愉快地向我們講述著在倫敦碰到的古怪事兒。他非常樂意第二天同查爾斯共進(jìn)晚餐,還向凡德里夫特夫人以及“芬特霍斯”夫人致以誠摯的問候。

他同我們吃了飯,就像一家人一樣。艾米莉亞的廚子還真有兩下子。大約半夜了,查爾斯在臺(tái)球室又舊事重提??吹皆谶@個(gè)有著五百萬人口的大都市的花花世界中,我們竟然還滿心惦記著他那心愛的萊本斯坦城堡,伯爵大為感動(dòng)。

“明天到我律師那里來,”他說,“咱們到時(shí)候談?wù)勥@件事。”

我們?nèi)チ?mdash;—那是一家相當(dāng)體面的事務(wù)所,位于南安普頓街,里面都是些來自古老家族的律師。他們?yōu)檫^世的伯爵經(jīng)辦業(yè)務(wù)也有年頭了,那位伯爵曾從祖母那里繼承了一些位于愛爾蘭的地產(chǎn)。能獲得伯爵后人的信任,他們也倍感榮幸。當(dāng)然,他們也樂于結(jié)識(shí)查爾斯·凡德里夫特這樣的金融界大亨,于是便急迫地(搓著雙手)要把事情的方方面面安排得讓大家都滿意。(讀者們也明白,這樣就可以同兩個(gè)有頭有臉的家族攀上些關(guān)系了。)

查爾斯出了個(gè)價(jià),告知了他的律師。

伯爵把價(jià)格抬了抬,不過比以前降了些,剩下的就交給雙方的律師去打理了。他說,自己當(dāng)過兵,是位紳士,他一邊說一邊跟其他蒂羅爾人一樣,把自己那高貴的頭揚(yáng)了揚(yáng),他打算把那些細(xì)枝末節(jié)留給代理人來處理。

由于我真心急于給艾米莉亞幫個(gè)忙,于是第二天在莫利酒店的臺(tái)階上,碰巧遇到了伯爵(碰巧,是對(duì)伯爵而言,我為了碰到他,在特拉法爾加廣場(chǎng)晃悠了半個(gè)小時(shí))。我小心謹(jǐn)慎地向他解釋道,我能在很大程度上影響查爾斯,要是我說句話——我突然打住。他茫然地盯著我。

“傭金?”最終他試探道,略微一笑,有些古怪。

“這個(gè)嘛,不能說是傭金,”我回答,有些回避,“不過幫你說句好話,你也明白。禮尚往來嘛!”

他十分不解,從頭到腳仔細(xì)地打量我一番。當(dāng)時(shí),我擔(dān)心這位蒂羅爾貴族會(huì)抬腳走人。但緊接著,我意識(shí)到查爾斯說得對(duì),人們最初的純真已經(jīng)從這地球上消失了,去了別的地方。

他報(bào)了自己的最低價(jià)。“芬特霍斯先生,”他說道,“我是蒂羅爾的莊園主,我自己本人是不會(huì)過問傭金、回扣這類事情的。不過,要是你能在查爾斯身邊吹吹風(fēng)——你我都懂的,對(duì)不對(duì)?咱們作為紳士之交——我會(huì)送你一份小小的禮物——肯定不是金錢——不管你誘使他出什么價(jià),我會(huì)把高出他今天出價(jià)那部分的百分之五,以珠寶的形式給你。——咱們就這么定了?”

“通常都是百分之十。”我低聲道。

他此時(shí)又變得如同奧地利騎兵一般。“要么百分之五,先生——要么一分都沒有!”

我鞠了一躬,退后一步。“好,百分之五就百分之五,”我答道,“就權(quán)當(dāng)為閣下您效勞了。”

畢竟秘書能做許多事情。說到價(jià)錢的問題,有艾米莉亞的幫助,再加上伊莎貝爾和西塞琳的支援,我毫不費(fèi)力地就說服查爾斯,讓他接受了伯爵要的那個(gè)更為合理的價(jià)格。南安普頓街的這些人,對(duì)于波爾多市場(chǎng)上紅酒的價(jià)值知曉一些實(shí)情,這讓此事最終板上釘釘。一兩周以后,一切都商量妥當(dāng)。我和查爾斯如約在南安普頓街同伯爵會(huì)面,看著他在萊本斯坦城堡的地契上簽名,加蓋印章,然后交付給我們。我內(nèi)兄則把購房款交到了伯爵的手中,給的是畫線支票,收款的是倫敦一家極好的公司,支票的抬頭就是這位高貴的伯爵。之后,查爾斯想著自己成了萊本斯坦城堡的主人,便得意地離開了。對(duì)我而言,更為重要的是,第二天一早我收到了一張寄過來的百分之五的傭金的支票,不過令人遺憾的是,由于有些誤解,付款的是同一家銀行,抬頭寫的就是我本人,簽的是伯爵的名字。里面還附有一張短箋,說現(xiàn)在事情已經(jīng)圓滿完成,他覺得他向我許諾的金額還是直接付現(xiàn)錢為好。

我立刻將支票兌現(xiàn)了,對(duì)此事只字未提,甚至對(duì)伊莎貝爾也沒說。我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)是,傭金回扣這些復(fù)雜的事情,不適宜掏心窩子講給婦人聽。

盡管現(xiàn)在是三月底,議院還在開會(huì),查爾斯卻堅(jiān)持說我們所有人都必須馬上動(dòng)身去接管我們那宏偉的蒂羅爾城堡。艾米莉亞也早已急不可耐,擺出一副伯爵夫人的架子。我們乘東方快車一直抵達(dá)慕尼黑,接著經(jīng)由布倫納抵達(dá)梅蘭,當(dāng)晚在約翰大公爵酒店住下。盡管我們?cè)缫寻l(fā)電報(bào)說會(huì)過來,料想會(huì)引起些許轟動(dòng),不過我們一點(diǎn)轟動(dòng)的跡象都沒看到。第二天一早,我們就駕車隆重前往城堡,投進(jìn)自家葡萄樹還有無花果樹的懷抱。

在門口,我們碰到了那個(gè)板著臉的仆人。“我要讓他滾蛋,”查爾斯低聲道,他已是萊本斯坦的主人了,“我覺得他看著太苦大仇深了,從沒見過如此無禮的人!也不笑一笑歡迎我!”

他走上臺(tái)階,那位板著臉的男子則走上前,用德語低聲咕噥了幾句。查爾斯把他撥到一邊,繼續(xù)向前走。接下來的事情讓人有些摸不著頭腦,雙方都有些誤會(huì)。那位板著臉的男子拼命地叫喚仆人把我們轟出去。過了許久,我們才逐漸知道真相:那位板著臉的男子才是真正的萊本斯坦伯爵。

那位留著小胡子的伯爵又是誰呢?我們現(xiàn)在才漸漸回過神來。又是克雷上校!他膽子可比之前大多了!

事情的真相逐漸浮出水面。我們第一天參觀城堡時(shí),他就緊跟在我們后面,對(duì)仆人說,是和我們一伙的,并在接待室同我們會(huì)合。我們問真正的伯爵,他為什么要同那位不請(qǐng)自入的人說話,他用法語解釋道,那名留有小胡子的男子說,我內(nèi)兄是一位了不起的南非百萬富翁,而自己則是我們的向?qū)Ъ娣g。這樣一來,那男子便同真正的伯爵,還有伯爵在梅蘭的律師頻頻接觸,幾乎每天都驅(qū)車前往城堡。城堡的主人一開始出了價(jià),并一直堅(jiān)持這個(gè)價(jià)。他現(xiàn)在還是堅(jiān)持這個(gè)價(jià),要是查爾斯爵士打算把萊本斯坦再買一次的話,他也樂于拱手讓出。至于他在倫敦的律師是怎么被騙的,伯爵本人也毫不知情。他對(duì)此事感到惋惜,并(冷冷地)向我們道了聲早安。

事已至此,我們也只好回到約翰大公爵酒店,個(gè)個(gè)垂頭喪氣,提不起精神,我們給倫敦警方發(fā)了封電報(bào),詳細(xì)說明了事件的經(jīng)過。

我同查爾斯趕緊奔往英國去探尋那無賴的下落。在南安普頓街,我們找到了那家律師事務(wù)所,他們不但毫不愧疚,反而很生氣,因?yàn)槲覀兙尤灰赃@種方式來騙他們。騙子用萊本斯坦的信箋從梅蘭給他們寫信,說他即將到倫敦,同知名的百萬富翁查爾斯·凡德里夫特爵士商量城堡及周圍財(cái)產(chǎn)的出售事宜。查爾斯爵士當(dāng)面一口承認(rèn)他就是真正的萊本斯坦伯爵。事務(wù)所的人從未見過當(dāng)時(shí)的那位伯爵,但憑著查爾斯爵士的明確指認(rèn),也就全盤相信了騙子的話。他帶來了一些極其精心偽造的文件——原件的復(fù)制品——他冒充我們的向?qū)Ъ娣g,完全有機(jī)會(huì)在梅蘭的律師那里檢驗(yàn)查證這些原件。這是一場(chǎng)精心策劃的騙局,令人驚訝的是,它居然成功了。不過,這一切都怪我們輕信了城堡大廳中蓄有長(zhǎng)胡子的男子的一面之詞,認(rèn)為他就是萊本斯坦伯爵。

他進(jìn)來時(shí),手里拿著我們的名片,不過當(dāng)時(shí)仆人并沒有把名片給他,給的是真正的伯爵。這也是整個(gè)事件中一個(gè)未解的謎團(tuán)。

晚上有兩封信送到了查爾斯的住所,一封是我的,一封是查爾斯的。查爾斯的信內(nèi)容如下:

尊敬的無能閣下:

我僅僅是勉強(qiáng)得手!一點(diǎn)小失算差點(diǎn)讓我功虧一簣。我相信,你那天準(zhǔn)備要去普蘭塔城堡,而不是去萊本斯坦城堡,只是在半路上你改變了主意,這可差點(diǎn)把我的整個(gè)計(jì)劃都搞砸了。

幸好,我及時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)了這一點(diǎn),便走了條捷徑,急急忙忙趕在你之前抵達(dá),接著我說了自己的身份。不過比這更糟的是,突然有人闖了進(jìn)來,就是被我冒用了名字和頭銜的那位伯爵。不過,天助勇者,你一點(diǎn)德語都不懂,這救了我一把。剩下的也都沒什么值得一提的了,幾乎是水到渠成。

你奉上的這些支票,我卻之不恭,也請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我送你一件大有裨益、價(jià)值連城的禮物,聊表寸心——一本德語詞匯、語法和短語書!

吻你的手。

曾經(jīng)的,

凡·萊本斯坦

另一封短箋是給我的,內(nèi)容如下:

親愛的、好心的昏特霍斯:

哈哈哈!我只是把你的名字“溫特沃斯”念成“芬特沃斯”,就把你騙了!雖然有點(diǎn)頭腦的人都知道外國人發(fā)“TH”這個(gè)音比發(fā)“W”更難,可我還是在說你名字中的“斯”這個(gè)字時(shí)冒了點(diǎn)險(xiǎn)。不過,俗話說,結(jié)果好,一切都好。現(xiàn)在我可是抓住了你,上天把你送到了我的手中,親愛的朋友——還是你自己主動(dòng)找上門來的。我手上有張支票,有你的背書,在我的開戶行兌的現(xiàn),可以說算是我手中一個(gè)“把柄”吧,為的是讓你以后老實(shí)一點(diǎn)。要是你以后認(rèn)出了我,把我出賣給你老板,就是那個(gè)一本正經(jīng)的老渾蛋,記住,我就會(huì)向他揭發(fā)此事,連帶著你一起揭發(fā)。所以,咱們現(xiàn)在是在同一條船上。我本來沒有想到這條妙計(jì),是你啟發(fā)了我,我不過是順勢(shì)而為罷了。我付了你那么一點(diǎn)傭金,卻能保證你今后不再亂說話,這錢不是花得也值了嗎?現(xiàn)在就把你的嘴堵住了,就價(jià)錢看,也算便宜。

你親愛的同道中人、鐵桿無賴兄弟,

庫斯伯特·克雷上校

查爾斯放下信,發(fā)了一通牢騷。“西,誰給你寫的信?”他問道。

“一位女士寫的。”我答道。

他懷疑地盯著我。“哦,我還以為是同一個(gè)人的手筆。”他說著,目光已將我刺穿。

“不是的,”我答道,“莫蒂默夫人寫的。”不過,說真的,我有些發(fā)抖。

他頓了一下,深嘆一口氣,繼續(xù)問道:“你在這家伙的銀行那兒詳細(xì)地詢問過了?”

“嗯,問過了,”我立刻接過話(在這方面我極其小心,你也知道,怕他發(fā)現(xiàn)傭金的事情),“他們說,那個(gè)冒牌的凡·萊本斯坦伯爵,是由南安普頓街的一些人引薦給他們的,同以前一樣,錢是從萊本斯坦的賬戶上取走的,所以他們一點(diǎn)疑心都沒起。你也知道,像這種級(jí)別的闖蕩世界的無賴,還帶著你們雙方的證件,自然能騙過所有人。銀行連他的身份都沒有正式地核實(shí),有那家事務(wù)所就夠了。他是過來存錢,不是往外取。就在兩天后才把余額取走,說是要急著回維也納。”

他會(huì)不會(huì)要賬戶的明細(xì)呢?說實(shí)話,這一刻十分尷尬。不過,此時(shí)他滿心懊喪,哪兒還有心思顧及賬戶的事情。他向后躺在安樂椅上,雙手插在衣兜里,兩腿直直地搭在前面的擋板上,一副沮喪至極的表情。

過了一兩分鐘,他捅了捅爐火,若有所思地說道:“西,那人的本事也夠大的!我發(fā)誓,我都?xì)J佩他了。有時(shí),我想——”他突然打住,猶豫了一下。

“想什么?”我問道。

“有時(shí),真想……讓他加入克羅地多普·戈?duì)柨颠_(dá)董事會(huì)。他會(huì)在倫敦打造出些了不起的集團(tuán)來!”

我站了起來,嚴(yán)肅地盯著我那胡思亂想的內(nèi)兄。

“查爾斯,”我說,“你瘋了?你經(jīng)歷了太多的克雷上校的事件,這已經(jīng)影響了你明晰、卓越的心智。有些話,不管多么真實(shí),也不是一位自重的金融家應(yīng)該講出口的,哪怕是在自己的房間,沒有外人,講給最親密的朋友、最信任的顧問也不行。”

查爾斯已經(jīng)完全垮了,禁不住哭出聲來。“你說得對(duì),西,太對(duì)了。原諒我這一時(shí)的沖動(dòng)。動(dòng)情時(shí),有時(shí)也顧不得其他,就把真話吐出來了。”

我不愿乘人之危,甚至都沒利用這個(gè)得天獨(dú)厚的機(jī)會(huì),讓他給我漲漲薪水。

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