Sir Percival's spies attacked me on the road to Knowlesbury. One of them came up beside me, and bumped into me with his shoulder. I pushed him away, hard, and he immediately shouted for help. The other man ran up and the two of them held me between them. The first man accused me of attacking him, and they said they would take me to the police station in the town.
What could I do? I couldn't fight both of them and hope to get away, so I had to go with them.
At the police station the first man accused me of a violent attack, and the second man said he was a witness. I was locked up until the next magistrate's court, which was three days away. I could be released on bail, I was told, but how could I, a total stranger in the town, find a responsible person willing to pay money for my temporary freedom? The whole plan was now clear — to get me out of the way for three days, while Sir Percival did whatever was necessary to prevent his secret being discovered.
At first I was too angry to think clearly. Then I remembered Mr Dawson, the doctor. I had been to his house on my previous visit to Blackwater, so I knew his address. I wrote him a letter, explaining what had happened and begging for his help, and then asked for a messenger to deliver it. Two hours later the good doctor appeared, paid the required money and I was set free.
There was no time to lose. The news of my being free would doubtless reach Sir Percival within hours. I hurried to the lawyer's office, where I asked if I could see the copy of the Welmingham marriage register. Mr Wansborough was a pleasant man and agreed to show me the copy. In fact, he was quite amused. No one had asked to see it since his father (now dead) had locked it away in the office more than twenty years before.
As I opened the register, my hands trembled. I turned the pages to the year and month. I found the names I remembered just before, and just after, the marriage of Sir Percival's parents. And between these entries, at the bottom of the page...?
Nothing! The marriage of Sir Felix Glyde and Cecilia Elster was not there! I looked again, to be sure. No, nothing. Not a doubt about it. Sir Percival must have seen the space in the Welmingham register and written in the marriage himself.
I had never once suspected this. He was not Sir Percival Glyde at all! His parents had not been married, so he had no right to the inheritance of Blackwater Park, no right to the rank of Baronet, no right even to the name of Glyde! This was his secret — and it was now mine to use against him!
The copy of the register would be safe enough in the lawyer's office, but I decided to go back to Welmingham and make a copy of the false record from the church register. It was dark now and I ran all the way to the church clerk's house. I knocked on his door, but when he appeared, he looked suspicious and confused.
Where are the keys?' he asked. 'Have you taken them?'
What keys do you mean?' I said. 'I've just this minute arrived from Knowlesbury.'
The keys of the vestry,' he said. 'The keys are gone! Someone's broken in and taken the keys.'
Get a light,' I said, 'and let's go to the vestry. Quick!'
We ran to the church. On the path we passed a man who looked at us with frightened eyes. He seemed to be a servant of some kind. We did not stop to question him, but ran on.
As we came in sight of the vestry, I saw a high window brilliantly lit from within. There was a strange smell on the night air, a sound of cracking wood, and the light grew brighter and brighter. I ran to the door and put my hand on it. The vestry was on fire!
I heard the key working violently in the lock — I heard a man's voice behind the door, raised in terror, screaming for help.
Oh, my God!' said the servant, who had followed us, 'it's Sir Percival!'
God help him!' said the clerk. 'He's damaged the lock.'
* * *
At that moment I forget the man's crimes and see only the horror of his situation. Several people are now running towards the church and I call to them to help me break down the door. We look desperately for something to use, and at last someone finds a long heavy piece of wood.
By now the flames are shooting up out of the window, and the screams have stopped. We get the wood into position and run at the door with it. Again, and again! At last the door crashes down, but a wave of heat hits our faces and drives us back — and in the room we see nothing but a sheet of living fire.
* * *
The church itself was saved as the fire engine arrived soon afterwards and managed to put out the fire before it spread. They carried out the body of Sir Percival Glyde and laid it on the wet ground. I looked down on his dead face and this was how, for the first and last time, I saw him.
He must have heard that I was free and on my way back to Welmingham, so he hurried to the church, stealing the keys and locking himself in to prevent anyone coming in and finding him. All he could do was tear the page out of the register and destroy it. If the false record no longer existed, I could produce no evidence to threaten him with. He must have dropped his lamp by accident, which started the fire. Then in his urgency to get out, the lock had become damaged and the key unmoveable.
I could not leave the town. There would be a legal enquiry into the accident the next day, which I had to attend, and in any case I had to report back to the police station in Knowlesbury. I returned to the hotel and wrote to Marian, telling her everything that had happened and warning her to keep the news from Laura for the moment. With Sir Percival's death, my hopes of establishing Laura's identity had also died, and I could see no way forward at present.
The next day an envelope with my name on was delivered to the hotel. The letter inside was neither dated nor signed, but before I had read the first sentence, I knew who had written it — Mrs Catherick.
Sir — I thought you were my enemy. Now that he is dead, because of you, I consider you my friend. To thank you for what you have done, I will now tell you the things you wanted to know about my private life.
Twenty-three years ago I was a beautiful young woman living in Welmingham, married to a fool of a husband. I also knew a gentleman — I shall not call him by his name. Why should I? It was not his own. I was born with expensive tastes. This man gave me expensive presents. Naturally he wanted something in return — all men do. And what did he want? Just a little thing. The key to the church vestry, when my husband's back was turned. I liked my presents, so I got him the key. I watched him in the vestry without his knowing, and saw what he was doing. I did not know then how serious a crime it was. I said I would not tell anyone about the marriage he had added to the register if he told me about his private life. He agreed — why, you will see in a moment.
He said that he only found out that his parents were not married after his mother's death. His father confessed to it and promised to do what he could for his son. But he died having done nothing. The son came to England and took possession of the property. There was no one to say he could not. In fact, the right person to claim the property was a distant relation away at sea. However, to borrow money on the property, he needed a certificate of his parents' marriage. This was a problem — a problem which brought him to Welmingham.
As his parents had mostly lived abroad and had had no social life in England, who was to say (the priest being dead) that a private marriage had not taken place at Welmingham church? His plan was to tear out a page from the marriage register in the year before his birth and destroy it. Then he would tell his lawyers in London to get the necessary certificate, innocently referring them to the date on the page that was gone. At least no one could say that his parents were not married.
However, when he saw there was a small space at the bottom of the page in the right year, he changed his plan and took the opportunity to write in the marriage himself. It took him some time, though, to practise the handwriting and to mix the right colour of ink, so that it looked the same.
After my husband caught me talking secretly to him and after their fight together, I asked my fine gentleman to clear my name and to say there had been nothing between us. But he refused. He wanted everyone to believe something false, so that they would never suspect the truth. He then told me that the punishment for his crime, and anyone who helped him, was life in prison. He frightened me! If I spoke out, I was just as lost as he was. He then agreed to make me a yearly payment if I said nothing and stayed in Welmingham, where he could always find me and where there was no danger of my making friends and talking. This was hard, but I accepted.
Many years later, when my daughter was with me at home, I received a letter from him which made me very angry. I lost control of myself and said, in her presence, that 'I could destroy him if I let out his secret'. Then one day he came to our house and called her a fool. Immediately she shouted, 'Ask for my pardon, now, or I'll let out your secret and destroy your life. 'My own words! He went white. Then he swore at us. It ended, as you know, by his shutting her up in an asylum. I tried to tell him she knew nothing. But he did not believe me. My daughter knew that she had frightened him and that he was responsible for shutting her up because he believed she knew his secret. That's why she hated him. But she never to her dying day knew what his secret actually was.
I will end by saying that you insult me if you think my husband was not my daughter's father. Please do not ask further questions about that. To protect myself, I mention no names in this letter, nor do I sign it.
magistrate n. an official conducting a court for minor cases 法官
bail n. money left with a court of law to prove that a prisoner will return when their trial starts 保釋金
entry n. an item 條目
brilliantly adv. very brightly 非常亮
produce v. bring forward for consideration or inspection 拿出
在去往諾雷斯伯里的路上,珀西瓦爾爵士的人向我發(fā)起了攻擊。其中一個走到我旁邊,用肩膀撞我。我用力把他推開,他馬上大喊起來。另一個人跑過來,他們兩個把我夾在了中間。第一個人指責(zé)我打他,他們說要把我?guī)У芥?zhèn)上的警察局去。
我能怎么辦呢?我沒辦法打倒他們兩個再逃走,現(xiàn)在只得跟他們走了。
到了警察局,第一個人說我打他,另一個人說他是證人。我被關(guān)了起來,等著三天后法官開庭審理。他們告訴我可以保釋,可是我在這里一個人也不認(rèn)識,怎么可能找到一個愿意負(fù)責(zé)的人出錢讓我獲得暫時的自由呢?他們的整個計(jì)劃很清楚——讓我消失三天,珀西瓦爾爵士就利用這段時間盡一切可能保證他的秘密不被發(fā)現(xiàn)。
剛開始,我非常氣憤,頭腦中一片混亂。后來我想起了道森先生,那位醫(yī)生。上一次我去布萊克沃特的時候到過他家,所以我知道他的地址。我給他寫了封信,告訴他出了什么事,請求他來幫我,然后找了一個送信的幫我把信送走。兩個小時后,好心的醫(yī)生來了,為我交了保釋金,我自由了。
必須抓緊時間,因?yàn)槲冶会尫诺南⒖隙◣讉€小時之內(nèi)就會傳到珀西瓦爾爵士那里。我趕到律師的辦公室,請求看一下韋明翰的結(jié)婚登記記錄。萬斯伯勒先生是個和氣的人,他同意讓我看副本。其實(shí),應(yīng)該說他很高興,因?yàn)樽詮乃赣H(現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)去世了)20多年前把文件鎖在辦公室后,從未有人要求查看過。
我翻開記錄副本的時候雙手在顫抖。我找到了珀西瓦爾爵士父母結(jié)婚的年份和月份,以及在他們之前和之后結(jié)婚的男女方姓名記錄。但是,在這些條目之間,在那一頁的底下……?
什么也沒有!費(fèi)利克斯·格萊德爵士和塞西莉亞·埃爾斯特的婚姻根本就沒有記錄!為了保險(xiǎn)起見,我又看了一遍。沒有,什么也沒有,毫無疑問。珀西瓦爾爵士可能在韋明翰的記錄中看到了那個空白,然后自己填上了那條記錄。
我從未懷疑到這一點(diǎn)。他根本就不是珀西瓦爾·格萊德爵士,他的父母沒有結(jié)婚,他根本沒有權(quán)利繼承布萊克沃特莊園和爵位,甚至根本無權(quán)姓格萊德!這就是他的秘密——現(xiàn)在我要利用這個秘密來對付他!
婚姻登記的副本放在律師的辦公室很安全,我決定返回韋明翰,復(fù)制一份教堂的假記錄。天已經(jīng)黑了,我一路跑到教堂職員的住處。我敲了門,職員出來的時候,臉上布滿了疑慮。
“鑰匙在哪兒?”他問我,“你把鑰匙拿走了嗎?”
“什么鑰匙?”我說,“我剛從諾雷斯伯里過來。”
“法衣室的鑰匙,”他說,“鑰匙不見了!有人進(jìn)來偷走了鑰匙?!?/p>
“拿上燈,”我說,“我們?nèi)シㄒ率?,快!?/p>
我們向教堂跑去。路上碰見一個人,似乎是個仆人,他驚慌地看了看我們。我們沒有停下來問他任何問題,而是繼續(xù)向前跑。
當(dāng)我們看到法衣室的時候,我發(fā)現(xiàn)從一個高處的窗戶里發(fā)出很亮的光,夜晚的空氣中有一股奇怪的味道,可以聽到木頭劈啪作響的聲音,那光變得越來越亮。我跑到法衣室的門口,用手摸了摸門。法衣室起火了!
我聽到鑰匙在鎖里使勁轉(zhuǎn)動的聲音——我聽到門后有人害怕地高聲喊救命。
“噢,上帝!”跟著我們跑過來的仆人說,“是珀西瓦爾爵士!”
“上帝啊,救救他!”職員說,“他把鎖弄壞了?!?/p>
* * *
這個時候,我忘記了這個人的罪惡,只想到他現(xiàn)在的危急處境。有幾個人正朝教堂跑過來,我叫他們幫我把門弄開。我們到處找能弄開門的東西,最后有人找來一根很粗的長木頭。
這時,火焰已經(jīng)竄出了窗戶,呼叫聲已聽不見了。我們抬著長木頭,一次又一次朝門撞過去。最后門被撞倒了,熱浪從屋里沖出來,使我們不得不往后退去——屋里除了一團(tuán)火什么也看不見。
* * *
救火車很快趕到,沒等火勢蔓延就把火撲滅了,教堂本身沒有受到破壞。人們把珀西瓦爾爵士的尸體抬了出來,放在潮濕的地上。我看了看他的臉,這是我第一次也是最后一次看到他。
他一定是聽說我被放出來,而且正趕回韋明翰,所以急忙趕到教堂,偷了鑰匙,把自己鎖在屋子里,不讓任何人進(jìn)去發(fā)現(xiàn)他。他唯一能做的就是把那一頁從登記簿上撕下來銷毀。如果假記錄沒有了,我就拿不出證據(jù)來威脅他。他可能不小心把燈掉到地上,引起了大火。然后,他急著要出來,匆忙中弄壞了鎖,鑰匙轉(zhuǎn)不動了。
我現(xiàn)在還不能離開這里。轉(zhuǎn)天會有一個事故的法律調(diào)查,我必須參加。而且不管怎樣,我還得向諾雷斯伯里的警察局報(bào)到。我回到旅店,寫信給瑪麗安,告訴她這里發(fā)生的事情,提醒她先不要把這個消息告訴勞拉。珀西瓦爾爵士死了,我證明勞拉身份的希望也不復(fù)存在,現(xiàn)在我不知下一步該怎么辦。
第二天,一個寫著我名字的信封被送到了旅店。里面的信既沒有日期,也沒有署名。但是還沒看完第一句,我就知道是誰寫的信了——凱瑟里克太太。
先生——我原以為你是我的敵人?,F(xiàn)在因?yàn)槟?,他已?jīng)死了,我認(rèn)為你是我的朋友。為感謝你的所作所為,我現(xiàn)在把你想知道的我的私事告訴你。
23年前,我是一個年輕漂亮的姑娘,住在韋明翰,嫁給了一位傻乎乎的丈夫。我還結(jié)識了一位紳士——我不會稱呼他的名字。為什么要那樣叫他?那不是他的名字。我生來就喜歡貴重的東西,這個人送給我許多貴重禮物,當(dāng)然他是需要回報(bào)的——男人都是這樣。這個男人要的是什么?很簡單的一樣?xùn)|西。教堂法衣室的鑰匙,當(dāng)然要趁我丈夫不在的時候。我喜歡那些禮物,所以給他弄到了鑰匙。我盯著他,看他在法衣室干什么,他并沒發(fā)覺。當(dāng)時我不知道那是多么嚴(yán)重的罪行。我跟他說,要是他告訴我他的私事,我不會告訴任何人他擅自增加結(jié)婚記錄的事。他答應(yīng)了——至于為什么,你往下看就明白了。
他說在他母親死后,他才知道他的父母并沒有結(jié)婚。他父親承認(rèn)了這件事,答應(yīng)盡力為他兒子做些什么??墒撬裁炊紱]來得及做,就死去了。他的兒子來到英國繼承了遺產(chǎn)。沒人說他不能繼承,實(shí)際上,真正應(yīng)該繼承遺產(chǎn)的是一個正在出海的遠(yuǎn)親。然而,要想用那筆財(cái)產(chǎn)去借錢,他需要一份父母的結(jié)婚證明。這是個問題,為解決這個問題,他來到了韋明翰。
因?yàn)樗改复蟛糠謺r間生活在國外,在英國沒什么交際,所以誰會說(牧師已經(jīng)死了)韋明翰教堂沒舉行過一場私下的婚禮呢?他的計(jì)劃是把他出生前那一年的婚姻登記頁撕下來銷毀。然后,他就會告訴倫敦的律師們?nèi)ト”匾淖C明文件,并假裝不知情地把那個已經(jīng)不存在的登記頁上的日期告訴他們。至少誰也不會說他父母沒結(jié)婚。
但是,他發(fā)現(xiàn)那年的登記頁上靠下面有一點(diǎn)空白,于是改變了主意,趁機(jī)把他父母的婚姻寫了進(jìn)去。當(dāng)然,他也頗費(fèi)了些時間去模仿登記用的筆跡,還有配制合適的墨水顏色,讓這條記錄看起來跟其他的沒有差別。
我丈夫看到我和他密談,他們兩個打了一架以后,我叫他幫我洗清名聲,告訴別人我們之間什么也沒發(fā)生,但是他拒絕了。他希望大家都相信并沒有發(fā)生的事情,這樣一來,人們就不會去想真相如何了。他還跟我說如果他的罪行敗露,他以及幫過他的人都將被終生監(jiān)禁。他讓我害怕極了!如果我說出他的秘密,那我和他都完了。他答應(yīng)每年支付我一筆錢,條件是我保持沉默,繼續(xù)住在韋明翰,讓他隨時可以找到我,也免得我與人交朋友,然后亂講話。雖說條件很苛刻,我還是答應(yīng)了。
很多年以后,那時我女兒同我在一起,我收到他的一封信把我惹惱了。我無法控制自己,當(dāng)著女兒的面說:“我把他的秘密說出去就能毀了他?!焙髞碛幸惶?,他來我家,管我女兒叫傻瓜,她一下子喊了起來:“趕快請求我原諒你,不然我就把你的秘密說出去,毀了你?!蓖耆俏艺f過的話!他的臉一下子變白了。他向我們破口大罵。最后,你知道,他把她關(guān)進(jìn)了精神病院。我試圖告訴他,她什么也不知道。可是他不相信我。我女兒明白她使他害怕了,是他把她關(guān)進(jìn)了精神病院,因?yàn)樗J(rèn)為她知道了他的秘密。這就是為什么她那么恨他。但是,她其實(shí)到死也不知道那秘密到底是什么。
最后我要說的是,如果你認(rèn)為我丈夫不是我女兒的父親,你就是污辱我。請不要多問了。為了保護(hù)我自己,信中沒有提到任何名字,我也不會署名。
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