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肩書を与える: The Haunted Hotel
Author: Wilkie Collins
eBook No.: c00067.html
Language: English
Date first 地位，任命するd: 2021
Most 最近の update: 2021

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The Haunted Hotel
A Mystery of Modern Venice

by

Wilkie Collins

Contents

THE FIRST PART

一時期／支部 1.
一時期／支部 2.
一時期／支部 3.
一時期／支部 4.

THE SECOND PART

一時期／支部 5.
一時期／支部 6.
一時期／支部 7.
一時期／支部 8.
一時期／支部 9.
一時期／支部 10.
一時期／支部 11.
一時期／支部 12.

THE THIRD PART

一時期／支部 13.
一時期／支部 14.
一時期／支部 15.

THE FOURTH PART

一時期／支部 16.
一時期／支部 17.
一時期／支部 18.
一時期／支部 19.
一時期／支部 20.
一時期／支部 21.
一時期／支部 22.
一時期／支部 23.
一時期／支部 24.
一時期／支部 25.
一時期／支部 26.
一時期／支部 27.
一時期／支部 28.

THE FIRST PART

CHAPTER I

In the year 1860, the 評判 of Doctor Wybrow as a London 内科医 reached its highest point. It was 報告（する）／憶測d on good 当局 that he was in 領収書 of one of the largest incomes derived from the practice of 薬／医学 in modern times.

One afternoon, に向かって the の近くに of the London season, the Doctor had just taken his 昼食 after a 特に hard morning's work in his 協議するing-room, and with a formidable 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of visits to 患者s at their own houses to fill up the 残り／休憩（する） of his day—when the servant 発表するd that a lady wished to speak to him.

'Who is she?' the Doctor asked. 'A stranger?'

'Yes, sir.'

'I see no strangers out of 協議するing-hours. Tell her what the hours are, and send her away.'

'I have told her, sir.'

'井戸／弁護士席?'

'And she won't go.'

'Won't go?' The Doctor smiled as he repeated the words. He was a humourist in his way; and there was an absurd 味方する to the 状況／情勢 which rather amused him. 'Has this obstinate lady given you her 指名する?' he 問い合わせd.

'No, sir. She 辞退するd to give any 指名する—she said she wouldn't keep you five minutes, and the 事柄 was too important to wait till to-morrow. There she is in the 協議するing-room; and how to get her out again is more than I know.'

Doctor Wybrow considered for a moment. His knowledge of women (professionally speaking) 残り／休憩（する）d on the 熟した experience of more than thirty years; he had met with them in all their varieties—特に the variety which knows nothing of the value of time, and never hesitates at 避難所ing itself behind the 特権s of its sex. A ちらりと見ること at his watch 知らせるd him that he must soon begin his 一連の会議、交渉／完成するs の中で the 患者s who were waiting for him at their own houses. He decided forthwith on taking the only wise course that was open under the circumstances. In other words, he decided on taking to flight.

'Is the carriage at the door?' he asked.

'Yes, sir.'

'Very 井戸／弁護士席. Open the house-door for me without making any noise, and leave the lady in undisturbed 所有／入手 of the 協議するing-room. When she gets tired of waiting, you know what to tell her. If she asks when I am 推定する／予想するd to return, say that I dine at my club, and spend the evening at the theatre. Now then, softly, Thomas! If your shoes creak, I am a lost man.'

He noiselessly led the way into the hall, followed by the servant on tip-toe.

Did the lady in the 協議するing-room 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う him? or did Thomas's shoes creak, and was her sense of 審理，公聴会 異常に keen? Whatever the explanation may be, the event that 現実に happened was beyond all 疑問. 正確に／まさに as Doctor Wybrow passed his 協議するing-room, the door opened—the lady appeared on the threshold—and laid her 手渡す on his arm.

'I entreat you, sir, not to go away without letting me speak to you first.'

The accent was foreign; the トン was low and 会社／堅い. Her fingers の近くにd gently, and yet resolutely, on the Doctor's arm.

Neither her language nor her 活動／戦闘 had the slightest 影響 in inclining him to 認める her request. The 影響（力） that 即時に stopped him, on the way to his carriage, was the silent 影響（力） of her 直面する. The startling contrast between the 死体-like pallor of her complexion and the overpowering life and light, the glittering metallic brightness in her large 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs, held him literally （一定の）期間-bound. She was dressed in dark colours, with perfect taste; she was of middle 高さ, and (明らかに) of middle age—say a year or two over thirty. Her lower features—the nose, mouth, and chin—所有するd the fineness and delicacy of form which is oftener seen の中で women of foreign races than の中で women of English birth. She was unquestionably a handsome person—with the one serious drawback of her 恐ろしい complexion, and with the いっそう少なく noticeable defect of a total want of tenderness in the 表現 of her 注目する，もくろむs. Apart from his first emotion of surprise, the feeling she produced in the Doctor may be 述べるd as an overpowering feeling of professional curiosity. The 事例／患者 might 証明する to be something 完全に new in his professional experience. 'It looks like it,' he thought; 'and it's 価値（がある） waiting for.'

She perceived that she she had produced a strong impression of some 肉親，親類d upon him, and dropped her 持つ／拘留する on his arm.

'You have 慰安d many 哀れな women in your time,' she said. '慰安 one more, to-day.'

Without waiting to be answered, she led the way 支援する into the room.

The Doctor followed her, and の近くにd the door. He placed her in the 患者s' 議長，司会を務める, opposite the windows. Even in London the sun, on that summer afternoon, was dazzlingly 有望な. The radiant light flowed in on her. Her 注目する，もくろむs met it unflinchingly, with the steely steadiness of the 注目する，もくろむs of an eagle. The smooth pallor of her unwrinkled 肌 looked more fearfully white than ever. For the first time, for many a long year past, the Doctor felt his pulse quicken its （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 in the presence of a 患者.

Having 所有するd herself of his attention, she appeared, strangely enough, to have nothing to say to him. A curious apathy seemed to have taken 所有／入手 of this resolute woman. 軍隊d to speak first, the Doctor 単に 問い合わせd, in the 従来の phrase, what he could do for her.

The sound of his 発言する／表明する seemed to rouse her. Still looking straight at the light, she said 突然の: 'I have a painful question to ask.'

'What is it?'

Her 注目する，もくろむs travelled slowly from the window to the Doctor's 直面する. Without the slightest outward 外見 of agitation, she put the 'painful question' in these 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の words:

'I want to know, if you please, whether I am in danger of going mad?'

Some men might have been amused, and some might have been alarmed. Doctor Wybrow was only conscious of a sense of 失望. Was this the rare 事例／患者 that he had 心配するd, 裁判官ing rashly by 外見s? Was the new 患者 only a hypochondriacal woman, whose malady was a disordered stomach and whose misfortune was a weak brain? 'Why do you come to me?' he asked はっきりと. 'Why don't you 協議する a doctor whose special 雇用 is the 治療 of the insane?'

She had her answer ready on the instant.

'I don't go to a doctor of that sort,' she said, 'for the very 推論する／理由 that he is a specialist: he has the 致命的な habit of 裁判官ing everybody by lines and 支配するs of his own laying 負かす／撃墜する. I come to you, because my 事例／患者 is outside of all lines and 支配するs, and because you are famous in your profession for the 発見 of mysteries in 病気. Are you 満足させるd?'

He was more than 満足させるd—his first idea had been the 権利 idea, after all. Besides, she was 正確に 知らせるd as to his professional position. The capacity which had raised him to fame and fortune was his capacity (unrivalled の中で his brethren) for the 発見 of remote 病気.

'I am at your 処分,' he answered. 'Let me try if I can find out what is the 事柄 with you.'

He put his 医療の questions. They were 敏速に and plainly answered; and they led to no other 結論 than that the strange lady was, mentally and 肉体的に, in excellent health. Not 満足させるd with questions, he carefully 診察するd the 広大な／多数の／重要な 組織／臓器s of life. Neither his 手渡す nor his stethoscope could discover anything that was amiss. With the admirable patience and devotion to his art which had distinguished him from the time when he was a student, he still 支配するd her to one 実験（する） after another. The result was always the same. Not only was there no 傾向 to brain 病気—there was not even a perceptible derangement of the nervous system. 'I can find nothing the 事柄 with you,' he said. 'I can't even account for the 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の pallor of your complexion. You 完全に puzzle me.'

'The pallor of my complexion is nothing,' she answered a little impatiently. 'In my 早期に life I had a 狭くする escape from death by 毒（薬）ing. I have never had a complexion since—and my 肌 is so delicate, I cannot paint without producing a hideous 無分別な. But that is of no importance. I 手配中の，お尋ね者 your opinion given 前向きに／確かに. I believed in you, and you have disappointed me.' Her 長，率いる dropped on her breast. 'And so it ends!' she said to herself 激しく.

The Doctor's sympathies were touched. Perhaps it might be more 訂正する to say that his professional pride was a little 傷つける. 'It may end in the 権利 way yet,' he 発言／述べるd, 'if you choose to help me.'

She looked up again with flashing 注目する，もくろむs, 'Speak plainly,' she said. 'How can I help you?'

'Plainly, madam, you come to me as an enigma, and you leave me to make the 権利 guess by the unaided 成果／努力s of my art. My art will do much, but not all. For example, something must have occurred—something やめる unconnected with the 明言する／公表する of your bodily health—to 脅す you about yourself, or you would never have come here to 協議する me. Is that true?'

She clasped her 手渡すs in her （競技場の）トラック一周. 'That is true!' she said 熱望して. 'I begin to believe in you again.'

'Very 井戸／弁護士席. You can't 推定する／予想する me to find out the moral 原因（となる） which has alarmed you. I can 前向きに／確かに discover that there is no physical 原因（となる） of alarm; and (unless you 収容する／認める me to your 信用／信任) I can do no more.'

She rose, and took a turn in the room. 'Suppose I tell you?' she said. 'But, mind, I shall について言及する no 指名するs!'

'There is no need to について言及する 指名するs. The facts are all I want.'

'The facts are nothing,' she 再結合させるd. 'I have only my own impressions to 自白する—and you will very likely think me a fanciful fool when you hear what they are. No 事柄. I will do my best to content you—I will begin with the facts that you want. Take my word for it, they won't do much to help you.'

She sat 負かす／撃墜する again. In the plainest possible words, she began the strangest and wildest 自白 that had ever reached the Doctor's ears.

CHAPTER II

'It is one fact, sir, that I am a 未亡人,' she said. 'It is another fact, that I am going to be married again.'

There she paused, and smiled at some thought that occurred to her. Doctor Wybrow was not favourably impressed by her smile—there was something at once sad and cruel in it. It （機の）カム slowly, and it went away suddenly. He began to 疑問 whether he had been wise in 事実上の／代理 on his first impression. His mind 逆戻りするd to the commonplace 患者s and the discoverable maladies that were waiting for him, with a 確かな tender 悔いる.

The lady went on.

'My approaching marriage,' she said, 'has one embarrassing circumstance connected with it. The gentleman whose wife I am to be, was engaged to another lady when he happened to 会合，会う with me, abroad: that lady, mind, 存在 of his own 血 and family, 関係のある to him as his cousin. I have innocently robbed her of her lover, and destroyed her prospects in life. Innocently, I say—because he told me nothing of his 約束／交戦 until after I had 受託するd him. When we next met in England—and when there was danger, no 疑問, of the 事件／事情／状勢 coming to my knowledge—he told me the truth. I was 自然に indignant. He had his excuse ready; he showed me a letter from the lady herself, 解放（する）ing him from his 約束／交戦. A more noble, a more high-minded letter, I never read in my life. I cried over it—I who have no 涙／ほころびs in me for 悲しみs of my own! If the letter had left him any hope of 存在 forgiven, I would have 前向きに／確かに 辞退するd to marry him. But the firmness of it—without 怒り／怒る, without a word of reproach, with 深く心に感じた wishes even for his happiness—the firmness of it, I say, left him no hope. He 控訴，上告d to my compassion; he 控訴，上告d to his love for me. You know what women are. I too was soft-hearted—I said, Very 井戸／弁護士席: yes! In a week more (I tremble as I think of it) we are to be married.'

She did really tremble—she was 強いるd to pause and compose herself, before she could go on. The Doctor, waiting for more facts, began to 恐れる that he stood committed to a long story. '許す me for reminding you that I have 苦しむing persons waiting to see me,' he said. 'The sooner you can come to the point, the better for my 患者s and for me.'

The strange smile—at once so sad and so cruel—showed itself again on the lady's lips. 'Every word I have said is to the point,' she answered. 'You will see it yourself in a moment more.'

She 再開するd her narrative.

'Yesterday—you need 恐れる no long story, sir; only yesterday—I was の中で the 訪問者s at one of your English 昼食 parties. A lady, a perfect stranger to me, （機の）カム in late—after we had left the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, and had retired to the 製図／抽選-room. She happened to take a 議長，司会を務める 近づく me; and we were 現在のd to each other. I knew her by 指名する, as she knew me. It was the woman whom I had robbed of her lover, the woman who had written the noble letter. Now listen! You were impatient with me for not 利益／興味ing you in what I said just now. I said it to 満足させる your mind that I had no 敵意 of feeling に向かって the lady, on my 味方する. I admired her, I felt for her—I had no 原因（となる） to reproach myself. This is very important, as you will presently see. On her 味方する, I have 推論する／理由 to be 保証するd that the circumstances had been truly explained to her, and that she understood I was in no way to 非難する. Now, knowing all these necessary things as you do, explain to me, if you can, why, when I rose and met that woman's 注目する，もくろむs looking at me, I turned 冷淡な from 長，率いる to foot, and shuddered, and shivered, and knew what a deadly panic of 恐れる was, for the first time in my life.'

The Doctor began to feel 利益／興味d at last.

'Was there anything remarkable in the lady's personal 外見?' he asked.

'Nothing whatever!' was the vehement reply. 'Here is the true description of her:—The ordinary English lady; the （疑いを）晴らす 冷淡な blue 注目する，もくろむs, the 罰金 rosy complexion, the inanimately polite manner, the large good-humoured mouth, the too plump cheeks and chin: these, and nothing more.'

'Was there anything in her 表現, when you first looked at her, that took you by surprise?'

'There was natural curiosity to see the woman who had been preferred to her; and perhaps some astonishment also, not to see a more engaging and more beautiful person; both those feelings 抑制するd within the 限界s of good 産む／飼育するing, and both not 継続している for more than a few moments—so far as I could see. I say, "so far," because the horrible agitation that she communicated to me 乱すd my judgment. If I could have got to the door, I would have run out of the room, she 脅すd me so! I was not even able to stand up—I sank 支援する in my 議長，司会を務める; I 星／主役にするd horror-struck at the 静める blue 注目する，もくろむs that were only looking at me with a gentle surprise. To say they 影響する／感情d me like the 注目する，もくろむs of a serpent is to say nothing. I felt her soul in them, looking into 地雷—looking, if such a thing can be, unconsciously to her own mortal self. I tell you my impression, in all its horror and in all its folly! That woman is 運命にあるd (without knowing it herself) to be the evil genius of my life. Her innocent 注目する，もくろむs saw hidden 能力s of wickedness in me that I was not aware of myself, until I felt them stirring under her look. If I commit faults in my life to come—if I am even 有罪の of 罪，犯罪s—she will bring the 天罰, without (as I 堅固に believe) any conscious 演習 of her own will. In one indescribable moment I felt all this—and I suppose my 直面する showed it. The good artless creature was 奮起させるd by a sort of gentle alarm for me. "I am afraid the heat of the room is too much for you; will you try my smelling 瓶／封じ込める?" I heard her say those 肉親，親類d words; and I remember nothing else—I fainted. When I 回復するd my senses, the company had all gone; only the lady of the house was with me. For the moment I could say nothing to her; the dreadful impression that I have tried to 述べる to you （機の）カム 支援する to me with the coming 支援する of my life. As soon I could speak, I implored her to tell me the whole truth about the woman whom I had 取って代わるd. You see, I had a faint hope that her good character might not really be deserved, that her noble letter was a skilful piece of hypocrisy—in short, that she 内密に hated me, and was cunning enough to hide it. No! the lady had been her friend from her girlhood, was as familiar with her as if they had been sisters—knew her 前向きに／確かに to be as good, as innocent, as incapable of hating anybody, as the greatest saint that ever lived. My one last hope, that I had only felt an ordinary forewarning of danger in the presence of an ordinary enemy, was a hope destroyed for ever. There was one more 成果／努力 I could make, and I made it. I went next to the man whom I am to marry. I implored him to 解放（する） me from my 約束. He 辞退するd. I 宣言するd I would break my 約束／交戦. He showed me letters from his sisters, letters from his brothers, and his dear friends—all entreating him to think again before he made me his wife; all repeating 報告（する）／憶測s of me in Paris, Vienna, and London, which are so many vile lies. "If you 辞退する to marry me," he said, "you 収容する／認める that these 報告（する）／憶測s are true—you 収容する／認める that you are afraid to 直面する society in the character of my wife." What could I answer? There was no 否定するing him—he was plainly 権利: if I 固執するd in my 拒絶, the utter 破壊 of my 評判 would be the result. I 同意d to let the wedding take place as we had arranged it—and left him. The night has passed. I am here, with my 直す／買収する，八百長をするd 有罪の判決—that innocent woman is 任命するd to have a 致命的な 影響（力） over my life. I am here with my one question to put, to the one man who can answer it. For the last time, sir, what am I—a demon who has seen the avenging angel? or only a poor mad woman, misled by the delusion of a deranged mind?'

Doctor Wybrow rose from his 議長，司会を務める, 決定するd to の近くに the interview.

He was 堅固に and painfully impressed by what he had heard. The longer he had listened to her, the more irresistibly the 有罪の判決 of the woman's wickedness had 軍隊d itself on him. He tried vainly to think of her as a person to be pitied—a person with a morbidly 極度の慎重さを要する imagination, conscious of the capacities for evil which 嘘（をつく） 活動停止中の in us all, and 努力する／競うing 真面目に to open her heart to the 反対する-影響（力） of her own better nature; the 成果／努力 was beyond him. A perverse instinct in him said, as if in words, Beware how you believe in her!

'I have already given you my opinion,' he said. 'There is no 調印する of your intellect 存在 deranged, or 存在 likely to be deranged, that 医療の science can discover—as I understand it. As for the impressions you have confided to me, I can only say that yours is a 事例／患者 (as I 投機・賭ける to think) for spiritual rather than for 医療の advice. Of one thing be 保証するd: what you have said to me in this room shall not pass out of it. Your 自白 is 安全な in my keeping.'

She heard him, with a 確かな dogged 辞職, to the end.

'Is that all?' she asked.

'That is all,' he answered.

She put a little paper packet of money on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. 'Thank you, sir. There is your 料金.'

With those words she rose. Her wild 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs looked 上向き, with an 表現 of despair so 反抗的な and so horrible in its silent agony that the Doctor turned away his 長，率いる, unable to 耐える the sight of it. The 明らかにする idea of taking anything from her—not money only, but anything even that she had touched—suddenly 反乱d him. Still without looking at her, he said, 'Take it 支援する; I don't want my 料金.'

She neither 注意するd nor heard him. Still looking 上向き, she said slowly to herself, 'Let the end come. I have done with the struggle: I 服従させる／提出する.'

She drew her 隠す over her 直面する, 屈服するd to the Doctor, and left the room.

He rang the bell, and followed her into the hall. As the servant の近くにd the door on her, a sudden impulse of curiosity—utterly unworthy of him, and at the same time utterly irresistible—sprang up in the Doctor's mind. Blushing like a boy, he said to the servant, 'Follow her home, and find out her 指名する.' For one moment the man looked at his master, 疑問ing if his own ears had not deceived him. Doctor Wybrow looked 支援する at him in silence. The submissive servant knew what that silence meant—he took his hat and hurried into the street.

The Doctor went 支援する to the 協議するing-room. A sudden revulsion of feeling swept over his mind. Had the woman left an 感染 of wickedness in the house, and had he caught it? What devil had 所有するd him to degrade himself in the 注目する，もくろむs of his own servant? He had behaved infamously—he had asked an honest man, a man who had served him faithfully for years, to turn 秘かに調査する! Stung by the 明らかにする thought of it, he ran out into the hall again, and opened the door. The servant had disappeared; it was too late to call him 支援する. But one 避難 from his contempt for himself was now open to him—the 避難 of work. He got into his carriage and went his 一連の会議、交渉／完成するs の中で his 患者s.

If the famous 内科医 could have shaken his own 評判, he would have done it that afternoon. Never before had he made himself so little welcome at the 病人の枕元. Never before had he put off until to-morrow the prescription which せねばならない have been written, the opinion which せねばならない have been given, to-day. He went home earlier than usual—unutterably 不満な with himself.

The servant had returned. Dr. Wybrow was ashamed to question him. The man 報告（する）／憶測d the result of his errand, without waiting to be asked.

'The lady's 指名する is the Countess Narona. She lives at—'

Without waiting to hear where she lived, the Doctor 定評のある the all-important 発見 of her 指名する by a silent bend of the 長，率いる, and entered his 協議するing-room. The 料金 that he had vainly 辞退するd still lay in its little white paper covering on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. He 調印（する）d it up in an envelope; 演説（する）／住所d it to the 'Poor-box' of the nearest police-法廷，裁判所; and, calling the servant in, directed him to take it to the 治安判事 the next morning. Faithful to his 義務s, the servant waited to ask the customary question, 'Do you dine at home to-day, sir?'

After a moment's hesitation he said, 'No: I shall dine at the club.'

The most easily 悪化するd of all the moral 質s is the 質 called '良心.' In one 明言する／公表する of a man's mind, his 良心 is the severest 裁判官 that can pass 宣告，判決 on him. In another 明言する／公表する, he and his 良心 are on the best possible 条件 with each other in the comfortable capacity of 共犯者s. When Doctor Wybrow left his house for the second time, he did not even 試みる／企てる to 隠す from himself that his 単独の 反対する, in dining at the club, was to hear what the world said of the Countess Narona.

CHAPTER III

There was a time when a man in search of the 楽しみs of gossip sought the society of ladies. The man knows better now. He goes to the smoking-room of his club.

Doctor Wybrow lit his cigar, and looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する him at his brethren in social conclave 組み立てる／集結するd. The room was 井戸／弁護士席 filled; but the flow of talk was still languid. The Doctor innocently 適用するd the 興奮剤 that was 手配中の，お尋ね者. When he 問い合わせd if anybody knew the Countess Narona, he was answered by something like a shout of astonishment. Never (the conclave agreed) had such an absurd question been asked before! Every human creature, with the slightest （人命などを）奪う，主張する to a place in society, knew the Countess Narona. An adventuress with a European 評判 of the blackest possible colour—such was the general description of the woman with the deathlike complexion and the glittering 注目する，もくろむs.

Descending to particulars, each member of the club 与える／捧げるd his own little 在庫／株 of スキャンダル to the memoirs of the Countess. It was doubtful whether she was really, what she called herself, a Dalmatian lady. It was doubtful whether she had ever been married to the Count whose 未亡人 she assumed to be. It was doubtful whether the man who …を伴ってd her in her travels (under the 指名する of Baron Rivar, and in the character of her brother) was her brother at all. 報告（する）／憶測 pointed to the Baron as a gambler at every '（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する' on the Continent. 報告（する）／憶測 whispered that his いわゆる sister had 辛うじて escaped 存在 巻き込むd in a famous 裁判，公判 for 毒（薬）ing at Vienna—that she had been known at Milan as a 秘かに調査する in the 利益／興味s of Austria—that her 'apartment' in Paris had been 公然と非難するd to the police as nothing いっそう少なく than a 私的な 賭事ing-house—and that her 現在の 外見 in England was the natural result of the 発見. Only one member of the 議会 in the smoking-room took the part of this much-乱用d woman, and 宣言するd that her character had been most cruelly and most 不正に 攻撃する，非難するd. But as the man was a lawyer, his 干渉，妨害 went for nothing: it was 自然に せいにするd to the spirit of contradiction inherent in his profession. He was asked derisively what he thought of the circumstances under which the Countess had become engaged to be married; and he made the characteristic answer, that he thought the circumstances 高度に creditable to both parties, and that he looked on the lady's 未来 husband as a most enviable man.

審理，公聴会 this, the Doctor raised another shout of astonishment by 問い合わせing the 指名する of the gentleman whom the Countess was about to marry.

His friends in the smoking-room decided 全員一致で that the celebrated 内科医 must be a second '引き裂く-先頭-Winkle,' and that he had just awakened from a supernatural sleep of twenty years. It was all very 井戸／弁護士席 to say that he was 充てるd to his profession, and that he had neither time nor inclination to 選ぶ up fragments of gossip at dinner-parties and balls. A man who did not know that the Countess Narona had borrowed money at Homburg of no いっそう少なく a person than Lord Montbarry, and had then deluded him into making her a 提案 of marriage, was a man who had probably never heard of Lord Montbarry himself. The younger members of the club, humouring the joke, sent a waiter for the 'Peerage'; and read aloud the memoir of the nobleman in question, for the Doctor's 利益—with illustrative morsels of （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） interpolated by themselves.

'Herbert John Westwick. First Baron Montbarry, of Montbarry, King's 郡, Ireland. Created a Peer for distinguished 軍の services in India. Born, 1812. Forty-eight years old, Doctor, at the 現在の time. Not married. Will be married next week, Doctor, to the delightful creature we have been talking about. 相続人 presumptive, his lordship's next brother, Stephen Robert, married to Ella, youngest daughter of the Reverend Silas Marden, Rector of Runnigate, and has 問題／発行する, three daughters. Younger brothers of his lordship, Francis and Henry, unmarried. Sisters of his lordship, Lady Barville, married to Sir Theodore Barville, Bart.; and Anne, 未亡人 of the late Peter Norbury, Esq., of Norbury Cross. 耐える his lordship's relations 井戸／弁護士席 in mind, Doctor. Three brothers Westwick, Stephen, Francis, and Henry; and two sisters, Lady Barville and Mrs. Norbury. Not one of the five will be 現在の at the marriage; and not one of the five will leave a 石／投石する unturned to stop it, if the Countess will only give them a chance. 追加する to these 敵意を持った members of the family another 感情を害する／違反するd 親族 not について言及するd in the 'Peerage,' a young lady—'

A sudden 爆発 of 抗議する in more than one part of the room stopped the coming 公表，暴露, and 解放（する）d the Doctor from その上の 迫害.

'Don't について言及する the poor girl's 指名する; it's too bad to make a joke of that part of the 商売／仕事; she has behaved nobly under shameful 誘発; there is but one excuse for Montbarry—he is either a madman or a fool.' In these 条件 the 抗議する 表明するd itself on all 味方するs. Speaking confidentially to his next 隣人, the Doctor discovered that the lady referred to was already known to him (through the Countess's 自白) as the lady 砂漠d by Lord Montbarry. Her 指名する was Agnes Lockwood. She was 述べるd as 存在 the superior of the Countess in personal attraction, and as 存在 also by some years the younger woman of the two. Making all allowance for the follies that men committed every day in their relations with women, Montbarry's delusion was still the most monstrous delusion on 記録，記録的な／記録する. In this 表現 of opinion every man 現在の agreed—the lawyer even 含むd. Not one of them could call to mind the innumerable instances in which the 性の 影響（力） has 証明するd irresistible in the persons of women without even the pretension to beauty. The very members of the club whom the Countess (in spite of her personal disadvantages) could have most easily fascinated, if she had thought it 価値（がある） her while, were the members who wondered most loudly at Montbarry's choice of a wife.

While the topic of the Countess's marriage was still the one topic of conversation, a member of the club entered the smoking-room whose 外見 即時に produced a dead silence. Doctor Wybrow's next 隣人 whispered to him, 'Montbarry's brother—Henry Westwick!'

The new-comer looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する him slowly, with a bitter smile.

'You are all talking of my brother,'he said. 'Don't mind me. Not one of you can despise him more heartily than I do. Go on, gentlemen—go on!'

But one man 現在の took the （衆議院の）議長 at his word. That man was the lawyer who had already undertaken the defence of the Countess.

'I stand alone in my opinion,' he said, 'and I am not ashamed of repeating it in anybody's 審理，公聴会. I consider the Countess Narona to be a cruelly-扱う／治療するd woman. Why shouldn't she be Lord Montbarry's wife? Who can say she has a mercenary 動機 in marrying him?'

Montbarry's brother turned はっきりと on the （衆議院の）議長. 'I say it!' he answered.

The reply might have shaken some men. The lawyer stood on his ground as 堅固に as ever.

'I believe I am 権利,' he 再結合させるd, 'in 明言する／公表するing that his lordship's income is not more than 十分な to support his 駅／配置する in life; also that it is an income derived almost 完全に from landed 所有物／資産／財産 in Ireland, every acre of which is entailed.'

Montbarry's brother made a 調印する, admitting that he had no 反対 to 申し込む／申し出 so far.

'If his lordship dies first,' the lawyer proceeded, 'I have been 知らせるd that the only 準備／条項 he can make for his 未亡人 consists in a rent-告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 on the 所有物／資産／財産 of no more than four hundred a year. His retiring 年金 and allowances, it is 井戸／弁護士席 known, die with him. Four hundred a year is therefore all that he can leave to the Countess, if he leaves her a 未亡人.'

'Four hundred a year is not all,' was the reply to this. 'My brother has insured his life for ten thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs; and he has settled the whole of it on the Countess, in the event of his death.'

This 告示 produced a strong sensation. Men looked at each other, and repeated the three startling words, 'Ten thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs!' Driven 公正に／かなり to the 塀で囲む, the lawyer made a last 成果／努力 to defend his position.

'May I ask who made that 解決／入植地 a 条件 of the marriage?' he said. 'Surely it was not the Countess herself?'

Henry Westwick answered, 'it was the Countess's brother'; and 追加するd, 'which comes to the same thing.'

After that, there was no more to be said—so long, at least, as Montbarry's brother was 現在の. The talk flowed into other channels; and the Doctor went home.

But his morbid curiosity about the Countess was not 始める，決める at 残り／休憩（する） yet. In his leisure moments he 設立する himself wondering whether Lord Montbarry's family would 後継する in stopping the marriage after all. And more than this, he was conscious of a growing 願望（する） to see the infatuated man himself. Every day during the 簡潔な／要約する interval before the wedding, he looked in at the club, on the chance of 審理，公聴会 some news. Nothing had happened, so far as the club knew. The Countess's position was 安全な・保証する; Montbarry's 決意／決議 to be her husband was unshaken. They were both Roman カトリック教徒s, and they were to be married at the chapel in Spanish Place. So much the Doctor discovered about them—and no more.

On the day of the wedding, after a feeble struggle with himself, he 現実に sacrificed his 患者s and their guineas, and slipped away 内密に to see the marriage. To the end of his life, he was angry with anybody who reminded him of what he had done on that day!

The wedding was 厳密に 私的な. A の近くに carriage stood at the church door; a few people, mostly of the lower class, and mostly old women, were scattered about the 内部の of the building. Here and there Doctor Wybrow （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd the 直面するs of some of his brethren of the club, attracted by curiosity, like himself. Four persons only stood before the altar—the bride and bridegroom and their two 証言，証人／目撃するs. One of these last was an 年輩の woman, who might have been the Countess's companion or maid; the other was undoubtedly her brother, Baron Rivar. The bridal party (the bride herself 含むd) wore their ordinary morning 衣装. Lord Montbarry, 本人自身で 見解（をとる）d, was a middle-老年の 軍の man of the ordinary type: nothing in the least remarkable distinguished him either in 直面する or 人物／姿／数字. Baron Rivar, again, in his way was another 従来の 代表者／国会議員 of another 井戸／弁護士席-known type. One sees his finely-pointed moustache, his bold 注目する，もくろむs, his crisply-curling hair, and his dashing carriage of the 長，率いる, repeated hundreds of times over on the Boulevards of Paris. The only noteworthy point about him was of the 消極的な sort—he was not in the least like his sister. Even the officiating priest was only a 害のない, humble-looking old man, who went through his 義務s resignedly, and felt 明白な rheumatic difficulties every time he bent his 膝s. The one remarkable person, the Countess herself, only raised her 隠す at the beginning of the 儀式, and 現在のd nothing in her plain dress that was 価値（がある） a second look. Never, on the 直面する of it, was there a いっそう少なく 利益／興味ing and いっそう少なく romantic marriage than this. From time to time the Doctor ちらりと見ることd 一連の会議、交渉／完成する at the door or up at the galleries, ばく然と 心配するing the 外見 of some 抗議するing stranger, in 所有／入手 of some terrible secret, （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限d to forbid the 進歩 of the service. Nothing in the 形態／調整 of an event occurred—nothing 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の, nothing 劇の. Bound 急速な／放蕩な together as man and wife, the two disappeared, followed by their 証言，証人／目撃するs, to 調印する the 登録（する）s; and still Doctor Wybrow waited, and still he 心にいだくd the obstinate hope that something 価値（がある） seeing must certainly happen yet.

The interval passed, and the married couple, returning to the church, walked together 負かす／撃墜する the nave to the door. Doctor Wybrow drew 支援する as they approached. To his 混乱 and surprise, the Countess discovered him. He heard her say to her husband, 'One moment; I see a friend.' Lord Montbarry 屈服するd and waited. She stepped up to the Doctor, took his 手渡す, and wrung it hard. He felt her overpowering 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs looking at him through her 隠す. 'One step more, you see, on the way to the end!' She whispered those strange words, and returned to her husband. Before the Doctor could 回復する himself and follow her, Lord and Lady Montbarry had stepped into their carriage, and had driven away.

Outside the church door stood the three or four members of the club who, like Doctor Wybrow, had watched the 儀式 out of curiosity. 近づく them was the bride's brother, waiting alone. He was evidently bent on seeing the man whom his sister had spoken to, in 幅の広い daylight. His bold 注目する，もくろむs 残り／休憩（する）d on the Doctor's 直面する, with a momentary flash of 疑惑 in them. The cloud suddenly （疑いを）晴らすd away; the Baron smiled with charming 儀礼, 解除するd his hat to his sister's friend, and walked off.

The members 構成するd themselves into a club conclave on the church steps. They began with the Baron. 'Damned ill-looking rascal!' They went on with Montbarry. 'Is he going to take that horrid woman with him to Ireland?' 'Not he! he can't 直面する the tenantry; they know about Agnes Lockwood.' '井戸／弁護士席, but where is he going?' 'To Scotland.' 'Does she like that?' 'It's only for a fortnight; they come 支援する to London, and go abroad.' 'And they will never return to England, eh?' 'Who can tell? Did you see how she looked at Montbarry, when she had to 解除する her 隠す at the beginning of the service? In his place, I should have bolted. Did you see her, Doctor?' By this time, Doctor Wybrow had remembered his 患者s, and had heard enough of the club gossip. He followed the example of Baron Rivar, and walked off.

'One step more, you see, on the way to the end,' he repeated to himself, on his way home. 'What end?'

CHAPTER IV

On the day of the marriage Agnes Lockwood sat alone in the little 製図／抽選-room of her London lodgings, 燃やすing the letters which had been written to her by Montbarry in the bygone time.

The Countess's maliciously smart description of her, 演説（する）／住所d to Doctor Wybrow, had not even hinted at the charm that most distinguished Agnes—the artless 表現 of goodness and 潔白 which 即時に attracted everyone who approached her. She looked by many years younger than she really was. With her fair complexion and her shy manner, it seemed only natural to speak of her as 'a girl,' although she was now really 前進するing に向かって thirty years of age. She lived alone with an old nurse 充てるd to her, on a modest little income which was just enough to support the two. There were 非，不，無 of the ordinary 調印するs of grief in her 直面する, as she slowly tore the letters of her 誤った lover in two, and threw the pieces into the small 解雇する／砲火／射撃 which had been lit to 消費する them. Unhappily for herself, she was one of those women who feel too 深く，強烈に to find 救済 in 涙／ほころびs. Pale and 静かな, with 冷淡な trembling fingers, she destroyed the letters one by one without daring to read them again. She had torn the last of the series, and was still 縮むing from throwing it after the 残り／休憩（する） into the 速く destroying 炎上, when the old nurse （機の）カム in, and asked if she would see 'Master Henry,'—meaning that youngest member of the Westwick family, who had 公然と 宣言するd his contempt for his brother in the smoking-room of the club.

Agnes hesitated. A faint tinge of colour stole over her 直面する.

There had been a long past time when Henry Westwick had owned that he loved her. She had made her 自白 to him, 認めるing that her heart was given to his eldest brother. He had submitted to his 失望; and they had met thenceforth as cousins and friends. Never before had she associated the idea of him with embarrassing recollections. But now, on the very day when his brother's marriage to another woman had consummated his brother's 背信 に向かって her, there was something ばく然と repellent in the prospect of seeing him. The old nurse (who remembered them both in their cradles) 観察するd her hesitation; and sympathising of course with the man, put in a timely word for Henry. 'He says, he's going away, my dear; and he only wants to shake 手渡すs, and say good-bye.' This plain 声明 of the 事例／患者 had its 影響. Agnes decided on receiving her cousin.

He entered the room so 速く that he surprised her in the 行為／法令／行動する of throwing the fragments of Montbarry's last letter into the 解雇する／砲火／射撃. She hurriedly spoke first.

'You are leaving London very suddenly, Henry. Is it 商売／仕事? or 楽しみ?'

Instead of answering her, he pointed to the 炎上ing letter, and to some 黒人／ボイコット ashes of burnt paper lying lightly in the lower part of the fireplace.

'Are you 燃やすing letters?'

'Yes.'

'His letters?'

'Yes.'

He took her 手渡す gently. 'I had no idea I was intruding on you, at a time when you must wish to be alone. 許す me, Agnes—I shall see you when I return.'

She 調印するd to him, with a faint smile, to take a 議長，司会を務める.

'We have known one another since we were children,' she said. 'Why should I feel a foolish pride about myself in your presence? why should I have any secrets from you? I sent 支援する all your brother's gifts to me some time ago. I have been advised to do more, to keep nothing that can remind me of him—in short, to 燃やす his letters. I have taken the advice; but I own I shrank a little from destroying the last of the letters. No—not because it was the last, but because it had this in it.' She opened her 手渡す, and showed him a lock of Montbarry's hair, tied with a morsel of golden cord. '井戸／弁護士席! 井戸／弁護士席! let it go with the 残り／休憩（する）.'

She dropped it into the 炎上. For a while, she stood with her 支援する to Henry, leaning on the mantel-piece, and looking into the 解雇する／砲火／射撃. He took the 議長，司会を務める to which she had pointed, with a strange contradiction of 表現 in his 直面する: the 涙／ほころびs were in his 注目する，もくろむs, while the brows above were knit の近くに in an angry frown. He muttered to himself, 'Damn him!'

She 決起大会／結集させるd her courage, and looked at him again when she spoke. '井戸／弁護士席, Henry, and why are you going away?'

'I am out of spirits, Agnes, and I want a change.'

She paused before she spoke again. His 直面する told her plainly that he was thinking of her when he made that reply. She was 感謝する to him, but her mind was not with him: her mind was still with the man who had 砂漠d her. She turned 一連の会議、交渉／完成する again to the 解雇する／砲火／射撃.

'Is it true,' she asked, after a long silence, 'that they have been married to-day?'

He answered ungraciously in the one necessary word:—'Yes.'

'Did you go to the church?'

He resented the question with an 表現 of indignant surprise. 'Go to the church?' he repeated. 'I would as soon go to—' He checked himself there. 'How can you ask?' he 追加するd in lower トンs. 'I have never spoken to Montbarry, I have not even seen him, since he 扱う／治療するd you like the scoundrel and the fool that he is.'

She looked at him suddenly, without 説 a word. He understood her, and begged her 容赦. But he was still angry. 'The reckoning comes to some men,' he said, 'even in this world. He will live to rue the day when he married that woman!'

Agnes took a 議長，司会を務める by his 味方する, and looked at him with a gentle surprise.

'Is it やめる reasonable to be so angry with her, because your brother preferred her to me?' she asked.

Henry turned on her はっきりと. 'Do you defend the Countess, of all the people in the world?'

'Why not?' Agnes answered. 'I know nothing against her. On the only occasion when we met, she appeared to be a singularly timid, nervous person, looking dreadfully ill; and 存在 indeed so ill that she fainted under the heat of my room. Why should we not do her 司法（官）? We know that she was innocent of any 意向 to wrong me; we know that she was not aware of my 約束／交戦—'

Henry 解除するd his 手渡す impatiently, and stopped her. 'There is such a thing as 存在 too just and too 許すing!' he interposed. 'I can't 耐える to hear you talk in that 患者 way, after the scandalously cruel manner in which you have been 扱う／治療するd. Try to forget them both, Agnes. I wish to God I could help you to do it!'

Agnes laid her 手渡す on his arm. 'You are very good to me, Henry; but you don't やめる understand me. I was thinking of myself and my trouble in やめる a different way, when you （機の）カム in. I was wondering whether anything which has so 完全に filled my heart, and so 吸収するd all that is best and truest in me, as my feeling for your brother, can really pass away as if it had never 存在するd. I have destroyed the last 明白な things that remind me of him. In this world I shall see him no more. But is the tie that once bound us, 完全に broken? Am I as 完全に parted from the good and evil fortune of his life as if we had never met and never loved? What do you think, Henry? I can hardly believe it.'

'If you could bring the 天罰 on him that he has deserved,' Henry Westwick answered 厳しく, 'I might be inclined to agree with you.'

As that reply passed his lips, the old nurse appeared again at the door, 発表するing another 訪問者.

'I'm sorry to 乱す you, my dear. But here is little Mrs. Ferrari wanting to know when she may say a few words to you.'

Agnes turned to Henry, before she replied. 'You remember Emily Bidwell, my favourite pupil years ago at the village school, and afterwards my maid? She left me, to marry an Italian 特使, 指名するd Ferrari—and I am afraid it has not turned out very 井戸／弁護士席. Do you mind my having her in here for a minute or two?'

Henry rose to take his leave. 'I should be glad to see Emily again at any other time,' he said. 'But it is best that I should go now. My mind is 乱すd, Agnes; I might say things to you, if I stayed here any longer, which—which are better not said now. I shall cross the Channel by the mail to-night, and see how a few weeks' change will help me.' He took her 手渡す. 'Is there anything in the world that I can do for you?' he asked very 真面目に. She thanked him, and tried to 解放（する） her 手渡す. He held it with a tremulous ぐずぐず残る しっかり掴む. 'God bless you, Agnes!' he said in 滞るing トンs, with his 注目する，もくろむs on the ground. Her 直面する 紅潮／摘発するd again, and the next instant turned paler than ever; she knew his heart 同様に as he knew it himself—she was too 苦しめるd to speak. He 解除するd her 手渡す to his lips, kissed it fervently, and, without looking at her again, left the room. The nurse hobbled after him to the 長，率いる of the stairs: she had not forgotten the time when the younger brother had been the 不成功の 競争相手 of the 年上の for the 手渡す of Agnes. 'Don't be 負かす／撃墜する-hearted, Master Henry,' whispered the old woman, with the unscrupulous ありふれた sense of persons in the lower 階級 of life. 'Try her again, when you come 支援する!'

Left alone for a few moments, Agnes took a turn in the room, trying to compose herself. She paused before a little water-colour 製図／抽選 on the 塀で囲む, which had belonged to her mother: it was her own portrait when she was a child. 'How much happier we should be,' she thought to herself sadly, 'if we never grew up!'

The 特使's wife was shown in—a little meek melancholy woman, with white eyelashes, and watery 注目する，もくろむs, who curtseyed deferentially and was troubled with a small chronic cough. Agnes shook 手渡すs with her kindly. '井戸／弁護士席, Emily, what can I do for you?'

The 特使's wife made rather a strange answer: 'I'm afraid to tell you, 行方不明になる.'

'Is it such a very difficult favour to 認める? Sit 負かす／撃墜する, and let me hear how you are going on. Perhaps the 嘆願（書） will slip out while we are talking. How does your husband behave to you?'

Emily's light grey 注目する，もくろむs looked more watery than ever. She shook her 長，率いる and sighed resignedly. 'I have no 肯定的な （民事の）告訴 to make against him, 行方不明になる. But I'm afraid he doesn't care about me; and he seems to take no 利益／興味 in his home—I may almost say he's tired of his home. It might be better for both of us, 行方不明になる, if he went travelling for a while—not to について言及する the money, which is beginning to be 手配中の，お尋ね者 sadly.' She put her handkerchief to her 注目する，もくろむs, and sighed again more resignedly than ever.

'I don't やめる understand,' said Agnes. 'I thought your husband had an 約束／交戦 to take some ladies to Switzerland and Italy?'

'That was his ill-luck, 行方不明になる. One of the ladies fell ill—and the others wouldn't go without her. They paid him a month's salary as 補償（金）. But they had engaged him for the autumn and winter—and the loss is serious.'

'I am sorry to hear it, Emily. Let us hope he will soon have another chance.'

'It's not his turn, 行方不明になる, to be recommended when the next 使用／適用s come to the 特使s' office. You see, there are so many of them out of 雇用 just now. If he could be 個人として recommended—' She stopped, and left the unfinished 宣告，判決 to speak for itself.

Agnes understood her 直接／まっすぐに. 'You want my 推薦,' she 再結合させるd. 'Why couldn't you say so at once?'

Emily blushed. 'It would be such a chance for my husband,' she answered confusedly. 'A letter, 問い合わせing for a good 特使 (a six months' 約束／交戦, 行方不明になる!) （機の）カム to the office this morning. It's another man's turn to be chosen—and the 長官 will recommend him. If my husband could only send his testimonials by the same 地位，任命する—with just a word in your 指名する, 行方不明になる—it might turn the 規模, as they say. A 私的な 推薦 between gentlefolks goes so far.' She stopped again, and sighed again, and looked 負かす／撃墜する at the carpet, as if she had some 私的な 推論する／理由 for feeling a little ashamed of herself.

Agnes began to be rather 疲れた／うんざりした of the 執拗な トン of mystery in which her 訪問者 spoke. 'If you want my 利益／興味 with any friend of 地雷,' she said, 'why can't you tell me the 指名する?'

The 特使's wife began to cry. 'I'm ashamed to tell you, 行方不明になる.'

For the first time, Agnes spoke はっきりと. 'Nonsense, Emily! Tell me the 指名する 直接／まっすぐに—or 減少（する） the 支配する—whichever you like best.'

Emily made a last desperate 成果／努力. She wrung her handkerchief hard in her （競技場の）トラック一周, and let off the 指名する as if she had been letting off a 負担d gun:—'Lord Montbarry!'

Agnes rose and looked at her.

'You have disappointed me,' she said very 静かに, but with a look which the 特使's wife had never seen in her 直面する before. 'Knowing what you know, you せねばならない be aware that it is impossible for me to communicate with Lord Montbarry. I always supposed you had some delicacy of feeling. I am sorry to find that I have been mistaken.'

Weak as she was, Emily had spirit enough to feel the reproof. She walked in her meek noiseless way to the door. 'I beg your 容赦, 行方不明になる. I am not やめる so bad as you think me. But I beg your 容赦, all the same.'

She opened the door. Agnes called her 支援する. There was something in the woman's 陳謝 that 控訴，上告d irresistibly to her just and generous nature. 'Come,' she said; 'we must not part in this way. Let me not misunderstand you. What is it that you 推定する／予想するd me to do?'

Emily was wise enough to answer this time without any reserve. 'My husband will send his testimonials, 行方不明になる, to Lord Montbarry in Scotland. I only 手配中の，お尋ね者 you to let him say in his letter that his wife has been known to you since she was a child, and that you feel some little 利益／興味 in his 福利事業 on that account. I don't ask it now, 行方不明になる. You have made me understand that I was wrong.'

Had she really been wrong? Past remembrances, 同様に as 現在の troubles, pleaded powerfully with Agnes for the 特使's wife. 'It seems only a small favour to ask,' she said, speaking under the impulse of 親切 which was the strongest impulse in her nature. 'But I am not sure that I せねばならない 許す my 指名する to be について言及するd in your husband's letter. Let me hear again 正確に／まさに what he wishes to say.' Emily repeated the words—and then 申し込む／申し出d one of those suggestions, which have a special value of their own to persons unaccustomed to the use of their pens. 'Suppose you try, 行方不明になる, how it looks in 令状ing?' Childish as the idea was, Agnes tried the 実験. 'If I let you について言及する me,' she said, 'we must at least decide what you are to say.' She wrote the words in the briefest and plainest form:—'I 投機・賭ける to 明言する／公表する that my wife has been known from her childhood to 行方不明になる Agnes Lockwood, who feels some little 利益／興味 in my 福利事業 on that account.' 減ずるd to this one 宣告，判決, there was surely nothing in the 言及／関連 to her 指名する which 暗示するd that Agnes had permitted it, or that she was even aware of it. After a last struggle with herself, she 手渡すd the written paper to Emily. 'Your husband must copy it 正確に／まさに, without altering anything,' she 規定するd. 'On that 条件, I 認める your request.' Emily was not only thankful—she was really touched. Agnes hurried the little woman out of the room. 'Don't give me time to repent and take it 支援する again,' she said. Emily 消えるd.

'Is the tie that once bound us 完全に broken? Am I as 完全に parted from the good and evil fortune of his life as if we had never met and never loved?' Agnes looked at the clock on the mantel-piece. Not ten minutes since, those serious questions had been on her lips. It almost shocked her to think of the ありふれた-place manner in which they had already met with their reply. The mail of that night would 控訴，上告 once more to Montbarry's remembrance of her—in the choice of a servant.

Two days later, the 地位，任命する brought a few 感謝する lines from Emily. Her husband had got the place. Ferrari was engaged, for six months 確かな , as Lord Montbarry's 特使.

THE SECOND PART

CHAPTER V

After only one week of travelling in Scotland, my lord and my lady returned 突然に to London. Introduced to the mountains and lakes of the Highlands, her ladyship 前向きに／確かに 拒絶する／低下するd to 改善する her 知識 with them. When she was asked for her 推論する／理由, she answered with a Roman brevity, 'I have seen Switzerland.'

For a week more, the newly-married couple remained in London, in the strictest 退職. On one day in that week the nurse returned in a 明言する／公表する of most uncustomary excitement from an errand on which Agnes had sent her. Passing the door of a 流行の／上流の dentist, she had met Lord Montbarry himself just leaving the house. The good woman's 報告（する）／憶測 述べるd him, with malicious 楽しみ, as looking wretchedly ill. 'His cheeks are getting hollow, my dear, and his 耐えるd is turning grey. I hope the dentist 傷つける him!'

Knowing how heartily her faithful old servant hated the man who had 砂漠d her, Agnes made 予定 allowance for a large infusion of exaggeration in the picture 現在のd to her. The main impression produced on her mind was an impression of nervous uneasiness. If she 信用d herself in the streets by daylight while Lord Montbarry remained in London, how could she be sure that his next chance-会合 might not be a 会合 with herself? She waited at home, 個人として ashamed of her own undignified 行為／行う, for the next two days. On the third day the 流行の／上流の 知能 of the newspapers 発表するd the 出発 of Lord and Lady Montbarry for Paris, on their way to Italy.

Mrs. Ferrari, calling the same evening, 知らせるd Agnes that her husband had left her with all reasonable 表現 of conjugal 親切; his temper 存在 改善するd by the prospect of going abroad. But one other servant …を伴ってd the travellers—Lady Montbarry's maid, rather a silent, unsociable woman, so far as Emily had heard. Her ladyship's brother, Baron Rivar, was already on the Continent. It had been arranged that he was to 会合，会う his sister and her husband at Rome.

One by one the dull weeks 後継するd each other in the life of Agnes. She 直面するd her position with admirable courage, seeing her friends, keeping herself 占領するd in her leisure hours with reading and 製図／抽選, leaving no means untried of コースを変えるing her mind from the melancholy remembrance of the past. But she had loved too faithfully, she had been 負傷させるd too 深く，強烈に, to feel in any 適する degree the 影響（力） of the moral 治療（薬）s which she 雇うd. Persons who met with her in the ordinary relations of life, deceived by her outward serenity of manner, agreed that '行方不明になる Lockwood seemed to be getting over her 失望.' But an old friend and school companion who happened to see her during a 簡潔な／要約する visit to London, was inexpressibly 苦しめるd by the change that she （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd in Agnes. This lady was Mrs. Westwick, the wife of that brother of Lord Montbarry who （機の）カム next to him in age, and who was 述べるd in the 'Peerage' as presumptive 相続人 to the 肩書を与える. He was then away, looking after his 利益／興味s in some 採掘 所有物／資産／財産 which he 所有するd in America. Mrs. Westwick 主張するd on taking Agnes 支援する with her to her home in Ireland. 'Come and keep me company while my husband is away. My three little girls will make you their playfellow, and the only stranger you will 会合，会う is the governess, whom I answer for your liking beforehand. Pack up your things, and I will call for you to-morrow on my way to the train.' In those hearty 条件 the 招待 was given. Agnes thankfully 受託するd it. For three happy months she lived under the roof of her friend. The girls hung 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her in 涙／ほころびs at her 出発; the youngest of them 手配中の，お尋ね者 to go 支援する with Agnes to London. Half in jest, half in earnest, she said to her old friend at parting, 'If your governess leaves you, keep the place open for me.' Mrs. Westwick laughed. The wiser children took it 本気で, and 約束d to let Agnes know.

On the very day when 行方不明になる Lockwood returned to London, she was 解任するd to those 協会s with the past which she was most anxious to forget. After the first kissings and greetings were over, the old nurse (who had been left in 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 at the lodgings) had some startling （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） to communicate, derived from the 特使's wife.

'Here has been little Mrs. Ferrari, my dear, in a dreadful 明言する／公表する of mind, 問い合わせing when you would be 支援する. Her husband has left Lord Montbarry, without a word of 警告—and nobody knows what has become of him.'

Agnes looked at her in astonishment. 'Are you sure of what you are 説?' she asked.

The nurse was やめる sure. 'Why, Lord bless you! the news comes from the 特使s' office in Golden Square—from the 長官, 行方不明になる Agnes, the 長官 himself!' 審理，公聴会 this, Agnes began to feel alarmed 同様に as surprised. It was still 早期に in the evening. She at once sent a message to Mrs. Ferrari, to say that she had returned.

In an hour more the 特使's wife appeared, in a 明言する／公表する of agitation which it was not 平易な to 支配（する）／統制する. Her narrative, when she was at last able to speak connectedly, 完全に 確認するd the nurse's 報告（する）／憶測 of it.

After 審理，公聴会 from her husband with tolerable regularity from Paris, Rome, and Venice, Emily had twice written to him afterwards—and had received no reply. Feeling uneasy, she had gone to the office in Golden Square, to 問い合わせ if he had been heard of there. The 地位，任命する of the morning had brought a letter to the 長官 from a 特使 then at Venice. It 含む／封じ込めるd startling news of Ferrari. His wife had been 許すd to take a copy of it, which she now 手渡すd to Agnes to read.

The writer 明言する／公表するd that he had recently arrived in Venice. He had 以前 heard that Ferrari was with Lord and Lady Montbarry, at one of the old Venetian palaces which they had 雇うd for a 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語. 存在 a friend of Ferrari, he had gone to 支払う／賃金 him a visit. （犯罪の）一味ing at the door that opened on the canal, and failing to make anyone hear him, he had gone 一連の会議、交渉／完成する to a 味方する 入り口 開始 on one of the 狭くする 小道／航路s of Venice. Here, standing at the door (as if she was waiting for him to try that way next), he 設立する a pale woman with magnificent dark 注目する，もくろむs, who 証明するd to be no other than Lady Montbarry herself.

She asked, in Italian, what he 手配中の，お尋ね者. He answered that he 手配中の，お尋ね者 to see the 特使 Ferrari, if it was やめる convenient. She at once 知らせるd him that Ferrari had left the palace, without 割り当てるing any 推論する／理由, and without even leaving an 演説（する）／住所 at which his 月毎の salary (then 予定 to him) could be paid. Amazed at this reply, the 特使 問い合わせd if any person had 感情を害する／違反するd Ferrari, or quarrelled with him. The lady answered, 'To my knowledge, certainly not. I am Lady Montbarry; and I can 前向きに／確かに 保証する you that Ferrari was 扱う／治療するd with the greatest 親切 in this house. We are as much astonished as you are at his 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 見えなくなる. If you should hear of him, pray let us know, so that we may at least 支払う／賃金 him the money which is 予定.'

After one or two more questions (やめる readily answered) relating to the date and the time of day at which Ferrari had left the palace, the 特使 took his leave.

He at once entered on the necessary 調査s—without the slightest result so far as Ferrari was 関心d. Nobody had seen him. Nobody appeared to have been taken into his 信用／信任. Nobody knew anything (that is to say, anything of the slightest importance) even about persons so distinguished as Lord and Lady Montbarry. It was 報告（する）／憶測d that her ladyship's English maid had left her, before the 見えなくなる of Ferrari, to return to her 親族s in her own country, and that Lady Montbarry had taken no steps to 供給（する） her place. His lordship was 述べるd as 存在 in delicate health. He lived in the strictest 退職—nobody was 認める to him, not even his own countrymen. A stupid old woman was discovered who did the 家事 at the palace, arriving in the morning and going away again at night. She had never seen the lost 特使—she had never even seen Lord Montbarry, who was then 限定するd to his room. Her ladyship, 'a most gracious and adorable mistress,' was in constant 出席 on her noble husband. There was no other servant then in the house (so far as the old woman knew) but herself. The meals were sent in from a restaurant. My lord, it was said, disliked strangers. My lord's brother-in-法律, the Baron, was 一般に shut up in a remote part of the palace, 占領するd (the gracious mistress said) with 実験s in chemistry. The 実験s いつかs made a 汚い smell. A doctor had latterly been called in to his lordship—an Italian doctor, long 居住（者） in Venice. 調査s 存在 演説（する）／住所d to this gentleman (a 内科医 of undoubted capacity and respectability), it turned out that he also had never seen Ferrari, having been 召喚するd to the palace (as his memorandum 調書をとる／予約する showed) at a date その後の to the 特使's 見えなくなる. The doctor 述べるd Lord Montbarry's malady as bronchitis. So far, there was no 推論する／理由 to feel any 苦悩, though the attack was a sharp one. If alarming symptoms should appear, he had arranged with her ladyship to call in another 内科医. For the 残り／休憩（する）, it was impossible to speak too 高度に of my lady; night and day, she was at her lord's 病人の枕元.

With these particulars began and ended the 発見s made by Ferrari's 特使-friend. The police were on the look-out for the lost man—and that was the only hope which could be held 前へ／外へ for the 現在の, to Ferrari's wife.

'What do you think of it, 行方不明になる?' the poor woman asked 熱望して. 'What would you advise me to do?'

Agnes was at a loss how to answer her; it was an 成果／努力 even to listen to what Emily was 説. The 言及／関連s in the 特使's letter to Montbarry—the 報告（する）／憶測 of his illness, the melancholy picture of his secluded life—had 再開するd the old 負傷させる. She was not even thinking of the lost Ferrari; her mind was at Venice, by the sick man's 病人の枕元.

'I hardly know what to say,' she answered. 'I have had no experience in serious 事柄s of this 肉親，親類d.'

'Do you think it would help you, 行方不明になる, if you read my husband's letters to me? There are only three of them—they won't take long to read.'

Agnes compassionately read the letters.

They were not written in a very tender トン. 'Dear Emily,' and 'Yours affectionately'—these 従来の phrases, were the only phrases of endearment which they 含む／封じ込めるd. In the first letter, Lord Montbarry was not very favourably spoken of:—'We leave Paris to-morrow. I don't much like my lord. He is proud and 冷淡な, and, between ourselves, stingy in money 事柄s. I have had to 論争 such trifles as a few centimes in the hotel 法案; and twice already, some sharp 発言／述べるs have passed between the newly-married couple, in consequence of her ladyship's freedom in 購入（する）ing pretty tempting things at the shops in Paris. "I can't afford it; you must keep to your allowance." She has had to hear those words already. For my part, I like her. She has the nice, 平易な foreign manners—she 会談 to me as if I was a human 存在 like herself.'

The second letter was 時代遅れの from Rome.

'My lord's caprices' (Ferrari wrote) 'have kept us perpetually on the move. He is becoming incurably restless. I 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う he is uneasy in his mind. Painful recollections, I should say—I find him 絶えず reading old letters, when her ladyship is not 現在の. We were to have stopped at Genoa, but he hurried us on. The same thing at Florence. Here, at Rome, my lady 主張するs on 残り／休憩（する）ing. Her brother has met us at this place. There has been a quarrel already (the lady's maid tells me) between my lord and the Baron. The latter 手配中の，お尋ね者 to borrow money of the former. His lordship 辞退するd in language which 感情を害する／違反するd Baron Rivar. My lady pacified them, and made them shake 手渡すs.'

The third, and last letter, was from Venice.

'More of my lord's economy! Instead of staying at the hotel, we have 雇うd a damp, mouldy, rambling old palace. My lady 主張するs on having the best 控訴s of rooms wherever we go—and the palace comes cheaper for a two months' 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語. My lord tried to get it for longer; he says the 静かな of Venice is good for his 神経s. But a foreign 相場師 has 安全な・保証するd the palace, and is going to turn it into an hotel. The Baron is still with us, and there have been more 不一致s about money 事柄s. I don't like the Baron—and I don't find the attractions of my lady grow on me. She was much nicer before the Baron joined us. My lord is a punctual paymaster; it's a 事柄 of honour with him; he hates parting with his money, but he does it because he has given his word. I receive my salary 定期的に at the end of each month—not a フラン extra, though I have done many things which are not part of a 特使's proper work. Fancy the Baron trying to borrow money of me! he is an inveterate gambler. I didn't believe it when my lady's maid first told me so—but I have seen enough since to 満足させる me that she was 権利. I have seen other things besides, which—井戸／弁護士席! which don't 増加する my 尊敬（する）・点 for my lady and the Baron. The maid says she means to give 警告 to leave. She is a respectable British 女性（の）, and doesn't take things やめる so easily as I do. It is a dull life here. No going into company—no company at home—not a creature sees my lord—not even the 領事, or the 銀行業者. When he goes out, he goes alone, and 一般に に向かって nightfall. Indoors, he shuts himself up in his own room with his 調書をとる／予約するs, and sees as little of his wife and the Baron as possible. I fancy things are coming to a 危機 here. If my lord's 疑惑s are once awakened, the consequences will be terrible. Under 確かな 誘発s, the noble Montbarry is a man who would stick at nothing. However, the 支払う／賃金 is good—and I can't afford to talk of leaving the place, like my lady's maid.'

Agnes 手渡すd 支援する the letters—so suggestive of the 刑罰，罰則 paid already for his own infatuation by the man who had 砂漠d her!—with feelings of shame and 苦しめる, which made her no fit counsellor for the helpless woman who depended on her advice.

'The one thing I can 示唆する,' she said, after first speaking some 肉親，親類d words of 慰安 and hope, 'is that we should 協議する a person of greater experience than ours. Suppose I 令状 and ask my lawyer (who is also my friend and trustee) to come and advise us to-morrow after his 商売／仕事 hours?'

Emily 熱望して and gratefully 受託するd the suggestion. An hour was arranged for the 会合 on the next day; the correspondence was left under the care of Agnes; and the 特使's wife took her leave.

疲れた／うんざりした and heartsick, Agnes lay 負かす／撃墜する on the sofa, to 残り／休憩（する） and compose herself. The careful nurse brought in a 生き返らせるing cup of tea. Her quaint gossip about herself and her 占領／職業s while Agnes had been away, 行為／法令／行動するd as a 救済 to her mistress's overburdened mind. They were still talking 静かに, when they were startled by a loud knock at the house door. Hurried footsteps 上がるd the stairs. The door of the sitting-room was thrown open violently; the 特使's wife 急ぐd in like a mad woman. 'He's dead! They've 殺人d him!' Those wild words were all she could say. She dropped on her 膝s at the foot of the sofa—held out her 手渡す with something clasped in it—and fell 支援する in a swoon.

The nurse, 調印 to Agnes to open the window, took the necessary 対策 to 回復する the fainting woman. 'What's this?' she exclaimed. 'Here's a letter in her 手渡す. See what it is, 行方不明になる.'

The open envelope was 演説（する）／住所d (evidently in a feigned 手渡す-令状ing) to 'Mrs. Ferrari.' The 地位，任命する-示す was 'Venice.' The contents of the envelope were a sheet of foreign 公式文書，認める-paper, and a 倍のd enclosure.

On the 公式文書，認める-paper, one line only was written. It was again in a feigned handwriting, and it 含む／封じ込めるd these words:

'To console you for the loss of your husband'

Agnes opened the enclosure next.

It was a Bank of England 公式文書，認める for a thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs.

CHAPTER VI

The next day, the friend and 合法的な 助言者 of Agnes Lockwood, Mr. Troy, called on her by 任命 in the evening.

Mrs. Ferrari—still 固執するing in the 有罪の判決 of her husband's death—had 十分に 回復するd to be 現在の at the 協議. 補助装置d by Agnes, she told the lawyer the little that was known relating to Ferrari's 見えなくなる, and then produced the correspondence connected with that event. Mr. Troy read (first) the three letters 演説（する）／住所d by Ferrari to his wife; (secondly) the letter written by Ferrari's 特使-friend, 述べるing his visit to the palace and his interview with Lady Montbarry; and (thirdly) the one line of 匿名の／不明の 令状ing which had …を伴ってd the 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の gift of a thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs to Ferrari's wife.

井戸／弁護士席 known, at a later period, as the lawyer who 行為／法令／行動するd for Lady Lydiard, in the 事例／患者 of 窃盗, 一般に 述べるd as the 事例／患者 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 所有するd a keen 注目する，もくろむ for character, a quaint humour, and a kindly nature which had not been 悪化するd even by a lawyer's professional experience of mankind. With all these personal advantages, it is a question, にもかかわらず, whether he was the fittest 助言者 whom Agnes could have chosen under the circumstances. Little Mrs. Ferrari, with many 国内の 長所s, was an essentially commonplace 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 商売／仕事 of the evening, referring to Mrs. Ferrari as 無作法に as if she had been out of the room.

'She has 苦しむd a terrible shock,' Agnes answered.

Mr. Troy turned to Mrs. Ferrari, and looked at her again, with the 利益／興味 予定 to the 犠牲者 of a shock. He drummed absently with his fingers on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. 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 注目する，もくろむs. The word 'dead' was ineffectual to 表明する her feelings. '殺人d!' she said 厳しく, 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 限界s to human patience—even the patience of a （死が）奪い去るd wife. This 冷静な／正味の question irritated Mrs. Ferrari into 表明するing herself plainly at last.

'He discovered Lady Montbarry and the Baron!' she answered, with a burst of hysterical vehemence. 'The Baron is no more that vile woman's brother than I am. The wickedness of those two wretches （機の）カム 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 妨げる it from getting to Lord Montbarry's ears.' So, in short sharp 宣告，判決s, and in louder and louder accents, Mrs. Ferrari 明言する／公表するd her opinion of the 事例／患者.

Still keeping his own 見解（をとる） in reserve, Mr. Troy listened with an 表現 of satirical 是認.

'Very 堅固に 明言する／公表するd, Mrs. Ferrari,' he said. 'You build up your 宣告，判決s 井戸／弁護士席; you clinch your 結論s in a workmanlike manner. If you had been a man, you would have made a good lawyer—you would have taken 陪審／陪審員団s by the scruff of their necks. 完全にする the 事例／患者, my good lady—完全にする the 事例／患者. Tell us next who sent you this letter, enclosing the bank-公式文書，認める. The "two wretches" who 殺人d Mr. Ferrari would hardly put their 手渡すs in their pockets and send you a thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs. Who is it—eh? I see the 地位，任命する-示す on the letter is "Venice." Have you any friend in that 利益／興味ing city, with a large heart, and a purse to correspond, who has been let into the secret and who wishes to console you 不明な?'

It was not 平易な to reply to this. Mrs. Ferrari began to feel the first inward approaches of something like 憎悪 に向かって Mr. Troy. 'I don't understand you, sir,' she answered. 'I don't think this is a joking 事柄.'

Agnes 干渉するd, for the first time. She drew her 議長，司会を務める a little nearer to her 合法的な counsellor and friend.

'What is the most probable explanation, in your opinion?' she asked.

'I shall 感情を害する／違反する Mrs. Ferrari if I tell you,' Mr. Troy answered.

'No, sir, you won't!' cried Mrs. Ferrari, hating Mr. Troy undisguisedly by this time.

The lawyer leaned 支援する in his 議長，司会を務める. 'Very 井戸／弁護士席,' he said, in his most good-humoured manner. 'Let's have it out. 観察する, madam, I don't 論争 your 見解（をとる） of the position of 事件／事情／状勢s at the palace in Venice. You have your husband's letters to 正当化する you; and you have also the 重要な fact that Lady Montbarry's maid did really leave the house. We will say, then, that Lord Montbarry has 推定では been made the 犠牲者 of a foul wrong—that Mr. Ferrari was the first to find it out—and that the 有罪の persons had 推論する／理由 to 恐れる, not only that he would 熟知させる Lord Montbarry with his 発見, but that he would be a 主要な／長／主犯 証言，証人／目撃する against them if the スキャンダル was made public in a 法廷，裁判所 of 法律. Now 示す! Admitting all this, I draw a 全く different 結論 from the 結論 at which you have arrived. Here is your husband left in this 哀れな 世帯 of three, under very ぎこちない circumstances for him. What does he do? But for the bank-公式文書，認める and the written message sent to you with it, I should say that he had wisely 孤立した himself from 協会 with a disgraceful 発見 and （危険などに）さらす, by taking 内密に to flight. The money 修正するs this 見解（をとる）—unfavourably so far as Mr. Ferrari is 関心d. I still believe he is keeping out of the way. But I now say he is paid for keeping out of the way—and that bank-公式文書，認める there on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する is the price of his absence, sent by the 有罪の persons to his wife.'

Mrs. Ferrari's watery grey 注目する，もくろむs brightened suddenly; Mrs. Ferrari's dull 淡褐色-coloured complexion became enlivened by a glow of brilliant red.

'It's 誤った!' she cried. 'It's a 燃やすing shame to speak of my husband in that way!'

'I told you I should 感情を害する／違反する you!' said Mr. Troy.

Agnes interposed once more—in the 利益／興味s of peace. She took the 感情を害する／違反するd wife's 手渡す; she 控訴，上告d to the lawyer to 再考する that 味方する of his theory which 反映するd 厳しく on Ferrari. While she was still speaking, the servant interrupted her by entering the room with a visiting-card. It was the card of Henry Westwick; and there was an ominous request written on it in pencil. 'I bring bad news. Let me see you for a minute downstairs.' Agnes すぐに left the room.

Alone with Mrs. Ferrari, Mr. Troy permitted his natural 親切 of heart to show itself on the surface at last. He tried to make his peace with the 特使's wife.

'You have every （人命などを）奪う，主張する, my good soul, to resent a reflection cast upon your husband,' he began. 'I may even say that I 尊敬（する）・点 you for speaking so 温かく in his defence. At the same time, remember, that I am bound, in such a serious 事柄 as this, to tell you what is really in my mind. I can have no 意向 of 感情を害する／違反するing you, seeing that I am a total stranger to you and to Mr. Ferrari. A thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs is a large sum of money; and a poor man may excusably be tempted by it to do nothing worse than to keep out of the way for a while. My only 利益／興味, 事実上の／代理 on your に代わって, is to get at the truth. If you will give me time, I see no 推論する／理由 to despair of finding your husband yet.'

Ferrari's wife listened, without 存在 納得させるd: her 狭くする little mind, filled to its extreme capacity by her unfavourable opinion of Mr. Troy, had no room left for the 過程 of 訂正するing its first impression. 'I am much 強いるd to you, sir,' was all she said. Her 注目する，もくろむs were more communicative—her 注目する，もくろむs 追加するd, in their language, 'You may say what you please; I will never 許す you to my dying day.'

Mr. Troy gave it up. He composedly wheeled his 議長，司会を務める around, put his 手渡すs in his pockets, and looked out of window.

After an interval of silence, the 製図／抽選-room door was opened.

Mr. Troy wheeled 一連の会議、交渉／完成する again briskly to the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, 推定する／予想するing to see Agnes. To his surprise there appeared, in her place, a perfect stranger to him—a gentleman, in the prime of life, with a 示すd 表現 of 苦痛 and 当惑 on his handsome 直面する. He looked at Mr. Troy, and 屈服するd 厳粛に.

'I am so unfortunate as to have brought news to 行方不明になる Agnes Lockwood which has 大いに 苦しめるd her,' he said. 'She has retired to her room. I am requested to make her excuses, and to speak to you in her place.'

Having introduced himself in those 条件, he noticed Mrs. Ferrari, and held out his 手渡す to her kindly. 'It is some years since we last met, Emily,' he said. 'I am afraid you have almost forgotten the "Master Henry" of old times.' Emily, in some little 混乱, made her acknowledgments, and begged to know if she could be of any use to 行方不明になる Lockwood. 'The old nurse is with her,' Henry answered; 'they will be better left together.' He turned once more to Mr. Troy. 'I せねばならない tell you,' he said, 'that my 指名する is Henry Westwick. I am the younger brother of the late Lord Montbarry.'

'The late Lord Montbarry!' Mr. Troy exclaimed.

'My brother died at Venice yesterday evening. There is the 電報電信.' With that startling answer, he 手渡すd the paper to Mr. Troy.

The message was in these words:

'Lady Montbarry, Venice. To Stephen Robert Westwick, Newbury's Hotel, London. It is useless to take the 旅行. Lord Montbarry died of bronchitis, at 8.40 this evening. All needful 詳細（に述べる）s by 地位，任命する.'

'Was this 推定する／予想するd, sir?' the lawyer asked.

'I cannot say that it has taken us 完全に by surprise, Henry answered. 'My brother Stephen (who is now the 長，率いる of the family) received a 電報電信 three days since, 知らせるing him that alarming symptoms had 宣言するd themselves, and that a second 内科医 had been called in. He telegraphed 支援する to say that he had left Ireland for London, on his way to Venice, and to direct that any その上の message might be sent to his hotel. The reply （機の）カム in a second 電報電信. It 発表するd that Lord Montbarry was in a 明言する／公表する of insensibility, and that, in his 簡潔な／要約する intervals of consciousness, he recognised nobody. My brother was advised to wait in London for later （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）. The third 電報電信 is now in your 手渡すs. That is all I know, up to the 現在の time.'

Happening to look at the 特使's wife, Mr. Troy was struck by the 表現 of blank 恐れる which showed itself in the woman's 直面する.

'Mrs. Ferrari,' he said, 'have you heard what Mr. Westwick has just told me?'

'Every word of it, sir.'

'Have you any questions to ask?'

'No, sir.'

'You seem to be alarmed,' the lawyer 固執するd. 'Is it still about your husband?'

'I shall never see my husband again, sir. I have thought so all along, as you know. I feel sure of it now.'

'Sure of it, after what you have just heard?'

'Yes, sir.'

'Can you tell me why?'

'No, sir. It's a feeling I have. I can't tell why.'

'Oh, a feeling?' Mr. Troy repeated, in a トン of compassionate contempt. 'When it comes to feelings, my good soul—!' He left the 宣告，判決 unfinished, and rose to take his leave of Mr. Westwick. The truth is, he began to feel puzzled himself, and he did not choose to let Mrs. Ferrari see it. '受託する the 表現 of my sympathy, sir,' he said to Mr. Westwick politely. 'I wish you good evening.'

Henry turned to Mrs. Ferrari as the lawyer の近くにd the door. 'I have heard of your trouble, Emily, from 行方不明になる Lockwood. Is there anything I can do to help you?'

'Nothing, sir, thank you. Perhaps, I had better go home after what has happened? I will call to-morrow, and see if I can be of any use to 行方不明になる Agnes. I am very sorry for her.' She stole away, with her formal curtsey, her noiseless step, and her obstinate 決意／決議 to take the gloomiest 見解（をとる） of her husband's 事例／患者.

Henry Westwick looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する him in the 孤独 of the little 製図／抽選-room. There was nothing to keep him in the house, and yet he ぐずぐず残るd in it. It was something to be even 近づく Agnes—to see the things belonging to her that were scattered about the room. There, in the corner, was her 議長，司会を務める, with her embroidery on the work-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する by its 味方する. On the little easel 近づく the window was her last 製図／抽選, not やめる finished yet. The 調書をとる／予約する she had been reading lay on the sofa, with her tiny pencil-事例／患者 in it to 示す the place at which she had left off. One after another, he looked at the 反対するs that reminded him of the woman whom he loved—took them up tenderly—and laid them 負かす／撃墜する again with a sigh. Ah, how far, how unattainably far from him, she was still! 'She will never forget Montbarry,' he thought to himself as he took up his hat to go. 'Not one of us feels his death as she feels it. 哀れな, 哀れな wretch—how she loved him!'

In the street, as Henry の近くにd the house-door, he was stopped by a passing 知識—a wearisome inquisitive man—doubly unwelcome to him, at that moment. 'Sad news, Westwick, this about your brother. Rather an 予期しない death, wasn't it? We never heard at the club that Montbarry's 肺s were weak. What will the 保険 offices do?'

Henry started; he had never thought of his brother's life 保険. What could the offices do but 支払う／賃金? A death by bronchitis, certified by two 内科医s, was surely the least disputable of all deaths. 'I wish you hadn't put that question into my 長，率いる!' he broke out irritably. 'Ah!' said his friend, 'you think the 未亡人 will get the money? So do I! so do I!'

CHAPTER VII

Some days later, the 保険 offices (two in number) received the formal 告示 of Lord Montbarry's death, from her ladyship's London solicitors. The sum insured in each office was five thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs—on which one year's 賞与金 only had been paid. In the 直面する of such a pecuniary 緊急 as this, the Directors thought it 望ましい to consider their position. The 医療の 助言者s of the two offices, who had recommended the 保険 of Lord Montbarry's life, were called into 会議 over their own 報告（する）／憶測s. The result excited some 利益／興味 の中で persons connected with the 商売／仕事 of life 保険. Without 絶対 拒絶する／低下するing to 支払う／賃金 the money, the two offices (事実上の／代理 in concert) decided on sending a （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 of 調査 to Venice, 'for the 目的 of 得るing その上の （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）.'

Mr. Troy received the earliest 知能 of what was going on. He wrote at once to communicate his news to Agnes; 追加するing, what he considered to be a 価値のある hint, in these words:

'You are intimately 熟知させるd, I know, with Lady Barville, the late Lord Montbarry's eldest sister. The solicitors 雇うd by her husband are also the solicitors to one of the two 保険 offices. There may かもしれない be something in the 報告（する）／憶測 of the （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 of 調査 touching on Ferrari's 見えなくなる. Ordinary persons would not be permitted, of course, to see such a 文書. But a sister of the late lord is so 近づく a 親族 as to be an exception to general 支配するs. If Sir Theodore Barville puts it on that 地盤, the lawyers, even if they do not 許す his wife to look at the 報告（する）／憶測, will at least answer any 控えめの questions she may ask referring to it. Let me hear what you think of this suggestion, at your earliest convenience.'

The reply was received by return of 地位，任命する. Agnes 拒絶する／低下するd to avail herself of Mr. Troy's 提案.

'My 干渉，妨害, innocent as it was,' she wrote, 'has already been 生産力のある of such deplorable results, that I cannot and dare not 動かす any その上の in the 事例／患者 of Ferrari. If I had not 同意d to let that unfortunate man 言及する to me by 指名する, the late Lord Montbarry would never have engaged him, and his wife would have been spared the 悲惨 and suspense from which she is 苦しむing now. I would not even look at the 報告（する）／憶測 to which you allude if it was placed in my 手渡すs—I have heard more than enough already of that hideous life in the palace at Venice. If Mrs. Ferrari chooses to 演説（する）／住所 herself to Lady Barville (with your 援助), that is of course やめる another thing. But, even in this 事例／患者, I must make it a 肯定的な 条件 that my 指名する shall not be について言及するd. 許す me, dear Mr. Troy! I am very unhappy, and very 不当な—but I am only a woman, and you must not 推定する／予想する too much from me.'

失敗させる／負かすd in this direction, the lawyer next advised making the 試みる／企てる to discover the 現在の 演説（する）／住所 of Lady Montbarry's English maid. This excellent suggestion had one drawback: it could only be carried out by spending money—and there was no money to spend. Mrs. Ferrari shrank from the 明らかにする idea of making any use of the thousand-続けざまに猛撃する 公式文書，認める. It had been deposited in the 安全な keeping of a bank. If it was even について言及するd in her 審理，公聴会, she shuddered and referred to it, with melodramatic fervour, as 'my husband's 血-money!'

So, under 強調する／ストレス of circumstances, the 試みる／企てる to solve the mystery of Ferrari's 見えなくなる was 一時停止するd for a while.

It was the last month of the year 1860. The （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 of 調査 was already at work; having begun its 調査s on December 6. On the 10th, the 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 for which the late Lord Montbarry had 雇うd the Venetian palace, 満了する／死ぬd. News by 電報電信 reached the 保険 offices that Lady Montbarry had been advised by her lawyers to leave for London with as little 延期する as possible. Baron Rivar, it was believed, would …を伴って her to England, but would not remain in that country, unless his services were 絶対 要求するd by her ladyship. The Baron, '井戸／弁護士席 known as an enthusiastic student of chemistry,' had heard of 確かな 最近の 発見s in 関係 with that science in the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs, and was anxious to 調査／捜査する them 本人自身で.

These items of news, collected by Mr. Troy, were duly communicated to Mrs. Ferrari, whose 苦悩 about her husband made her a たびたび（訪れる）, a too たびたび（訪れる）, 訪問者 at the lawyer's office. She 試みる／企てるd to relate what she had heard to her good friend and protectress. Agnes 刻々と 辞退するd to listen, and 前向きに／確かに forbade any その上の conversation relating to Lord Montbarry's wife, now that Lord Montbarry was no more. 'You have Mr. Troy to advise you,' she said; 'and you are welcome to what little money I can spare, if money is 手配中の，お尋ね者. All I ask in return is that you will not 苦しめる me. I am trying to separate myself from remembrances—'her 発言する／表明する 滞るd; she paused to 支配（する）／統制する herself—'from remembrances,' she 再開するd, 'which are sadder than ever since I have heard of Lord Montbarry's death. Help me by your silence to 回復する my spirits, if I can. Let me hear nothing more, until I can rejoice with you that your husband is 設立する.'

Time 前進するd to the 13th of the month; and more （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） of the 利益／興味ing sort reached Mr. Troy. The 労働s of the 保険 （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 had come to an end—the 報告（する）／憶測 had been received from Venice on that day.

CHAPTER VIII

On the 14th the Directors and their 合法的な 助言者s met for the reading of the 報告（する）／憶測, with の近くにd doors. These were the 条件 in which the Commissioners 関係のある the results of their 調査: '私的な and confidential.

'We have the honour to 知らせる our Directors that we arrived in Venice on December 6, 1860. On the same day we proceeded to the palace 住むd by Lord Montbarry at the time of his last illness and death.

'We were received with all possible 儀礼 by Lady Montbarry's brother, Baron Rivar. "My sister was her husband's only attendant throughout his illness," the Baron 知らせるd us. "She is 圧倒するd by grief and 疲労，（軍の）雑役—or she would have been here to receive you 本人自身で. What are your wishes, gentlemen? and what can I do for you in her ladyship's place?"

'In 一致 with our 指示／教授／教育s, we answered that the death and burial of Lord Montbarry abroad made it 望ましい to 得る more 完全にする （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） relating to his illness, and to the circumstances which had …に出席するd it, than could be 伝えるd in 令状ing. We explained that the 法律 供給するd for the lapse of a 確かな interval of time before the 支払い（額） of the sum 保証するd, and we 表明するd our wish to 行為／行う the 調査 with the most respectful consideration for her ladyship's feelings, and for the convenience of any other members of the family 住むing the house.

'To this the Baron replied, "I am the only member of the family living here, and I and the palace are 完全に at your 処分." From first to last we 設立する this gentleman perfectly straightforward, and most amiably willing to 補助装置 us.

'With the one exception of her ladyship's room, we went over the whole of the palace the same day. It is an 巨大な place only 部分的に／不公平に furnished. The first 床に打ち倒す and part of the second 床に打ち倒す were the 部分s of it that had been 住むd by Lord Montbarry and the members of the 世帯. We saw the bedchamber, at one extremity of the palace, in which his lordship died, and the small room communicating with it, which he used as a 熟考する／考慮する. Next to this was a large apartment or hall, the doors of which he habitually kept locked, his 反対する 存在 (as we were 知らせるd) to 追求する his 熟考する／考慮するs uninterruptedly in perfect 孤独. On the other 味方する of the large hall were the bedchamber 占領するd by her ladyship, and the dressing-room in which the maid slept previous to her 出発 for England. Beyond these were the dining and 歓迎会 rooms, 開始 into an antechamber, which gave 接近 to the grand staircase of the palace.

'The only 住むd rooms on the second 床に打ち倒す were the sitting-room and bedroom 占領するd by Baron Rivar, and another room at some distance from it, which had been the bedroom of the 特使 Ferrari.

'The rooms on the third 床に打ち倒す and on the 地階 were 完全に unfurnished, and in a 条件 of 広大な／多数の／重要な neglect. We 問い合わせd if there was anything to be seen below the 地階—and we were at once 知らせるd that there were 丸天井s beneath, which we were at perfect liberty to visit.

'We went 負かす／撃墜する, so as to leave no part of the palace unexplored. The 丸天井s were, it was believed, used as dungeons in the old times—say, some centuries since. 空気／公表する and light were only 部分的に／不公平に 認める to these dismal places by two long 軸s of winding construction, which communicated with the 支援する yard of the palace, and the 開始s of which, high above the ground, were 保護するd by アイロンをかける gratings. The 石／投石する stairs 主要な 負かす／撃墜する into the 丸天井s could be の近くにd at will by a 激しい 罠（にかける）-door in the 支援する hall, which we 設立する open. The Baron himself led the way 負かす／撃墜する the stairs. We 発言／述べるd that it might be ぎこちない if that 罠（にかける）-door fell 負かす／撃墜する and の近くにd the 開始 behind us. The Baron smiled at the idea. "Don't be alarmed, gentlemen," he said; "the door is 安全な. I had an 利益／興味 in seeing to it myself, when we first 住むd the palace. My favourite 熟考する／考慮する is the 熟考する／考慮する of 実験の chemistry—and my workshop, since we have been in Venice, is 負かす／撃墜する here."

'These last words explained a curious smell in the 丸天井s, which we noticed the moment we entered them. We can only 述べる the smell by 説 that it was of a twofold sort—faintly aromatic, as it were, in its first 影響, but with some after-odour very sickening in our nostrils. The Baron's furnaces and retorts, and other things, were all there to speak for themselves, together with some 一括s of 化学製品s, having the 指名する and 演説（する）／住所 of the person who had 供給（する）d them plainly 明白な on their labels. "Not a pleasant place for 熟考する／考慮する," Baron Rivar 観察するd, "but my sister is timid. She has a horror of 化学製品 smells and 爆発s—and she has banished me to these lower 地域s, so that my 実験s may neither be smelt nor heard." He held out his 手渡すs, on which we had noticed that he wore gloves in the house. "事故s will happen いつかs," he said, "no 事柄 how careful a man may be. I burnt my 手渡すs 厳しく in trying a new combination the other day, and they are only 回復するing now."

'We について言及する these さもなければ unimportant 出来事/事件s, ーするために show that our 探検 of the palace was not 妨げるd by any 試みる／企てる at concealment. We were even 認める to her ladyship's own room—on a その後の occasion, when she went out to take the 空気／公表する. Our 指示／教授／教育s recommended us to 診察する his lordship's 住居, because the extreme privacy of his life at Venice, and the remarkable 出発 of the only two servants in the house, might have some 怪しげな 関係 with the nature of his death. We 設立する nothing to 正当化する 疑惑.

'As to his lordship's retired way of life, we have conversed on the 支配する with the 領事 and the 銀行業者—the only two strangers who held any communication with him. He called once at the bank to 得る money on his letter of credit, and excused himself from 受託するing an 招待 to visit the 銀行業者 at his 私的な 住居, on the ground of delicate health. His lordship wrote to the same 影響 on sending his card to the 領事, to excuse himself from 本人自身で returning that gentleman's visit to the palace. We have seen the letter, and we beg to 申し込む／申し出 the に引き続いて copy of it. "Many years passed in India have 負傷させるd my 憲法. I have 中止するd to go into society; the one 占領／職業 of my life now is the 熟考する／考慮する of Oriental literature. The 空気／公表する of Italy is better for me than the 空気／公表する of England, or I should never have left home. Pray 受託する the 陳謝s of a student and an 無効の. The active part of my life is at an end." The self-seclusion of his lordship seems to us to be explained in these 簡潔な／要約する lines. We have not, however, on that account spared our 調査s in other directions. Nothing to excite a 疑惑 of anything wrong has come to our knowledge.

'As to the 出発 of the lady's maid, we have seen the woman's 領収書 for her 給料, in which it is expressly 明言する／公表するd that she left Lady Montbarry's service because she disliked the Continent, and wished to get 支援する to her own country. This is not an uncommon result of taking English servants to foreign parts. Lady Montbarry has 知らせるd us that she 棄権するd from engaging another maid in consequence of the extreme dislike which his lordship 表明するd to having strangers in the house, in the 明言する／公表する of his health at that time.

'The 見えなくなる of the 特使 Ferrari is, in itself, unquestionably a 怪しげな circumstance. Neither her ladyship nor the Baron can explain it; and no 調査 that we could make has thrown the smallest light on this event, or has 正当化するd us in associating it, 直接／まっすぐに or 間接に, with the 反対する of our 調査. We have even gone the length of 診察するing the portmanteau which Ferrari left behind him. It 含む／封じ込めるs nothing but 着せる／賦与するs and linen—no money, and not even a 捨てる of paper in the pockets of the 着せる／賦与するs. The portmanteau remains in 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of the police.

'We have also 設立する 適切な時期s of speaking 個人として to the old woman who …に出席するs to the rooms 占領するd by her ladyship and the Baron. She was recommended to fill this 状況／情勢 by the keeper of the restaurant who has 供給（する）d the meals to the family throughout the period of their 住居 at the palace. Her character is most favourably spoken of. Unfortunately, her 限られた／立憲的な 知能 makes her of no value as a 証言，証人／目撃する. We were 患者 and careful in 尋問 her, and we 設立する her perfectly willing to answer us; but we could elicit nothing which is 価値（がある） 含むing in the 現在の 報告（する）／憶測.

'On the second day of our 調査s, we had the honour of an interview with Lady Montbarry. Her ladyship looked miserably worn and ill, and seemed to be やめる at a loss to understand what we 手配中の，お尋ね者 with her. Baron Rivar, who introduced us, explained the nature of our errand in Venice, and took 苦痛s to 保証する her that it was a 純粋に formal 義務 on which we were engaged. Having 満足させるd her ladyship on this point, he 慎重に left the room.

'The questions which we 演説（する）／住所d to Lady Montbarry 関係のある おもに, of course, to his lordship's illness. The answers, given with 広大な／多数の／重要な nervousness of manner, but without the slightest 外見 of reserve, 知らせるd us of the facts that follow:

'Lord Montbarry had been out of order for some time past—nervous and irritable. He first complained of having taken 冷淡な on November 13 last; he passed a wakeful and feverish night, and remained in bed the next day. Her ladyship 提案するd sending for 医療の advice. He 辞退するd to 許す her to do this, 説 that he could やめる easily be his own doctor in such a trifling 事柄 as a 冷淡な. Some hot lemonade was made at his request, with a 見解（をとる） to producing perspiration. Lady Montbarry's maid having left her at that time, the 特使 Ferrari (then the only servant in the house) went out to buy the lemons. Her ladyship made the drink with her own 手渡すs. It was successful in producing perspiration—and Lord Montbarry had some hours of sleep afterwards. Later in the day, having need of Ferrari's services, Lady Montbarry rang for him. The bell was not answered. Baron Rivar searched for the man, in the palace and out of it, in vain. From that time 前へ／外へ not a trace of Ferrari could be discovered. This happened on November 14.

'On the night of the 14th, the feverish symptoms …を伴ってing his lordship's 冷淡な returned. They were in part perhaps attributable to the annoyance and alarm 原因（となる）d by Ferrari's mysterious 見えなくなる. It had been impossible to 隠す the circumstance, as his lordship rang 繰り返して for the 特使; 主張するing that the man should relieve Lady Montbarry and the Baron by taking their places during the night at his 病人の枕元.

'On the 15th (the day on which the old woman first （機の）カム to do the 家事), his lordship complained of sore throat, and of a feeling of 圧迫 on the chest. On this day, and again on the 16th, her ladyship and the Baron entreated him to see a doctor. He still 辞退するd. "I don't want strange 直面するs about me; my 冷淡な will run its course, in spite of the doctor,"—that was his answer. On the 17th he was so much worse that it was decided to send for 医療の help whether he liked it or not. Baron Rivar, after 調査 at the 領事's, 安全な・保証するd the services of Doctor Bruno, 井戸／弁護士席 known as an 著名な 内科医 in Venice; with the 付加 推薦 of having resided in England, and having made himself 熟知させるd with English forms of 医療の practice.

'Thus far our account of his lordship's illness has been derived from 声明s made by Lady Montbarry. The narrative will now be most fitly continued in the language of the doctor's own 報告（する）／憶測, herewith subjoined.

'"My 医療の diary 知らせるs me that I first saw the English Lord Montbarry, on November 17. He was 苦しむing from a sharp attack of bronchitis. Some precious time had been lost, through his obstinate 反対 to the presence of a 医療の man at his 病人の枕元. 一般に speaking, he appeared to be in a delicate 明言する／公表する of health. His nervous system was out of order—he was at once timid and contradictory. When I spoke to him in English, he answered in Italian; and when I tried him in Italian, he went 支援する to English. It 事柄d little—the malady had already made such 進歩 that he could only speak a few words at a time, and those in a whisper.

'"I at once 適用するd the necessary 治療（薬）s. Copies of my prescriptions (with translation into English) …を伴って the 現在の 声明, and are left to speak for themselves.

'"For the next three days I was in constant 出席 on my 患者. He answered to the 治療（薬）s 雇うd—改善するing slowly, but decidedly. I could conscientiously 保証する Lady Montbarry that no danger was to be apprehended thus far. She was indeed a most 充てるd wife. I vainly endeavoured to induce her to 受託する the services of a competent nurse; she would 許す nobody to …に出席する on her husband but herself. Night and day this estimable woman was at his 病人の枕元. In her 簡潔な／要約する intervals of repose, her brother watched the sick man in her place. This brother was, I must say, very good company, in the intervals when we had time for a little talk. He dabbled in chemistry, 負かす／撃墜する in the horrid under-water 丸天井s of the palace; and he 手配中の，お尋ね者 to show me some of his 実験s. I have enough of chemistry in 令状ing prescriptions—and I 拒絶する／低下するd. He took it やめる good-humouredly.

'"I am 逸脱するing away from my 支配する. Let me return to the sick lord.

'"Up to the 20th, then, things went 井戸／弁護士席 enough. I was やめる unprepared for the 悲惨な change that showed itself, when I paid Lord Montbarry my morning visit on the 21st. He had relapsed, and 本気で relapsed. 診察するing him to discover the 原因（となる）, I 設立する symptoms of 肺炎—that is to say, in unmedical language, inflammation of the 実体 of the 肺s. He breathed with difficulty, and was only 部分的に／不公平に able to relieve himself by coughing. I made the strictest 調査s, and was 保証するd that his 薬／医学 had been 治めるd as carefully as usual, and that he had not been exposed to any changes of 気温. It was with 広大な／多数の／重要な 不本意 that I 追加するd to Lady Montbarry's 苦しめる; but I felt bound, when she 示唆するd a 協議 with another 内科医, to own that I too thought there was really need for it.

'"Her ladyship 教えるd me to spare no expense, and to get the best 医療の opinion in Italy. The best opinion was happily within our reach. The first and 真っ先の of Italian 内科医s is Torello of Padua. I sent a special messenger for the 広大な／多数の／重要な man. He arrived on the evening of the 21st, and 確認するd my opinion that 肺炎 had 始める，決める in, and that our 患者's life was in danger. I told him what my 治療 of the 事例／患者 had been, and he 認可するd of it in every particular. He made some 価値のある suggestions, and (at Lady Montbarry's 表明する request) he 同意d to defer his return to Padua until the に引き続いて morning.

'"We both saw the 患者 at intervals in the course of the night. The 病気, 刻々と 前進するing, 始める，決める our 最大の 抵抗 at 反抗. In the morning Doctor Torello took his leave. 'I can be of no その上の use,' he said to me. 'The man is past all help—and he せねばならない know it.'

'"Later in the day I 警告するd my lord, as gently as I could, that his time had come. I am 知らせるd that there are serious 推論する／理由s for my 明言する／公表するing what passed between us on this occasion, in 詳細（に述べる）, and without any reserve. I 従う with the request.

'"Lord Montbarry received the 知能 of his approaching death with becoming composure, but with a 確かな 疑問. He 調印するd to me to put my ear to his mouth. He whispered faintly, 'Are you sure?' It was no time to deceive him; I said, '前向きに／確かに sure.' He waited a little, gasping for breath, and then he whispered again, 'Feel under my pillow.' I 設立する under his pillow a letter, 調印（する）d and stamped, ready for the 地位，任命する. His next words were just audible and no more—'地位，任命する it yourself.' I answered, of course, that I would do so—and I did 地位，任命する the letter with my own 手渡す. I looked at the 演説（する）／住所. It was directed to a lady in London. The street I cannot remember. The 指名する I can perfectly 解任する: it was an Italian 指名する—'Mrs. Ferrari.'

'"That night my lord nearly died of asphyxia. I got him through it for the time; and his 注目する，もくろむs showed that he understood me when I told him, the next morning, that I had 地位，任命するd the letter. This was his last 成果／努力 of consciousness. When I saw him again he was sunk in apathy. He ぐずぐず残るd in a 明言する／公表する of insensibility, supported by 興奮剤s, until the 25th, and died (unconscious to the last) on the evening of that day.

'"As to the 原因（となる） of his death, it seems (if I may be excused for 説 so) 簡単に absurd to ask the question. Bronchitis, 終結させるing in 肺炎—there is no more 疑問 that this, and this only, was the malady of which he 満了する／死ぬd, than that two and two make four. Doctor Torello's own 公式文書，認める of the 事例／患者 is 追加するd here to a duplicate of my 証明書, in order (as I am 知らせるd) to 満足させる some English offices in which his lordship's life was insured. The English offices must have been 設立するd by that celebrated saint and doubter, について言及するd in the New Testament, whose 指名する was Thomas!"

'Doctor Bruno's 証拠 ends here.

'逆戻りするing for a moment to our 調査s 演説（する）／住所d to Lady Montbarry, we have to 報告（する）／憶測 that she can give us no （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） on the 支配する of the letter which the doctor 地位，任命するd at Lord Montbarry's request. When his lordship wrote it? what it 含む／封じ込めるd? why he kept it a secret from Lady Montbarry (and from the Baron also); and why he should 令状 at all to the wife of his 特使? these are questions to which we find it 簡単に impossible to 得る any replies. It seems even useless to say that the 事柄 is open to 疑惑. 疑惑 暗示するs conjecture of some 肉親，親類d—and the letter under my lord's pillow baffles all conjecture. 使用／適用 to Mrs. Ferrari may perhaps （疑いを）晴らす up the mystery. Her 住居 in London will be easily discovered at the Italian 特使s' Office, Golden Square.

'Having arrived at the の近くに of the 現在の 報告（する）／憶測, we have now to draw your attention to the 結論 which is 正当化するd by the results of our 調査.

'The plain question before our Directors and ourselves appears to be this: Has the 調査 明らかにする／漏らすd any 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の circumstances which （判決などを）下す the death of Lord Montbarry open to 疑惑? The 調査 has 明らかにする／漏らすd 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の circumstances beyond all 疑問—such as the 見えなくなる of Ferrari, the remarkable absence of the customary 設立 of servants in the house, and the mysterious letter which his lordship asked the doctor to 地位，任命する. But where is the proof that any one of these circumstances is associated—suspiciously and 直接／まっすぐに associated—with the only event which 関心s us, the event of Lord Montbarry's death? In the absence of any such proof, and in the 直面する of the 証拠 of two 著名な 内科医s, it is impossible to 論争 the 声明 on the 証明書 that his lordship died a natural death. We are bound, therefore, to 報告（する）／憶測, that there are no valid grounds for 辞退するing the 支払い（額） of the sum for which the late Lord Montbarry's life was 保証するd.

'We shall send these lines to you by the 地位，任命する of to-morrow, December 10; leaving time to receive your その上の 指示／教授／教育s (if any), in reply to our 電報電信 of this evening 発表するing the 結論 of the 調査.'

CHAPTER IX

'Now, my good creature, whatever you have to say to me, out with it at once! I don't want to hurry you needlessly; but these are 商売／仕事 hours, and I have other people's 事件／事情／状勢s to …に出席する to besides yours.'

演説（する）／住所ing Ferrari's wife, with his usual blunt good-humour, in these 条件, Mr. Troy 登録（する）d the lapse of time by a ちらりと見ること at the watch on his desk, and then waited to hear what his （弁護士の）依頼人 had to say to him.

'It's something more, sir, about the letter with the thousand-続けざまに猛撃する 公式文書，認める,' Mrs. Ferrari began. 'I have 設立する out who sent it to me.'

Mr. Troy started. 'This is news indeed!' he said. 'Who sent you the letter?'

'Lord Montbarry sent it, sir.'

It was not 平易な to take Mr. Troy by surprise. But Mrs. Ferrari threw him 完全に off his balance. For a while he could only look at her in silent surprise. 'Nonsense!' he said, as soon as he had 回復するd himself. 'There is some mistake—it can't be!'

'There is no mistake,' Mrs. Ferrari 再結合させるd, in her most 肯定的な manner. 'Two gentlemen from the 保険 offices called on me this morning, to see the letter. They were 完全に puzzled—特に when they heard of the bank-公式文書，認める inside. But they know who sent the letter. His lordship's doctor in Venice 地位，任命するd it at his lordship's request. Go to the gentlemen yourself, sir, if you don't believe me. They were polite enough to ask if I could account for Lord Montbarry's 令状ing to me and sending me the money. I gave them my opinion 直接／まっすぐに—I said it was like his lordship's 親切.'

'Like his lordship's 親切?' Mr. Troy repeated, in blank amazement.

'Yes, sir! Lord Montbarry knew me, like all the other members of his family, when I was at school on the 広い地所 in Ireland. If he could have done it, he would have 保護するd my poor dear husband. But he was helpless himself in the 手渡すs of my lady and the Baron—and the only 肉親，親類d thing he could do was to 供給する for me in my widowhood, like the true nobleman he was!'

'A very pretty explanation!' said Mr. Troy. 'What did your 訪問者s from the 保険 offices think of it?'

'They asked if I had any proof of my husband's death.'

'And what did you say?'

'I said, "I give you better than proof, gentlemen; I give you my 肯定的な opinion."'

'That 満足させるd them, of course?'

'They didn't say so in words, sir. They looked at each other—and wished me good-morning.'

'井戸／弁護士席, Mrs. Ferrari, unless you have some more 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の news for me, I think I shall wish you good-morning too. I can take a 公式文書，認める of your （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） (very startling （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）, I own); and, in the absence of proof, I can do no more.'

'I can 供給する you with proof, sir—if that is all you want,' said Mrs. Ferrari, with 広大な／多数の／重要な dignity. 'I only wish to know, first, whether the 法律 正当化するs me in doing it. You may have seen in the 流行の／上流の 知能 of the newspapers, that Lady Montbarry has arrived in London, at Newbury's Hotel. I 提案する to go and see her.'

'The ジュース you do! May I ask for what 目的?'

Mrs. Ferrari answered in a mysterious whisper. 'For the 目的 of catching her in a 罠（にかける）! I shan't send in my 指名する—I shall 発表する myself as a person on 商売／仕事, and the first words I say to her will be these: "I come, my lady, to 認める the 領収書 of the money sent to Ferrari's 未亡人." Ah! you may 井戸／弁護士席 start, Mr. Troy! It almost takes you off your guard, doesn't it? Make your mind 平易な, sir; I shall find the proof that everybody asks me for in her 有罪の 直面する. Let her only change colour by the 影をつくる／尾行する of a shade—let her 注目する，もくろむs only 減少（する） for half an instant—I shall discover her! The one thing I want to know is, does the 法律 許す it?'

'The 法律 許すs it,' Mr. Troy answered 厳粛に; 'but whether her ladyship will 許す it, is やめる another question. Have you really courage enough, Mrs. Ferrari, to carry out this 著名な 計画／陰謀 of yours? You have been 述べるd to me, by 行方不明になる Lockwood, as rather a nervous, timid sort of person—and, if I may 信用 my own 観察, I should say you 正当化する the description.'

'If you had lived in the country, sir, instead of living in London,' Mrs. Ferrari replied, 'you would いつかs have seen even a sheep turn on a dog. I am far from 説 that I am a bold woman—やめる the 逆転する. But when I stand in that wretch's presence, and think of my 殺人d husband, the one of us two who is likely to be 脅すd is not me. I am going there now, sir. You shall hear how it ends. I wish you good-morning.'

With those 勇敢に立ち向かう words the 特使's wife gathered her mantle about her, and walked out of the room.

Mr. Troy smiled—not satirically, but compassionately. 'The little simpleton!' he thought to himself. 'If half of what they say of Lady Montbarry is true, Mrs. Ferrari and her 罠（にかける） have but a poor prospect before them. I wonder how it will end?'

All Mr. Troy's experience failed to forewarn him of how it did end.

CHAPTER X

In the mean time, Mrs. Ferrari held to her 決意／決議. She went straight from Mr. Troy's office to Newbury's Hotel.

Lady Montbarry was at home, and alone. But the 当局 of the hotel hesitated to 乱す her when they 設立する that the 訪問者 拒絶する／低下するd to について言及する her 指名する. Her ladyship's new maid happened to cross the hall while the 事柄 was still in 審議. She was a Frenchwoman, and, on 存在 控訴，上告d to, she settled the question in the swift, 平易な, 合理的な／理性的な French way. 'Madame's 外見 was perfectly respectable. Madame might have 推論する／理由s for not について言及するing her 指名する which Miladi might 認可する. In any 事例／患者, there 存在 no orders forbidding the introduction of a strange lady, the 事柄 明確に 残り／休憩（する）d between Madame and Miladi. Would Madame, therefore, be good enough to follow Miladi's maid up the stairs?'

In spite of her 決意／決議, Mrs. Ferrari's heart （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 as if it would burst out of her bosom, when her conductress led her into an 賭け金-room, and knocked at a door 開始 into a room beyond. But it is remarkable that persons of sensitively-nervous organisation are the very persons who are 有能な of 軍隊ing themselves (明らかに by the 演習 of a spasmodic 成果／努力 of will) into the 業績／成果 of 行為／法令／行動するs of the most audacious courage. A low, 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な 発言する／表明する from the inner room said, 'Come in.' The maid, 開始 the door, 発表するd, 'A person to see you, Miladi, on 商売／仕事,' and すぐに retired. In the one instant while these events passed, timid little Mrs. Ferrari mastered her own throbbing heart; stepped over the threshold, conscious of her clammy 手渡すs, 乾燥した，日照りの lips, and 燃やすing 長，率いる; and stood in the presence of Lord Montbarry's 未亡人, to all outward 外見 as supremely self-所有するd as her ladyship herself.

It was still 早期に in the afternoon, but the light in the room was 薄暗い. The blinds were drawn 負かす／撃墜する. Lady Montbarry sat with her 支援する to the windows, as if even the subdued daylight were disagreeable to her. She had altered sadly for the worse in her personal 外見, since the memorable day when Doctor Wybrow had seen her in his 協議するing-room. Her beauty was gone—her 直面する had fallen away to mere 肌 and bone; the contrast between her 恐ろしい complexion and her steely glittering 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs was more startling than ever. 式服d in dismal 黒人／ボイコット, relieved only by the brilliant whiteness of her 未亡人's cap—reclining in a panther-like suppleness of 態度 on a little green sofa—she looked at the stranger who had intruded on her, with a moment's languid curiosity, then dropped her 注目する，もくろむs again to the 手渡す-審査する which she held between her 直面する and the 解雇する／砲火／射撃. 'I don't know you,' she said. 'What do you want with me?'

Mrs. Ferrari tried to answer. Her first burst of courage had already worn itself out. The bold words that she had 決定するd to speak were living words still in her mind, but they died on her lips.

There was a moment of silence. Lady Montbarry looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する again at the speechless stranger. 'Are you deaf?' she asked. There was another pause. Lady Montbarry 静かに looked 支援する again at the 審査する, and put another question. 'Do you want money?'

'Money!' That one word roused the 沈むing spirit of the 特使's wife. She 回復するd her courage; she 設立する her 発言する／表明する. 'Look at me, my lady, if you please,' she said, with a sudden 突発／発生 of audacity.

Lady Montbarry looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する for the third time. The 致命的な words passed Mrs. Ferrari's lips.

'I come, my lady, to 認める the 領収書 of the money sent to Ferrari's 未亡人.'

Lady Montbarry's glittering 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs 残り／休憩（する）d with 安定した attention on the woman who had 演説（する）／住所d her in those 条件. Not the faintest 表現 of 混乱 or alarm, not even a momentary ぱたぱたする of 利益／興味 stirred the deadly stillness of her 直面する. She reposed as 静かに, she held the 審査する as composedly, as ever. The 実験（する） had been tried, and had utterly failed.

There was another silence. Lady Montbarry considered with herself. The smile that （機の）カム slowly and went away suddenly—the smile at once so sad and so cruel—showed itself on her thin lips. She 解除するd her 審査する, and pointed with it to a seat at the さらに先に end of the room. 'Be so good as to take that 議長，司会を務める,' she said.

Helpless under her first bewildering sense of 失敗—not knowing what to say or what to do next—Mrs. Ferrari mechanically obeyed. Lady Montbarry, rising on the sofa for the first time, watched her with undisguised scrutiny as she crossed the room—then sank 支援する into a reclining position once more. 'No,' she said to herself, 'the woman walks 刻々と; she is not intoxicated—the only other 可能性 is that she may be mad.'

She had spoken loud enough to be heard. Stung by the 侮辱, Mrs. Ferrari 即時に answered her: 'I am no more drunk or mad than you are!'

'No?' said Lady Montbarry. 'Then you are only insolent? The ignorant English mind (I have 観察するd) is apt to be insolent in the 演習 of unrestrained English liberty. This is very noticeable to us foreigners の中で you people in the streets. Of course I can't be insolent to you, in return. I hardly know what to say to you. My maid was imprudent in admitting you so easily to my room. I suppose your respectable 外見 misled her. I wonder who you are? You について言及するd the 指名する of a 特使 who left us very strangely. Was he married by any chance? Are you his wife? And do you know where he is?'

Mrs. Ferrari's indignation burst its way through all 抑制s. She 前進するd to the sofa; she 恐れるd nothing, in the fervour and 激怒（する） of her reply.

'I am his 未亡人—and you know it, you wicked woman! Ah! it was an evil hour when 行方不明になる Lockwood recommended my husband to be his lordship's 特使—!'

Before she could 追加する another word, Lady Montbarry sprang from the sofa with the stealthy suddenness of a cat—掴むd her by both shoulders—and shook her with the strength and frenzy of a madwoman. 'You 嘘（をつく）! you 嘘（をつく）! you 嘘（をつく）!' She dropped her 持つ／拘留する at the third repetition of the 告訴，告発, and threw up her 手渡すs wildly with a gesture of despair. 'Oh, Jesu Maria! is it possible?' she cried. 'Can the 特使 have come to me through that woman?' She turned like 雷 on Mrs. Ferrari, and stopped her as she was escaping from the room. 'Stay here, you fool—stay here, and answer me! If you cry out, as sure as the heavens are above you, I'll strangle you with my own 手渡すs. Sit 負かす／撃墜する again—and 恐れる nothing. Wretch! It is I who am 脅すd—脅すd out of my senses. 自白する that you lied, when you used 行方不明になる Lockwood's 指名する just now! No! I don't believe you on your 誓い; I will believe nobody but 行方不明になる Lockwood herself. Where does she live? Tell me that, you noxious stinging little insect—and you may go.' Terrified as she was, Mrs. Ferrari hesitated. Lady Montbarry 解除するd her 手渡すs threateningly, with the long, lean, yellow-white fingers outspread and crooked at the tips. Mrs. Ferrari shrank at the sight of them, and gave the 演説（する）／住所. Lady Montbarry pointed contemptuously to the door—then changed her mind. 'No! not yet! you will tell 行方不明になる Lockwood what has happened, and she may 辞退する to see me. I will go there at once, and you shall go with me. As far as the house—not inside of it. Sit 負かす／撃墜する again. I am going to （犯罪の）一味 for my maid. Turn your 支援する to the door—your 臆病な／卑劣な 直面する is not fit to be seen!'

She rang the bell. The maid appeared.

'My cloak and bonnet—即時に!'

The maid produced the cloak and bonnet from the bedroom.

'A cab at the door—before I can count ten!'

The maid 消えるd. Lady Montbarry 調査するd herself in the glass, and wheeled 一連の会議、交渉／完成する again, with her cat-like suddenness, to Mrs. Ferrari.

'I look more than half dead already, don't I?' she said with a grim 爆発 of irony. 'Give me your arm.'

She took Mrs. Ferrari's arm, and left the room. 'You have nothing to 恐れる, so long as you obey,' she whispered, on the way downstairs. 'You leave me at 行方不明になる Lockwood's door, and never see me again.'

In the hall they were met by the landlady of the hotel. Lady Montbarry graciously 現在のd her companion. 'My good friend Mrs. Ferrari; I am so glad to have seen her.' The landlady …を伴ってd them to the door. The cab was waiting. 'Get in first, good Mrs. Ferrari,' said her ladyship; 'and tell the man where to go.'

They were driven away. Lady Montbarry's variable humour changed again. With a low groan of 悲惨, she threw herself 支援する in the cab. Lost in her own dark thoughts, as careless of the woman whom she had bent to her アイロンをかける will as if no such person sat by her 味方する, she 保存するd a 悪意のある silence, until they reached the house where 行方不明になる Lockwood 宿泊するd. In an instant, she roused herself to 活動／戦闘. She opened the door of the cab, and の近くにd it again on Mrs. Ferrari, before the driver could get off his box.

'Take that lady a mile さらに先に on her way home!' she said, as she paid the man his fare. The next moment she had knocked at the house-door. 'Is 行方不明になる Lockwood at home?' 'Yes, ma'am.' She stepped over the threshold—the door の近くにd on her.

'Which way, ma'am?' asked the driver of the cab.

Mrs. Ferrari put her 手渡す to her 長，率いる, and tried to collect her thoughts. Could she leave her friend and benefactress helpless at Lady Montbarry's mercy? She was still vainly endeavouring to decide on the course that she せねばならない follow—when a gentleman, stopping at 行方不明になる Lockwood's door, happened to look に向かって the cab-window, and saw her.

'Are you going to call on 行方不明になる Agnes too?' he asked.

It was Henry Westwick. Mrs. Ferrari clasped her 手渡すs in 感謝 as she recognised him.

'Go in, sir!' she cried. 'Go in, 直接／まっすぐに. That dreadful woman is with 行方不明になる Agnes. Go and 保護する her!'

'What woman?' Henry asked.

The answer literally struck him speechless. With amazement and indignation in his 直面する, he looked at Mrs. Ferrari as she pronounced the hated 指名する of 'Lady Montbarry.' 'I'll see to it,' was all he said. He knocked at the house-door; and he too, in his turn, was let in.

CHAPTER XI

'Lady Montbarry, 行方不明になる.'

Agnes was 令状ing a letter, when the servant astonished her by 発表するing the 訪問者's 指名する. Her first impulse was to 辞退する to see the woman who had intruded on her. But Lady Montbarry had taken care to follow の近くに on the servant's heels. Before Agnes could speak, she had entered the room.

'I beg to apologise for my 侵入占拠, 行方不明になる Lockwood. I have a question to ask you, in which I am very much 利益／興味d. No one can answer me but yourself.' In low hesitating トンs, with her glittering 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs bent modestly on the ground, Lady Montbarry opened the interview in those words.

Without answering, Agnes pointed to a 議長，司会を務める. She could do this, and, for the time, she could do no more. All that she had read of the hidden and 悪意のある life in the palace at Venice; all that she had heard of Montbarry's melancholy death and burial in a foreign land; all that she knew of the mystery of Ferrari's 見えなくなる, 急ぐd into her mind, when the 黒人／ボイコット-式服d 人物／姿／数字 直面するd her, standing just inside the door. The strange 行為／行う of Lady Montbarry 追加するd a new perplexity to the 疑問s and 疑惑s that troubled her. There stood the adventuress whose character had left its 示す on society all over Europe—the Fury who had terrified Mrs. Ferrari at the hotel—inconceivably transformed into a timid, 縮むing woman! Lady Montbarry had not once 投機・賭けるd to look at Agnes, since she had made her way into the room. 前進するing to take the 議長，司会を務める that had been pointed out to her, she hesitated, put her 手渡す on the rail to support herself, and still remained standing. 'Please give me a moment to compose myself,' she said faintly. Her 長，率いる sank on her bosom: she stood before Agnes like a conscious 犯人 before a merciless 裁判官.

The silence that followed was, literally, the silence of 恐れる on both 味方するs. In the 中央 of it, the door was opened once more—and Henry Westwick appeared.

He looked at Lady Montbarry with a moment's 安定した attention—屈服するd to her with formal politeness—and passed on in silence. At the sight of her husband's brother, the 沈むing spirit of the woman sprang to life again. Her drooping 人物／姿／数字 became 築く. Her 注目する，もくろむs met Westwick's look, brightly 反抗的な. She returned his 屈服する with an icy smile of contempt.

Henry crossed the room to Agnes.

'Is Lady Montbarry here by your 招待?' he asked 静かに.

'No.'

'Do you wish to see her?'

'It is very painful to me to see her.'

He turned and looked at his sister-in-法律. 'Do you hear that?' he asked coldly.

'I hear it,' she answered, more coldly still.

'Your visit is, to say the least of it, ill-timed.'

'Your 干渉，妨害 is, to say the least of it, out of place.'

With that retort, Lady Montbarry approached Agnes. The presence of Henry Westwick seemed at once to relieve and embolden her. '許す me to ask my question, 行方不明になる Lockwood,' she said, with graceful 儀礼. 'It is nothing to embarrass you. When the 特使 Ferrari 適用するd to my late husband for 雇用, did you—' Her 決意／決議 failed her, before she could say more. She sank trembling into the nearest 議長，司会を務める, and, after a moment's struggle, composed herself again. 'Did you 許す Ferrari,' she 再開するd, 'to make sure of 存在 chosen for our 特使 by using your 指名する?'

Agnes did not reply with her customary directness. Trifling as it was, the 言及／関連 to Montbarry, 訴訟／進行 from that woman of all others, 混乱させるd and agitated her.

'I have known Ferrari's wife for many years,' she began. 'And I take an 利益／興味—'

Lady Montbarry 突然の 解除するd her 手渡すs with a gesture of entreaty. 'Ah, 行方不明になる Lockwood, don't waste time by talking of his wife! Answer my plain question, plainly!'

'Let me answer her,' Henry whispered. 'I will 請け負う to speak plainly enough.'

Agnes 辞退するd by a gesture. Lady Montbarry's interruption had roused her sense of what was 予定 to herself. She 再開するd her reply in plainer 条件.

'When Ferrari wrote to the late Lord Montbarry,' she said, 'he did certainly について言及する my 指名する.'

Even now, she had innocently failed to see the 反対する which her 訪問者 had in 見解（をとる）. Lady Montbarry's impatience became ungovernable. She started to her feet, and 前進するd to Agnes.

'Was it with your knowledge and 許可 that Ferrari used your 指名する?' she asked. 'The whole soul of my question is in that. For God's sake answer me—Yes, or No!'

'Yes.'

That one word struck Lady Montbarry as a blow might have struck her. The 猛烈な／残忍な life that had animated her 直面する the instant before, faded out of it suddenly, and left her like a woman turned to 石／投石する. She stood, mechanically 直面するing Agnes, with a stillness so wrapt and perfect that not even the breath she drew was perceptible to the two persons who were looking at her.

Henry spoke to her 概略で. 'Rouse yourself,' he said. 'You have received your answer.'

She looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する at him. 'I have received my 宣告，判決,' she 再結合させるd—and turned slowly to leave the room.

To Henry's astonishment, Agnes stopped her. 'Wait a moment, Lady Montbarry. I have something to ask on my 味方する. You have spoken of Ferrari. I wish to speak of him too.'

Lady Montbarry bent her 長，率いる in silence. Her 手渡す trembled as she took out her handkerchief, and passed it over her forehead. Agnes （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd the trembling, and shrank 支援する a step. 'Is the 支配する painful to you?' she asked timidly.

Still silent, Lady Montbarry 招待するd her by a wave of the 手渡す to go on. Henry approached, attentively watching his sister-in-法律. Agnes went on.

'No trace of Ferrari has been discovered in England,' she said. 'Have you any news of him? And will you tell me (if you have heard anything), in mercy to his wife?'

Lady Montbarry's thin lips suddenly relaxed into their sad and cruel smile.

'Why do you ask me about the lost 特使?' she said. 'You will know what has become of him, 行方不明になる Lockwood, when the time is 熟した for it.'

Agnes started. 'I don't understand you,' she said. 'How shall I know? Will some one tell me?'

'Some one will tell you.'

Henry could keep silence no longer. 'Perhaps, your ladyship may be the person?' he interrupted with ironical politeness.

She answered him with contemptuous 緩和する. 'You may be 権利, Mr. Westwick. One day or another, I may be the person who tells 行方不明になる Lockwood what has become of Ferrari, if—' She stopped; with her 注目する，もくろむs 直す／買収する，八百長をするd on Agnes.

'If what?' Henry asked.

'If 行方不明になる Lockwood 軍隊s me to it.'

Agnes listened in astonishment. '軍隊 you to it?' she repeated. 'How can I do that? Do you mean to say my will is stronger than yours?'

'Do you mean to say that the candle doesn't 燃やす the moth, when the moth 飛行機で行くs into it?' Lady Montbarry 再結合させるd. 'Have you ever heard of such a thing as the fascination of terror? I am drawn to you by a fascination of terror. I have no 権利 to visit you, I have no wish to visit you: you are my enemy. For the first time in my life, against my own will, I 服従させる／提出する to my enemy. See! I am waiting because you told me to wait—and the 恐れる of you (I 断言する it!) creeps through me while I stand here. Oh, don't let me excite your curiosity or your pity! Follow the example of Mr. Westwick. Be hard and 残虐な and unforgiving, like him. 認める me my 解放（する）. Tell me to go.'

The frank and simple nature of Agnes could discover but one intelligible meaning in this strange 突発／発生.

'You are mistaken in thinking me your enemy,' she said. 'The wrong you did me when you gave your 手渡す to Lord Montbarry was not 故意に done. I forgave you my sufferings in his lifetime. I 許す you even more 自由に now that he has gone.'

Henry heard her with mingled emotions of 賞賛 and 苦しめる. 'Say no more!' he exclaimed. 'You are too good to her; she is not worthy of it.'

The interruption passed unheeded by Lady Montbarry. The simple words in which Agnes had replied seemed to have 吸収するd the whole attention of this strangely-changeable woman. As she listened, her 直面する settled slowly into an 表現 of hard and tearless 悲しみ. There was a 示すd change in her 発言する／表明する when she spoke next. It 表明するd that last worst 辞職 which has done with hope.

'You good innocent creature,' she said, 'what does your amiable forgiveness 事柄? What are your poor little wrongs, in the reckoning for greater wrongs which is 需要・要求するd of me? I am not trying to 脅す you, I am only 哀れな about myself. Do you know what it is to have a 会社／堅い presentiment of calamity that is coming to you—and yet to hope that your own 肯定的な 有罪の判決 will not 証明する true? When I first met you, before my marriage, and first felt your 影響（力） over me, I had that hope. It was a starveling sort of hope that lived a ぐずぐず残る life in me until to-day. You struck it dead, when you answered my question about Ferrari.'

'How have I destroyed your hopes?' Agnes asked. 'What 関係 is there between my permitting Ferrari to use my 指名する to Lord Montbarry, and the strange and dreadful things you are 説 to me now?'

'The time is 近づく, 行方不明になる Lockwood, when you will discover that for yourself. In the mean while, you shall know what my 恐れる of you is, in the plainest words I can find. On the day when I took your hero from you and blighted your life—I am 堅固に 説得するd of it!—you were made the 器具 of the 天罰 that my sins of many years had deserved. Oh, such things have happened before to-day! One person has, before now, been the means of innocently ripening the growth of evil in another. You have done that already—and you have more to do yet. You have still to bring me to the day of 発見, and to the 罰 that is my doom. We shall 会合，会う again—here in England, or there in Venice where my husband died—and 会合，会う for the last time.'

In spite of her better sense, in spite of her natural 優越 to superstitions of all 肉親，親類d, Agnes was impressed by the terrible earnestness with which those words were spoken. She turned pale as she looked at Henry. 'Do you understand her?' she asked.

'Nothing is easier than to understand her,' he replied contemptuously. 'She knows what has become of Ferrari; and she is 混乱させるing you in a cloud of nonsense, because she daren't own the truth. Let her go!'

If a dog had been under one of the 議長，司会を務めるs, and had barked, Lady Montbarry could not have proceeded more impenetrably with the last words she had to say to Agnes.

'Advise your 利益／興味ing Mrs. Ferrari to wait a little longer,' she said. 'You will know what has become of her husband, and you will tell her. There will be nothing to alarm you. Some trifling event will bring us together the next time—as trifling, I dare say, as the 約束／交戦 of Ferrari. Sad nonsense, Mr. Westwick, is it not? But you make allowances for women; we all talk nonsense. Good morning, 行方不明になる Lockwood.'

She opened the door—suddenly, as if she was afraid of 存在 called 支援する for the second time—and left them.

CHAPTER XII

'Do you think she is mad?' Agnes asked.

'I think she is 簡単に wicked. 誤った, superstitious, inveterately cruel—but not mad. I believe her main 動機 in coming here was to enjoy the 高級な of 脅すing you.'

'She has 脅すd me. I am ashamed to own it—but so it is.'

Henry looked at her, hesitated for a moment, and seated himself on the sofa by her 味方する.

'I am very anxious about you, Agnes,' he said. 'But for the fortunate chance which led me to call here to-day—who knows what that vile woman might not have said or done, if she had 設立する you alone? My dear, you are 主要な a sadly unprotected 独房監禁 life. I don't like to think of it; I want to see it changed—特に after what has happened to-day. No! no! it is useless to tell me that you have your old nurse. She is too old; she is not in your 階級 of life—there is no 十分な 保護 in the companionship of such a person for a lady in your position. Don't mistake me, Agnes! what I say, I say in the 誠実 of my devotion to you.' He paused, and took her 手渡す. She made a feeble 成果／努力 to 身を引く it—and 産する／生じるd. 'Will the day never come,' he pleaded, 'when the 特権 of 保護するing you may be 地雷? when you will be the pride and joy of my life, as long as my life lasts?' He 圧力（をかける）d her 手渡す gently. She made no reply. The colour （機の）カム and went on her 直面する; her 注目する，もくろむs were turned away from him. 'Have I been so unhappy as to 感情を害する／違反する you?' he asked.

She answered that—she said, almost in a whisper, 'No.'

'Have I 苦しめるd you?'

'You have made me think of the sad days that are gone.' She said no more; she only tried to 身を引く her 手渡す from his for the second time. He still held it; he 解除するd it to his lips.

'Can I never make you think of other days than those—of the happier days to come? Or, if you must think of the time that is passed, can you not look 支援する to the time when I first loved you?'

She sighed as he put the question. 'Spare me, Henry,' she answered sadly. 'Say no more!'

The colour again rose in her cheeks; her 手渡す trembled in his. She looked lovely, with her 注目する，もくろむs cast 負かす／撃墜する and her bosom heaving gently. At that moment he would have given everything he had in the world to take her in his 武器 and kiss her. Some mysterious sympathy, passing from his 手渡す to hers, seemed to tell her what was in his mind. She snatched her 手渡す away, and suddenly looked up at him. The 涙／ほころびs were in her 注目する，もくろむs. She said nothing; she let her 注目する，もくろむs speak for her. They 警告するd him—without 怒り／怒る, without unkindness—but still they 警告するd him to 圧力（をかける） her no その上の that day.

'Only tell me that I am forgiven,' he said, as he rose from the sofa.

'Yes,' she answered 静かに, 'you are forgiven.'

'I have not lowered myself in your estimation, Agnes?'

'Oh, no!'

'Do you wish me to leave you?'

She rose, in her turn, from the sofa, and walked to her 令状ing-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する before she replied. The unfinished letter which she had been 令状ing when Lady Montbarry interrupted her, lay open on the blotting-調書をとる／予約する. As she looked at the letter, and then looked at Henry, the smile that charmed everybody showed itself in her 直面する.

'You must not go just yet,' she said: 'I have something to tell you. I hardly know how to 表明する it. The shortest way perhaps will be to let you find it out for yourself. You have been speaking of my lonely unprotected life here. It is not a very happy life, Henry—I own that.' She paused, 観察するing the growing 苦悩 of his 表現 as he looked at her, with a shy satisfaction that perplexed him. 'Do you know that I have 心配するd your idea?' she went on. 'I am going to make a 広大な／多数の／重要な change in my life—if your brother Stephen and his wife will only 同意 to it.' She opened the desk of the 令状ing-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する while she spoke, took a letter out, and 手渡すd it to Henry.

He received it from her mechanically. Vague 疑問s, which he hardly understood himself, kept him silent. It was impossible that the 'change in her life' of which she had spoken could mean that she was about to be married—and yet he was conscious of a perfectly 不当な 不本意 to open the letter. Their 注目する，もくろむs met; she smiled again. 'Look at the 演説（する）／住所,' she said. 'You ought to know the handwriting—but I dare say you don't.'

He looked at the 演説（する）／住所. It was in the large, 不規律な, uncertain 令状ing of a child. He opened the letter 即時に.

'Dear Aunt Agnes,—Our governess is going away. She has had money left to her, and a house of her own. We have had cake and ワイン to drink her health. You 約束d to be our governess if we 手配中の，お尋ね者 another. We want you. Mamma knows nothing about this. Please come before Mamma can get another governess. Your loving Lucy, who 令状s this. Clara and Blanche have tried to 令状 too. But they are too young to do it. They blot the paper.'

'Your eldest niece,' Agnes explained, as Henry looked at her in amazement. 'The children used to call me aunt when I was staying with their mother in Ireland, in the autumn. The three girls were my inseparable companions—they are the most charming children I know. It is やめる true that I 申し込む／申し出d to be their governess, if they ever 手配中の，お尋ね者 one, on the day when I left them to return to London. I was 令状ing to 提案する it to their mother, just before you （機の）カム.'

'Not 本気で!' Henry exclaimed.

Agnes placed her unfinished letter in his 手渡す. Enough of it had been written to show that she did 本気で 提案する to enter the 世帯 of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Westwick as governess to their children! Henry's bewilderment was not to be 表明するd in words.

'They won't believe you are in earnest,' he said.

'Why not?' Agnes asked 静かに.

'You are my brother Stephen's cousin; you are his wife's old friend.'

'All the more 推論する／理由, Henry, for 信用ing me with the 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of their children.'

'But you are their equal; you are not 強いるd to get your living by teaching. There is something absurd in your entering their service as a governess!'

'What is there absurd in it? The children love me; the mother loves me; the father has shown me innumerable instances of his true friendship and regard. I am the very woman for the place—and, as to my education, I must have 完全に forgotten it indeed, if I am not fit to teach three children the eldest of whom is only eleven years old. You say I am their equal. Are there no other women who serve as governesses, and who are the equals of the persons whom they serve? Besides, I don't know that I am their equal. Have I not heard that your brother Stephen was the next 相続人 to the 肩書を与える? Will he not be the new lord? Never mind answering me! We won't 論争 whether I am 権利 or wrong in turning governess—we will wait the event. I am 疲れた／うんざりした of my lonely useless 存在 here, and eager to make my life more happy and more useful, in the 世帯 of all others in which I should like most to have a place. If you will look again, you will see that I have these personal considerations still to 勧める before I finish my letter. You don't know your brother and his wife 同様に as I do, if you 疑問 their answer. I believe they have courage enough and heart enough to say Yes.'

Henry submitted without 存在 納得させるd.

He was a man who disliked all eccentric 出発s from custom and 決まりきった仕事; and he felt 特に 怪しげな of the change 提案するd in the life of Agnes. With new 利益／興味s to 占領する her mind, she might be いっそう少なく favourably 性質の／したい気がして to listen to him, on the next occasion when he 勧めるd his 控訴. The 影響（力） of the 'lonely useless 存在' of which she complained, was distinctly an 影響（力） in his favour. While her heart was empty, her heart was accessible. But with his nieces in 十分な 所有／入手 of it, the clouds of 疑問 影を投げかけるd his prospects. He knew the sex 井戸／弁護士席 enough to keep these 純粋に selfish perplexities to himself. The waiting 政策 was 特に the 政策 to 追求する with a woman as 極度の慎重さを要する as Agnes. If he once 感情を害する／違反するd her delicacy he was lost. For the moment he wisely controlled himself and changed the 支配する.

'My little niece's letter has had an 影響,' he said, 'which the child never 熟視する／熟考するd in 令状ing it. She has just reminded me of one of the 反対するs that I had in calling on you to-day.'

Agnes looked at the child's letter. 'How does Lucy do that?' she asked.

'Lucy's governess is not the only lucky person who has had money left her,' Henry answered. 'Is your old nurse in the house?'

'You don't mean to say that nurse has got a 遺産／遺物?'

'She has got a hundred 続けざまに猛撃するs. Send for her, Agnes, while I show you the letter.'

He took a handful of letters from his pocket, and looked through them, while Agnes rang the bell. Returning to him, she noticed a printed letter の中で the 残り／休憩（する）, which lay open on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. It was a 'prospectus,' and the 肩書を与える of it was 'Palace Hotel Company of Venice (限られた／立憲的な).' The two words, 'Palace' and 'Venice,' 即時に 解任するd her mind to the unwelcome visit of Lady Montbarry. 'What is that?' she asked, pointing to the 肩書を与える.

Henry 一時停止するd his search, and ちらりと見ることd at the prospectus. 'A really 約束ing 憶測,' he said. 'Large hotels always 支払う／賃金 井戸／弁護士席, if they are 井戸／弁護士席 managed. I know the man who is 任命するd to be 経営者／支配人 of this hotel when it is opened to the public; and I have such entire 信用／信任 in him that I have become one of the 株主s of the Company.'

The reply did not appear to 満足させる Agnes. 'Why is the hotel called the "Palace Hotel"?' she 問い合わせd.

Henry looked at her, and at once 侵入するd her 動機 for asking the question. 'Yes,' he said, 'it is the palace that Montbarry 雇うd at Venice; and it has been 購入（する）d by the Company to be changed into an hotel.'

Agnes turned away in silence, and took a 議長，司会を務める at the さらに先に end of the room. Henry had disappointed her. His income as a younger son stood in need, as she 井戸／弁護士席 knew, of all the 新規加入s that he could make to it by successful 憶測. But she was 不当な enough, にもかかわらず, to disapprove of his 試みる／企てるing to make money already out of the house in which his brother had died. Incapable of understanding this 純粋に sentimental 見解（をとる） of a plain 事柄 of 商売／仕事, Henry returned to his papers, in some perplexity at the sudden change in the manner of Agnes に向かって him. Just as he 設立する the letter of which he was in search, the nurse made her 外見. He ちらりと見ることd at Agnes, 推定する／予想するing that she would speak first. She never even looked up when the nurse （機の）カム in. It was left to Henry to tell the old woman why the bell had 召喚するd her to the 製図／抽選-room.

'井戸／弁護士席, nurse,' he said, 'you have had a windfall of luck. You have had a 遺産／遺物 left you of a hundred 続けざまに猛撃するs.'

The nurse showed no outward 調印するs of exultation. She waited a little to get the 告示 of the 遺産／遺物 井戸／弁護士席 settled in her mind—and then she said 静かに, 'Master Henry, who gives me that money, if you please?'

'My late brother, Lord Montbarry, gives it to you.' (Agnes 即時に looked up, 利益／興味d in the 事柄 for the first time. Henry went on.) 'His will leaves 遺産／遺物s to the 生き残るing old servants of the family. There is a letter from his lawyers, authorising you to 適用する to them for the money.'

In every class of society, 感謝 is the rarest of all human virtues. In the nurse's class it is 極端に rare. Her opinion of the man who had deceived and 砂漠d her mistress remained the same opinion still, perfectly undisturbed by the passing circumstance of the 遺産／遺物.

'I wonder who reminded my lord of the old servants?' she said. 'He would never have heart enough to remember them himself!'

Agnes suddenly interposed. Nature, always abhorring monotony, 学校／設けるs reserves of temper as elements in the composition of the gentlest women living. Even Agnes could, on rare occasions, be angry. The nurse's 見解（をとる） of Montbarry's character seemed to have 刺激するd her beyond endurance.

'If you have any sense of shame in you,' she broke out, 'you せねばならない be ashamed of what you have just said! Your ingratitude disgusts me. I leave you to speak with her, Henry—you won't mind it!' With this 重要な intimation that he too had dropped out of his customary place in her good opinion, she left the room.

The nurse received the smart reproof 治めるd to her with every 外見 of feeling rather amused by it than not. When the door had の近くにd, this 女性（の） philosopher winked at Henry.

'There's a 力／強力にする of obstinacy in young women,' she 発言／述べるd. '行方不明になる Agnes wouldn't give my lord up as a bad one, even when he jilted her. And now she's 甘い on him after he's dead. Say a word against him, and she 解雇する／砲火／射撃s up as you see. All obstinacy! It will wear out with time. Stick to her, Master Henry—stick to her!'

'She doesn't seem to have 感情を害する／違反するd you,' said Henry.

'She?' the nurse repeated in amazement—'she 感情を害する／違反する me? I like her in her tantrums; it reminds me of her when she was a baby. Lord bless you! when I go to 企て，努力，提案 her good-night, she'll give me a big kiss, poor dear—and say, Nurse, I didn't mean it! About this money, Master Henry? If I was younger I should spend it in dress and jewellery. But I'm too old for that. What shall I do with my 遺産／遺物 when I have got it?'

'Put it out at 利益／興味,' Henry 示唆するd. 'Get so much a year for it, you know.' 'How much shall I get?' the nurse asked.

'If you put your hundred 続けざまに猛撃するs into the 基金s, you will get between three and four 続けざまに猛撃するs a year.'

The nurse shook her 長，率いる. 'Three or four 続けざまに猛撃するs a year? That won't do! I want more than that. Look here, Master Henry. I don't care about this bit of money—I never did like the man who has left it to me, though he was your brother. If I lost it all to-morrow, I shouldn't break my heart; I'm 井戸／弁護士席 enough off, as it is, for the 残り／休憩（する） of my days. They say you're a 相場師. Put me in for a good thing, there's a dear! Neck-or-nothing—and that for the 基金s!' She snapped her fingers to 表明する her contempt for 安全 of 投資 at three per cent.

Henry produced the prospectus of the Venetian Hotel Company. 'You're a funny old woman,' he said. 'There, you dashing 相場師—there is neck-or-nothing for you! You must keep it a secret from 行方不明になる Agnes, mind. I'm not at all sure that she would 認可する of my helping you to this 投資.'

The nurse took out her spectacles. 'Six per cent. 保証（人）d,' she read; 'and the Directors have every 推論する／理由 to believe that ten per cent., or more, will be 最終的に realised to the 株主s by the hotel.' 'Put me into that, Master Henry! And, wherever you go, for Heaven's sake recommend the hotel to your friends!'

So the nurse, に引き続いて Henry's mercenary example, had her pecuniary 利益／興味, too, in the house in which Lord Montbarry had died.

Three days passed before Henry was able to visit Agnes again. In that time, the little cloud between them had 完全に passed away. Agnes received him with even more than her customary 親切. She was in better spirits than usual. Her letter to Mrs. Stephen Westwick had been answered by return of 地位，任命する; and her 提案 had been joyfully 受託するd, with one modification. She was to visit the Westwicks for a month—and, if she really liked teaching the children, she was then to be governess, aunt, and cousin, all in one—and was only to go away in an event which her friends in Ireland 固執するd in 熟視する／熟考するing, the event of her marriage.

'You see I was 権利,' she said to Henry.

He was still incredulous. 'Are you really going?' he asked.

'I am going next week.'

'When shall I see you again?'

'You know you are always welcome at your brother's house. You can see me when you like.' She held out her 手渡す. '容赦 me for leaving you—I am beginning to pack up already.'

Henry tried to kiss her at parting. She drew 支援する 直接／まっすぐに.

'Why not? I am your cousin,' he said.

'I don't like it,' she answered.

Henry looked at her, and submitted. Her 拒絶 to 認める him his 特権 as a cousin was a good 調印する—it was 間接に an 行為／法令／行動する of 激励 to him in the character of her lover.

On the first day in the new week, Agnes left London on her way to Ireland. As the event 証明するd, this was not 運命にあるd to be the end of her 旅行. The way to Ireland was only the first 行う／開催する／段階 on a roundabout road—the road that led to the palace at Venice.

THE THIRD PART

CHAPTER XIII

In the spring of the year 1861, Agnes was 設立するd at the country-seat of her two friends—now 促進するd (on the death of the first lord, without offspring) to be the new Lord and Lady Montbarry. The old nurse was not separated from her mistress. A place, ふさわしい to her time of life, had been 設立する for her in the pleasant Irish 世帯. She was perfectly happy in her new sphere; and she spent her first half-year's （株主への）配当 from the Venice Hotel Company, with characteristic prodigality, in 現在のs for the children.

早期に in the year, also, the Directors of the life 保険 offices submitted to circumstances, and paid the ten thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs. すぐに afterwards, the 未亡人 of the first Lord Montbarry (さもなければ, the dowager Lady Montbarry) left England, with Baron Rivar, for the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs. The Baron's 反対する was 発表するd, in the 科学の columns of the newspapers, to be 調査 into the 現在の 明言する／公表する of 実験の chemistry in the 広大な／多数の／重要な American 共和国. His sister 知らせるd 問い合わせing friends that she …を伴ってd him, in the hope of finding なぐさみ in change of scene after the bereavement that had fallen on her. 審理，公聴会 this news from Henry Westwick (then 支払う／賃金ing a visit at his brother's house), Agnes was conscious of a 確かな sense of 救済. 'With the 大西洋 between us,' she said, 'surely I have done with that terrible woman now!'

Barely a week passed after those words had been spoken, before an event happened which reminded Agnes of 'the terrible woman' once more.

On that day, Henry's 約束／交戦s had 強いるd him to return to London. He had 投機・賭けるd, on the morning of his 出発, to 圧力（をかける） his 控訴 once more on Agnes; and the children, as he had 心配するd, 証明するd to be innocent 障害s in the way of his success. On the other 手渡す, he had 個人として 安全な・保証するd a 会社／堅い 同盟（する） in his sister-in-法律. 'Have a little patience,' the new Lady Montbarry had said, 'and leave me to turn the 影響（力） of the children in the 権利 direction. If they can 説得する her to listen to you—they shall!'

The two ladies had …を伴ってd Henry, and some other guests who went away at the same time, to the 鉄道 駅／配置する, and had just driven 支援する to the house, when the servant 発表するd that 'a person of the 指名する of Rolland was waiting to see her ladyship.'

'Is it a woman?'

'Yes, my lady.'

Young Lady Montbarry turned to Agnes.

'This is the very person,' she said, 'whom your lawyer thought likely to help him, when he was trying to trace the lost 特使.'

'You don't mean the English maid who was with Lady Montbarry at Venice?'

'My dear! don't speak of Montbarry's horrid 未亡人 by the 指名する which is my 指名する now. Stephen and I have arranged to call her by her foreign 肩書を与える, before she was married. I am "Lady Montbarry," and she is "the Countess." In that way there will be no 混乱.—Yes, Mrs. Rolland was in my service before she became the Countess's maid. She was a perfectly 信頼できる person, with one defect that 強いるd me to send her away—a sullen temper which led to perpetual （民事の）告訴s of her in the servants' hall. Would you like to see her?'

Agnes 受託するd the 提案, in the faint hope of getting some （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） for the 特使's wife. The 完全にする 敗北・負かす of every 試みる／企てる to trace the lost man had been 受託するd as final by Mrs. Ferrari. She had deliberately arrayed herself in 未亡人's 嘆く／悼むing; and was 収入 her 暮らし in an 雇用 which the unwearied 親切 of Agnes had procured for her in London. The last chance of 侵入するing the mystery of Ferrari's 見えなくなる seemed to 残り／休憩（する） now on what Ferrari's former fellow-servant might be able to tell. With 高度に-wrought 期待s, Agnes followed her friend into the room in which Mrs. Rolland was waiting.

A tall bony woman, in the autumn of life, with sunken 注目する，もくろむs and アイロンをかける-grey hair, rose stiffly from her 議長，司会を務める, and saluted the ladies with 厳しい submission as they opened the door. A person of unblemished character, evidently—but not without 明白な drawbacks. Big bushy eyebrows, an awfully 深い and solemn 発言する／表明する, a 厳しい unbending manner, a 完全にする absence in her 人物／姿／数字 of the undulating lines characteristic of the sex, 現在のd Virtue in this excellent person under its least alluring 面. Strangers, on a first introduction to her, were accustomed to wonder why she was not a man.

'Are you pretty 井戸／弁護士席, Mrs. Rolland?'

'I am 同様に as I can 推定する／予想する to be, my lady, at my time of life.'

'Is there anything I can do for you?'

'Your ladyship can do me a 広大な／多数の／重要な favour, if you will please speak to my character while I was in your service. I am 申し込む／申し出d a place, to wait on an 無効の lady who has lately come to live in this neighbourhood.'

'Ah, yes—I have heard of her. A Mrs. Carbury, with a very pretty niece I am told. But, Mrs. Rolland, you left my service some time ago. Mrs. Carbury will surely 推定する／予想する you to 言及する to the last mistress by whom you were 雇うd.'

A flash of virtuous indignation irradiated Mrs. Rolland's sunken 注目する，もくろむs. She coughed before she answered, as if her 'last mistress' stuck in her throat.

'I have explained to Mrs. Carbury, my lady, that the person I last served—I really cannot give her her 肩書を与える in your ladyship's presence!—has left England for America. Mrs. Carbury knows that I quitted the person of my own 解放する／自由な will, and knows why, and 認可するs of my 行為／行う so far. A word from your ladyship will be amply 十分な to get me the 状況／情勢.'

'Very 井戸／弁護士席, Mrs. Rolland, I have no 反対 to be your 言及／関連, under the circumstances. Mrs. Carbury will find me at home to-morrow until two o'clock.'

'Mrs. Carbury is not 井戸／弁護士席 enough to leave the house, my lady. Her niece, 行方不明になる Haldane, will call and make the 調査s, if your ladyship has no 反対.'

'I have not the least 反対. The pretty niece carries her own welcome with her. Wait a minute, Mrs. Rolland. This lady is 行方不明になる Lockwood—my husband's cousin, and my friend. She is anxious to speak to you about the 特使 who was in the late Lord Montbarry's service at Venice.'

Mrs. Rolland's bushy eyebrows frowned in 厳しい 不賛成 of the new topic of conversation. 'I 悔いる to hear it, my lady,' was all she said.

'Perhaps you have not been 知らせるd of what happened after you left Venice?' Agnes 投機・賭けるd to 追加する. 'Ferrari left the palace 内密に; and he has never been heard of since.'

Mrs. Rolland mysteriously の近くにd her 注目する，もくろむs—as if to 除外する some 見通し of the lost 特使 which was of a nature to 乱す a respectable woman. 'Nothing that Mr. Ferrari could do would surprise me,' she replied in her deepest bass トンs.

'You speak rather 厳しく of him,' said Agnes.

Mrs. Rolland suddenly opened her 注目する，もくろむs again. 'I speak 厳しく of nobody without 推論する／理由,' she said. 'Mr. Ferrari behaved to me, 行方不明になる Lockwood, as no man living has ever behaved—before or since.'

'What did he do?'

Mrs. Rolland answered, with a stony 星／主役にする of horror:—

'He took liberties with me.'

Young Lady Montbarry suddenly turned aside, and put her handkerchief over her mouth in convulsions of 抑えるd laughter.

Mrs. Rolland went on, with a grim enjoyment of the bewilderment which her reply had produced in Agnes: 'And when I 主張するd on an 陳謝, 行方不明になる, he had the audacity to say that the life at the palace was dull, and he didn't know how else to amuse himself!'

'I am afraid I have hardly made myself understood,' said Agnes. 'I am not speaking to you out of any 利益／興味 in Ferrari. Are you aware that he is married?'

'I pity his wife,' said Mrs. Rolland.

'She is 自然に in 広大な／多数の／重要な grief about him,' Agnes proceeded.

'She せねばならない thank God she is rid of him,' Mrs. Rolland interposed.

Agnes still 固執するd. 'I have known Mrs. Ferrari from her childhood, and I am 心から anxious to help her in this 事柄. Did you notice anything, while you were at Venice, that would account for her husband's 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 見えなくなる? On what sort of 条件, for instance, did he live with his master and mistress?'

'On 条件 of familiarity with his mistress,' said Mrs. Rolland, 'which were 簡単に sickening to a respectable English servant. She used to encourage him to talk to her about all his 事件／事情／状勢s—how he got on with his wife, and how 圧力（をかける）d he was for money, and such like—just as if they were equals. Contemptible—that's what I call it.'

'And his master?' Agnes continued. 'How did Ferrari get on with Lord Montbarry?'

'My lord used to live shut up with his 熟考する／考慮するs and his 悲しみs,' Mrs. Rolland answered, with a hard solemnity expressive of 尊敬（する）・点 for his lordship's memory. Mr. Ferrari got his money when it was 予定; and he cared for nothing else. "If I could afford it, I would leave the place too; but I can't afford it." Those were the last words he said to me, on the morning when I left the palace. I made no reply. After what had happened (on that other occasion) I was 自然に not on speaking 条件 with Mr. Ferrari.'

'Can you really tell me nothing which will throw any light on this 事柄?'

'Nothing,' said Mrs. Rolland, with an undisguised relish of the 失望 that she was （打撃，刑罰などを）与えるing.

'There was another member of the family at Venice,' Agnes 再開するd, 決定するd to 精査する the question to the 底（に届く） while she had the chance. 'There was Baron Rivar.'

Mrs. Rolland 解除するd her large 手渡すs, covered with rusty 黒人／ボイコット gloves, in mute 抗議する against the introduction of Baron Rivar as a 支配する of 調査. 'Are you aware, 行方不明になる,' she began, 'that I left my place in consequence of what I 観察するd—?'

Agnes stopped her there. 'I only 手配中の，お尋ね者 to ask,' she explained, 'if anything was said or done by Baron Rivar which might account for Ferrari's strange 行為／行う.'

'Nothing that I know of,' said Mrs. Rolland. 'The Baron and Mr. Ferrari (if I may use such an 表現) were "birds of a feather," so far as I could see—I mean, one was as unprincipled as the other. I am a just woman; and I will give you an example. Only the day before I left, I heard the Baron say (through the open door of his room while I was passing along the 回廊（地帯）), "Ferrari, I want a thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs. What would you do for a thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs?" And I heard Mr. Ferrari answer, "Anything, sir, as long as I was not 設立する out." And then they both burst out laughing. I heard no more than that. 裁判官 for yourself, 行方不明になる.'

Agnes 反映するd for a moment. A thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs was the sum that had been sent to Mrs. Ferrari in the 匿名の／不明の letter. Was that enclosure in any way connected, as a result, with the conversation between the Baron and Ferrari? It was useless to 圧力（をかける） any more 調査s on Mrs. Rolland. She could give no その上の （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） which was of the slightest importance to the 反対する in 見解（をとる）. There was no 代案／選択肢 but to 認める her 解雇／（訴訟の）却下. One more 成果／努力 had been made to find a trace of the lost man, and once again the 成果／努力 had failed.

They were a family party at the dinner-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する that day. The only guest left in the house was a 甥 of the new Lord Montbarry—the eldest son of his sister, Lady Barrville. Lady Montbarry could not resist telling the story of the first (and last) attack made on the virtue of Mrs. Rolland, with a comically-exact imitation of Mrs. Rolland's 深い and dismal 発言する／表明する. 存在 asked by her husband what was the 反対する which had brought that formidable person to the house, she 自然に について言及するd the 推定する／予想するd visit of 行方不明になる Haldane. Arthur Barville, 異常に silent and pre-占領するd so far, suddenly struck into the conversation with a burst of enthusiasm. '行方不明になる Haldane is the most charming girl in all Ireland!' he said. 'I caught sight of her yesterday, over the 塀で囲む of her garden, as I was riding by. What time is she coming to-morrow? Before two? I'll look into the 製図／抽選-room by 事故—I am dying to be introduced to her!'

Agnes was amused by his enthusiasm. 'Are you in love with 行方不明になる Haldane already?' she asked.

Arthur answered 厳粛に, 'It's no joking 事柄. I have been all day at the garden 塀で囲む, waiting to see her again! It depends on 行方不明になる Haldane to make me the happiest or the wretchedest man living.'

'You foolish boy! How can you talk such nonsense?'

He was talking nonsense undoubtedly. But, if Agnes had only known it, he was doing something more than that. He was innocently 主要な her another 行う／開催する／段階 nearer on the way to Venice.

CHAPTER XIV

As the summer months 前進するd, the 変形 of the Venetian palace into the modern hotel proceeded 速く に向かって 完成.

The outside of the building, with its 罰金 Palladian 前線 looking on the canal, was wisely left unaltered. Inside, as a 事柄 of necessity, the rooms were almost rebuilt—so far at least as the size and the 協定 of them were 関心d. The 広大な saloons were partitioned off into 'apartments' 含む／封じ込めるing three or four rooms each. The 幅の広い 回廊（地帯）s in the upper 地域s afforded spare space enough for 列／漕ぐ／騒動s of little bedchambers, 充てるd to servants and to travellers with 限られた／立憲的な means. Nothing was spared but the solid 床に打ち倒すs and the finely-carved 天井s. These last, in excellent 保護 as to workmanship, 単に 要求するd きれいにする, and regilding here and there, to 追加する 大いに to the beauty and importance of the best rooms in the hotel. The only exception to the 完全にする re-organization of the 内部の was at one extremity of the edifice, on the first and second 床に打ち倒すs. Here there happened, in each 事例／患者, to be rooms of such comparatively 穏健な size, and so attractively decorated, that the architect 示唆するd leaving them as they were. It was afterwards discovered that these were no other than the apartments 以前は 占領するd by Lord Montbarry (on the first 床に打ち倒す), and by Baron Rivar (on the second). The room in which Montbarry had died was still fitted up as a bedroom, and was now distinguished as Number Fourteen. The room above it, in which the Baron had slept, took its place on the hotel-登録（する） as Number Thirty-Eight. With the ornaments on the 塀で囲むs and 天井s cleaned and brightened up, and with the 激しい old-fashioned beds, 議長，司会を務めるs, and （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs 取って代わるd by 有望な, pretty, and luxurious modern furniture, these two 約束d to be at once the most attractive and the most comfortable bedchambers in the hotel. As for the once-desolate and disused ground 床に打ち倒す of the building, it was now transformed, by means of splendid dining-rooms, 歓迎会-rooms, billiard-rooms, and smoking-rooms, into a palace by itself. Even the dungeon-like 丸天井s beneath, now lighted and ventilated on the most 認可するd modern 計画（する）, had been turned as if by 魔法 into kitchens, servants' offices, ice-rooms, and ワイン cellars, worthy of the splendour of the grandest hotel in Italy, in the now bygone period of seventeen years since.

Passing from the lapse of the summer months at Venice, to the lapse of the summer months in Ireland, it is next to be 記録，記録的な／記録するd that Mrs. Rolland 得るd the 状況／情勢 of attendant on the 無効の Mrs. Carbury; and that the fair 行方不明になる Haldane, like a 女性（の） Caesar, （機の）カム, saw, and 征服する／打ち勝つd, on her first day's visit to the new Lord Montbarry's house.

The ladies were as loud in her 賞賛するs as Arthur Barville himself. Lord Montbarry 宣言するd that she was the only perfectly pretty woman he had ever seen, who was really unconscious of her own attractions. The old nurse said she looked as if she had just stepped out of a picture, and 手配中の，お尋ね者 nothing but a gilt でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her to make her 完全にする. 行方不明になる Haldane, on her 味方する, returned from her first visit to the Montbarrys charmed with her new 知識s. Later on the same day, Arthur called with an 申し込む／申し出ing of fruit and flowers for Mrs. Carbury, and with 指示／教授／教育s to ask if she was 井戸／弁護士席 enough to receive Lord and Lady Montbarry and 行方不明になる Lockwood on the morrow. In a week's time, the two 世帯s were on the friendliest 条件. Mrs. Carbury, 限定するd to the sofa by a spinal malady, had been hitherto 扶養家族 on her niece for one of the few 楽しみs she could enjoy, the 楽しみ of having the best new novels read to her as they （機の）カム out. Discovering this, Arthur volunteered to relieve 行方不明になる Haldane, at intervals, in the office of reader. He was clever at mechanical contrivances of all sorts, and he introduced 改良s in Mrs. Carbury's couch, and in the means of 伝えるing her from the bedchamber to the 製図／抽選-room, which 緩和するd the poor lady's sufferings and brightened her 暗い／優うつな life. With these （人命などを）奪う，主張するs on the 感謝 of the aunt, 補佐官d by the personal advantages which he unquestionably 所有するd, Arthur 前進するd 速く in the favour of the charming niece. She was, it is needless to say, perfectly 井戸／弁護士席 aware that he was in love with her, while he was himself modestly reticent on the 支配する—so far as words went. But she was not 平等に quick in 侵入するing the nature of her own feelings に向かって Arthur. Watching the two young people with keen 力／強力にするs of 観察, やむを得ず concentrated on them by the 完全にする seclusion of her life, the 無効の lady discovered 調印するs of roused sensibility in 行方不明になる Haldane, when Arthur was 現在の, which had never yet shown themselves in her social relations with other admirers eager to 支払う／賃金 their 演説（する）／住所s to her. Having drawn her own 結論s in 私的な, Mrs. Carbury took the first favourable 適切な時期 (in Arthur's 利益／興味s) of putting them to the 実験（する）.

'I don't know what I shall do,' she said one day, 'when Arthur goes away.'

行方不明になる Haldane looked up quickly from her work. 'Surely he is not going to leave us!' she exclaimed.

'My dear! he has already stayed at his uncle's house a month longer than he ーするつもりであるd. His father and mother 自然に 推定する／予想する to see him at home again.'

行方不明になる Haldane met this difficulty with a suggestion, which could only have proceeded from a judgment already 乱すd by the 荒廃させるs of the tender passion. 'Why can't his father and mother go and see him at Lord Montbarry's?' she asked. 'Sir Theodore's place is only thirty miles away, and Lady Barville is Lord Montbarry's sister. They needn't stand on 儀式.'

'They may have other 約束／交戦s,' Mrs. Carbury 発言／述べるd.

'My dear aunt, we don't know that! Suppose you ask Arthur?'

'Suppose you ask him?'

行方不明になる Haldane bent her 長，率いる again over her work. Suddenly as it was done, her aunt had seen her 直面する—and her 直面する betrayed her.

When Arthur （機の）カム the next day, Mrs. Carbury said a word to him in 私的な, while her niece was in the garden. The last new novel lay neglected on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. Arthur followed 行方不明になる Haldane into the garden. The next day he wrote home, enclosing in his letter a photograph of 行方不明になる Haldane. Before the end of the week, Sir Theodore and Lady Barville arrived at Lord Montbarry's, and formed their own judgment of the fidelity of the portrait. They had themselves married 早期に in life—and, strange to say, they did not 反対する on 原則 to the 早期に marriages of other people. The question of age 存在 thus 性質の／したい気がして of, the course of true love had no other 障害s to 遭遇（する）. 行方不明になる Haldane was an only child, and was 所有するd of an ample fortune. Arthur's career at the university had been creditable, but certainly not brilliant enough to 現在の his 撤退 in the light of a 災害. As Sir Theodore's eldest son, his position was already made for him. He was two-and-twenty years of age; and the young lady was eighteen. There was really no producible 推論する／理由 for keeping the lovers waiting, and no excuse for deferring the wedding-day beyond the first week in September. In the interval, while the bride and bridegroom would be やむを得ず absent on the 必然的な 小旅行する abroad, a sister of Mrs. Carbury volunteered to stay with her during the 一時的な 分離 from her niece. On the 結論 of the honeymoon, the young couple were to return to Ireland, and were to 設立する themselves in Mrs. Carbury's spacious and comfortable house.

These 手はず／準備 were decided upon 早期に in the month of August. About the same date, the last alterations in the old palace at Venice were 完全にするd. The rooms were 乾燥した，日照りのd by steam; the cellars were 在庫／株d; the 経営者／支配人 collected 一連の会議、交渉／完成する him his army of 技術d servants; and the new hotel was advertised all over Europe to open in October.

CHAPTER XV

(MISS AGNES LOCKWOOD TO MRS. FERRARI)

'I 約束d to give you some account, dear Emily, of the marriage of Mr. Arthur Barville and 行方不明になる Haldane. It took place ten days since. But I have had so many things to look after in the absence of the master and mistress of this house, that I am only able to 令状 to you to-day.

'The 招待s to the wedding were 限られた／立憲的な to members of the families on either 味方する, in consideration of the ill health of 行方不明になる Haldane's aunt. On the 味方する of the Montbarry family, there were 現在の, besides Lord and Lady Montbarry, Sir Theodore and Lady Barville; Mrs. Norbury (whom you may remember as his lordship's second sister); and Mr. Francis Westwick, and Mr. Henry Westwick. The three children and I …に出席するd the 儀式 as bridesmaids. We were joined by two young ladies, cousins of the bride and very agreeable girls. Our dresses were white, trimmed with green in honour of Ireland; and we each had a handsome gold bracelet given to us as a 現在の from the bridegroom. If you 追加する to the persons whom I have already について言及するd, the 年上の members of Mrs. Carbury's family, and the old servants in both houses—特権d to drink the healths of the married pair at the lower end of the room—you will have the 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of the company at the wedding-breakfast 完全にする.

'The 天候 was perfect, and the 儀式 (with music) was beautifully 成し遂げるd. As for the bride, no words can 述べる how lovely she looked, or how 井戸／弁護士席 she went through it all. We were very merry at the breakfast, and the speeches went off on the whole やめる 井戸／弁護士席 enough. The last speech, before the party broke up, was made by Mr. Henry Westwick, and was the best of all. He 申し込む／申し出d a happy suggestion, at the end, which has produced a very 予期しない change in my life here.

'同様に as I remember, he 結論するd in these words:—"On one point, we are all agreed—we are sorry that the parting hour is 近づく, and we should be glad to 会合，会う again. Why should we not 会合，会う again? This is the autumn time of the year; we are most of us leaving home for the holidays. What do you say (if you have no 約束／交戦s that will 妨げる it) to joining our young married friends before the の近くに of their 小旅行する, and 新たにするing the social success of this delightful breakfast by another festival in honour of the honeymoon? The bride and bridegroom are going to Germany and the Tyrol, on their way to Italy. I 提案する that we 許す them a month to themselves, and that we arrange to 会合，会う them afterwards in the North of Italy—say at Venice."

'This 提案 was received with 広大な／多数の／重要な 賞賛, which was changed into shouts of laughter by no いっそう少なく a person than my dear old nurse. The moment Mr. Westwick pronounced the word "Venice," she started up の中で the servants at the lower end of the room, and called out at the 最高の，を越す of her 発言する／表明する, "Go to our hotel, ladies and gentlemen! We get six per cent. on our money already; and if you will only （人が）群がる the place and call for the best of everything, it will be ten per cent in our pockets in no time. Ask Master Henry!"

'控訴，上告d to in this irresistible manner, Mr. Westwick had no choice but to explain that he was 関心d as a 株主 in a new Hotel Company at Venice, and that he had 投資するd a small sum of money for the nurse (not very considerately, as I think) in the 憶測. 審理，公聴会 this, the company, by way of humouring the joke, drank a new toast:—Success to the nurse's hotel, and a 迅速な rise in the （株主への）配当!

'When the conversation returned in 予定 time to the more serious question of the 提案するd 会合 at Venice, difficulties began to 現在の themselves, 原因（となる）d of course by 招待s for the autumn which many of the guests had already 受託するd. Only two members of Mrs. Carbury's family were at liberty to keep the 提案するd 任命. On our 味方する we were more at leisure to do as we pleased. Mr. Henry Westwick decided to go to Venice in 前進する of the 残り／休憩（する）, to 実験（する） the accommodation of the new hotel on the 開始 day. Mrs. Norbury and Mr. Francis Westwick volunteered to follow him; and, after some 説得／派閥, Lord and Lady Montbarry 同意d to a 種類 of 妥協. His lordship could not conveniently spare time enough for the 旅行 to Venice, but he and Lady Montbarry arranged to …を伴って Mrs. Norbury and Mr. Francis Westwick as far on their way to Italy as Paris. Five days since, they took their 出発 to 会合，会う their travelling companions in London; leaving me here in 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of the three dear children. They begged hard, of course, to be taken with papa and mamma. But it was thought better not to interrupt the 進歩 of their education, and not to expose them (特に the two younger girls) to the 疲労，（軍の）雑役s of travelling.

'I have had a charming letter from the bride, this morning, 時代遅れの Cologne. You cannot think how artlessly and prettily she 保証するs me of her happiness. Some people, as they say in Ireland, are born to good luck—and I think Arthur Barville is one of them.

'When you next 令状, I hope to hear that you are in better health and spirits, and that you continue to like your 雇用. Believe me, 心から your friend,—A. L.'

Agnes had just の近くにd and directed her letter, when the eldest of her three pupils entered the room with the startling 告示 that Lord Montbarry's travelling-servant had arrived from Paris! Alarmed by the idea that some misfortune had happened, she ran out to 会合，会う the man in the hall. Her 直面する told him how 本気で he had 脅すd her, before she could speak. 'There's nothing wrong, 行方不明になる,' he 急いでd to say. 'My lord and my lady are enjoying themselves at Paris. They only want you and the young ladies to be with them.' 説 these amazing words, he 手渡すd to Agnes a letter from Lady Montbarry.

'Dearest Agnes,' (she read), 'I am so charmed with the delightful change in my life—it is six years, remember, since I last travelled on the Continent—that I have 発揮するd all my fascinations to 説得する Lord Montbarry to go on to Venice. And, what is more to the 目的, I have 現実に 後継するd! He has just gone to his room to 令状 the necessary letters of excuse in time for the 地位，任命する to England. May you have as good a husband, my dear, when your time comes! In the mean while, the one thing wanting now to make my happiness 完全にする, is to have you and the darling children with us. Montbarry is just as 哀れな without them as I am—though he doesn't 自白する it so 自由に. You will have no difficulties to trouble you. Louis will 配達する these hurried lines, and will take care of you on the 旅行 to Paris. Kiss the children for me a thousand times—and never mind their education for the 現在の! Pack up 即時に, my dear, and I will be fonder of you than ever. Your affectionate friend, Adela Montbarry.'

Agnes 倍のd up the letter; and, feeling the need of composing herself, took 避難 for a few minutes in her own room.

Her first natural sensations of surprise and excitement at the prospect of going to Venice were 後継するd by impressions of a いっそう少なく agreeable 肉親，親類d. With the 回復 of her customary composure （機の）カム the unwelcome remembrance of the parting words spoken to her by Montbarry's 未亡人:—'We shall 会合，会う again—here in England, or there in Venice where my husband died—and 会合，会う for the last time.'

It was an 半端物 coincidence, to say the least of it, that the march of events should be 突然に taking Agnes to Venice, after those words had been spoken! Was the woman of the mysterious 警告s and the wild 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs still thousands of miles away in America? Or was the march of events taking her 突然に, too, on the 旅行 to Venice? Agnes started out of her 議長，司会を務める, ashamed of even the momentary 譲歩 to superstition which was 暗示するd by the mere presence of such questions as these in her mind.

She rang the bell, and sent for her little pupils, and 発表するd their approaching 出発 to the 世帯. The noisy delight of the children, the inspiriting 成果／努力 of packing up in a hurry, roused all her energies. She 解任するd her own absurd 疑惑s from consideration, with the contempt that they deserved. She worked as only women can work, when their hearts are in what they do. The travellers reached Dublin that day, in time for the boat to England. Two days later, they were with Lord and Lady Montbarry at Paris.

THE FOURTH PART

CHAPTER XVI

It was only the twentieth of September, when Agnes and the children reached Paris. Mrs. Norbury and her brother Francis had then already started on their 旅行 to Italy—at least three weeks before the date at which the new hotel was to open for the 歓迎会 of travellers.

The person 責任のある for this premature 出発 was Francis Westwick.

Like his younger brother Henry, he had 増加するd his pecuniary 資源s by his own 企業 and ingenuity; with this difference, that his 憶測s were connected with the Arts. He had made money, in the first instance, by a 週刊誌 newspaper; and he had then 投資するd his 利益（をあげる）s in a London theatre. This latter 企業, admirably 行為／行うd, had been rewarded by the public with 安定した and 自由主義の 激励. Pondering over a new form of theatrical attraction for the coming winter season, Francis had 決定するd to 生き返らせる the languid public taste for the ballet by means of an entertainment of his own 発明, 連合させるing 劇の 利益／興味 with dancing. He was now, accordingly, in search of the best ダンサー (所有するd of the 不可欠の personal attractions) who was to be 設立する in the theatres of the Continent. 審理，公聴会 from his foreign 特派員s of two women who had made successful first 外見s, one at Milan and one at Florence, he had arranged to visit those cities, and to 裁判官 of the 長所s of the ダンサーs for himself, before he joined the bride and bridegroom. His 未亡人d sister, having friends at Florence whom she was anxious to see, readily …を伴ってd him. The Montbarrys remained at Paris, until it was time to 現在の themselves at the family 会合 in Venice. Henry 設立する them still in the French 資本／首都, when he arrived from London on his way to the 開始 of the new hotel.

Against Lady Montbarry's advice, he took the 適切な時期 of 新たにするing his 演説（する）／住所s to Agnes. He could hardly have chosen a more unpropitious time for pleading his 原因（となる） with her. The gaieties of Paris (やめる incomprehensibly to herself 同様に as to everyone about her) had a depressing 影響 on her spirits. She had no illness to complain of; she 株d willingly in the ever-変化させるing succession of amusements 申し込む／申し出d to strangers by the ingenuity of the liveliest people in the world—but nothing roused her: she remained 断固としてやる dull and 疲れた／うんざりした through it all. In this でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる of mind and 団体／死体, she was in no humour to receive Henry's ill-timed 演説（する）／住所s with favour, or even with patience: she plainly and 前向きに／確かに 辞退するd to listen to him. 'Why do you remind me of what I have 苦しむd?' she asked petulantly. 'Don't you see that it has left its 示す on me for life?'

'I thought I knew something of women by this time,' Henry said, 控訴，上告ing 個人として to Lady Montbarry for なぐさみ. 'But Agnes 完全に puzzles me. It is a year since Montbarry's death; and she remains as 充てるd to his memory as if he had died faithful to her—she still feels the loss of him, as 非，不，無 of us feel it!'

'She is the truest woman that ever breathed the breath of life,' Lady Montbarry answered. 'Remember that, and you will understand her. Can such a woman as Agnes give her love or 辞退する it, によれば circumstances? Because the man was unworthy of her, was he いっそう少なく the man of her choice? The truest and best friend to him (little as he deserved it) in his lifetime, she 自然に remains the truest and best friend to his memory now. If you really love her, wait; and 信用 to your two best friends—to time and to me. There is my advice; let your own experience decide whether it is not the best advice that I can 申し込む／申し出. 再開する your 旅行 to Venice to-morrow; and when you take leave of Agnes, speak to her as cordially as if nothing had happened.'

Henry wisely followed this advice. 完全に understanding him, Agnes made the leave-taking friendly and pleasant on her 味方する. When he stopped at the door for a last look at her, she hurriedly turned her 長，率いる so that her 直面する was hidden from him. Was that a good 調印する? Lady Montbarry, …を伴ってing Henry 負かす／撃墜する the stairs, said, 'Yes, decidedly! 令状 when you get to Venice. We shall wait here to receive letters from Arthur and his wife, and we shall time our 出発 for Italy accordingly.'

A week passed, and no letter （機の）カム from Henry. Some days later, a 電報電信 was received from him. It was despatched from Milan, instead of from Venice; and it brought this strange message:—'I have left the hotel. Will return on the arrival of Arthur and his wife. 演説（する）／住所, 一方／合間, Albergo Reale, Milan.'

Preferring Venice before all other cities of Europe, and having arranged to remain there until the family 会合 took place, what 予期しない event had led Henry to alter his 計画（する）s? and why did he 明言する／公表する the 明らかにする fact, without 追加するing a word of explanation? Let the narrative follow him—and find the answer to those questions at Venice.

CHAPTER XVII

The Palace Hotel, 控訴，上告ing for 激励 おもに to English and American travellers, celebrated the 開始 of its doors, as a 事柄 of course, by the giving of a grand 祝宴, and the 配達／演説／出産 of a long succession of speeches.

延期するd on his 旅行, Henry Westwick only reached Venice in time to join the guests over their coffee and cigars. 観察するing the splendour of the 歓迎会 rooms, and taking 公式文書，認める 特に of the artful mixture of 慰安 and 高級な in the bedchambers, he began to 株 the old nurse's 見解（をとる） of the 未来, and to 熟視する／熟考する 本気で the coming （株主への）配当 of ten per cent. The hotel was beginning 井戸／弁護士席, at all events. So much 利益／興味 in the 企業 had been 誘発するd, at home and abroad, by profuse advertising, that the whole accommodation of the building had been 安全な・保証するd by travellers of all nations for the 開始 night. Henry only 得るd one of the small rooms on the upper 床に打ち倒す, by a lucky 事故—the absence of the gentleman who had written to engage it. He was やめる 満足させるd, and was on his way to bed, when another 事故 altered his prospects for the night, and moved him into another and a better room.

上がるing on his way to the higher 地域s as far as the first 床に打ち倒す of the hotel, Henry's attention was attracted by an angry 発言する／表明する 抗議するing, in a strong New England accent, against one of the greatest hardships that can be （打撃，刑罰などを）与えるd on a 国民 of the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs—the hardship of sending him to bed without gas in his room.

The Americans are not only the most hospitable people to be 設立する on the 直面する of the earth—they are (under 確かな 条件s) the most 患者 and good-tempered people 同様に. But they are human; and the 限界 of American endurance is 設立する in the obsolete 会・原則 of a bedroom candle. The American traveller, in the 現在の 事例／患者, 拒絶する／低下するd to believe that his bedroom was in a 完全にする finished 明言する／公表する without a gas-burner. The 経営者／支配人 pointed to the 罰金 antique decorations (新たにするd and regilt) on the 塀で囲むs and the 天井, and explained that the emanations of 燃やすing gas-light would certainly spoil them in the course of a few months. To this the traveller replied that it was possible, but that he did not understand decorations. A bedroom with gas in it was what he was used to, was what he 手配中の，お尋ね者, and was what he was 決定するd to have. The compliant 経営者／支配人 volunteered to ask some other gentleman, housed on the inferior upper storey (which was lit throughout with gas), to change rooms. 審理，公聴会 this, and 存在 やめる willing to 交流 a small bedchamber for a large one, Henry volunteered to be the other gentleman. The excellent American shook 手渡すs with him on the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す. 'You are a cultured person, sir,' he said; 'and you will no 疑問 understand the decorations.'

Henry looked at the number of the room on the door as he opened it. The number was Fourteen.

Tired and sleepy, he 自然に 心配するd a good night's 残り／休憩（する）. In the 完全に healthy 明言する／公表する of his nervous system, he slept as 井戸／弁護士席 in a bed abroad as in a bed at home. Without the slightest assignable 推論する／理由, however, his just 期待s were disappointed. The luxurious bed, the 井戸／弁護士席-ventilated room, the delicious tranquillity of Venice by night, all were in favour of his sleeping 井戸／弁護士席. He never slept at all. An indescribable sense of 不景気 and 不快 kept him waking through 不明瞭 and daylight alike. He went 負かす／撃墜する to the coffee-room as soon as the hotel was astir, and ordered some breakfast. Another unaccountable change in himself appeared with the 外見 of the meal. He was 絶対 without appetite. An excellent omelette, and cutlets cooked to perfection, he sent away untasted—he, whose appetite never failed him, whose digestion was still equal to any 需要・要求するs on it!

The day was 有望な and 罰金. He sent for a gondola, and was 列／漕ぐ／騒動d to the Lido.

Out on the airy Lagoon, he felt like a new man. He had not left the hotel ten minutes before he was 急速な／放蕩な asleep in the gondola. Waking, on reaching the 上陸-place, he crossed the Lido, and enjoyed a morning's swim in the Adriatic. There was only a poor restaurant on the island, in those days; but his appetite was now ready for anything; he ate whatever was 申し込む／申し出d to him, like a famished man. He could hardly believe, when he 反映するd on it, that he had sent away untasted his excellent breakfast at the hotel.

Returning to Venice, he spent the 残り／休憩（する） of the day in the picture-galleries and the churches. に向かって six o'clock his gondola took him 支援する, with another 罰金 appetite, to 会合，会う some travelling 知識s with whom he had engaged to dine at the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する d'hote.

The dinner was deservedly rewarded with the highest 是認 by every guest in the hotel but one. To Henry's astonishment, the appetite with which he had entered the house mysteriously and 完全に left him when he sat 負かす／撃墜する to （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. He could drink some ワイン, but he could literally eat nothing. 'What in the world is the 事柄 with you?' his travelling 知識s asked. He could honestly answer, 'I know no more than you do.'

When night （機の）カム, he gave his comfortable and beautiful bedroom another 裁判，公判. The result of the second 実験 was a repetition of the result of the first. Again he felt the all-pervading sense of 不景気 and 不快. Again he passed a sleepless night. And once more, when he tried to eat his breakfast, his appetite 完全に failed him!

This personal experience of the new hotel was too 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の to be passed over in silence. Henry について言及するd it to his friends in the public room, in the 審理，公聴会 of the 経営者／支配人. The 経営者／支配人, 自然に 熱心な in defence of the hotel, was a little 傷つける at the 暗示するd reflection cast on Number Fourteen. He 招待するd the travellers 現在の to 裁判官 for themselves whether Mr. Westwick's bedroom was to 非難する for Mr. Westwick's sleepless nights; and he 特に 控訴，上告d to a grey-長，率いるd gentleman, a guest at the breakfast-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する of an English traveller, to take the lead in the 調査. 'This is Doctor Bruno, our first 内科医 in Venice,' he explained. 'I 控訴，上告 to him to say if there are any unhealthy 影響（力）s in Mr. Westwick's room.'

Introduced to Number Fourteen, the doctor looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する him with a 確かな 外見 of 利益／興味 which was noticed by everyone 現在の. 'The last time I was in this room,' he said, 'was on a melancholy occasion. It was before the palace was changed into an hotel. I was in professional 出席 on an English nobleman who died here.' One of the persons 現在の 問い合わせd the 指名する of the nobleman. Doctor Bruno answered (without the slightest 疑惑 that he was speaking before a brother of the dead man), 'Lord Montbarry.'

Henry 静かに left the room, without 説 a word to anybody.

He was not, in any sense of the 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語, a superstitious man. But he felt, にもかかわらず, an insurmountable 不本意 to remaining in the hotel. He decided on leaving Venice. To ask for another room would be, as he could plainly see, an offence in the 注目する，もくろむs of the 経営者／支配人. To 除去する to another hotel, would be to 率直に abandon an 設立 in the success of which he had a pecuniary 利益／興味. Leaving a 公式文書，認める for Arthur Barville, on his arrival in Venice, in which he 単に について言及するd that he had gone to look at the Italian lakes, and that a line 演説（する）／住所d to his hotel at Milan would bring him 支援する again, he took the afternoon train to Padua—and dined with his usual appetite, and slept 同様に as ever that night.

The next day, a gentleman and his wife (perfect strangers to the Montbarry family), returning to England by way of Venice, arrived at the hotel and 占領するd Number Fourteen.

Still mindful of the 中傷する that had been cast on one of his best bedchambers, the 経営者／支配人 took occasion to ask the travellers the next morning how they liked their room. They left him to 裁判官 for himself how 井戸／弁護士席 they were 満足させるd, by remaining a day longer in Venice than they had 初めは planned to do, 単独で for the 目的 of enjoying the excellent accommodation 申し込む／申し出d to them by the new hotel. 'We have met with nothing like it in Italy,' they said; 'you may rely on our recommending you to all our friends.'

On the day when Number Fourteen was again 空いている, an English lady travelling alone with her maid arrived at the hotel, saw the room, and at once engaged it.

The lady was Mrs. Norbury. She had left Francis Westwick at Milan, 占領するd in 交渉するing for the 外見 at his theatre of the new ダンサー at the Scala. Not having heard to the contrary, Mrs. Norbury supposed that Arthur Barville and his wife had already arrived at Venice. She was more 利益／興味d in 会合 the young married couple than in を待つing the result of the hard 取引ing which 延期するd the 約束／交戦 of the new ダンサー; and she volunteered to make her brother's 陳謝s, if his theatrical 商売／仕事 原因（となる）d him to be late in keeping his 任命 at the honeymoon festival.

Mrs. Norbury's experience of Number Fourteen 異なるd 完全に from her brother Henry's experience of the room.

Failing asleep as readily as usual, her repose was 乱すd by a succession of frightful dreams; the central 人物／姿／数字 in every one of them 存在 the 人物／姿／数字 of her dead brother, the first Lord Montbarry. She saw him 餓死するing in a loathsome 刑務所，拘置所; she saw him 追求するd by 暗殺者s, and dying under their knives; she saw him 溺死するing in immeasurable depths of dark water; she saw him in a bed on 解雇する／砲火／射撃, 燃やすing to death in the 炎上s; she saw him tempted by a shadowy creature to drink, and dying of the poisonous draught. The 繰り返し言うd horror of these dreams had such an 影響 on her that she rose with the 夜明け of day, afraid to 信用 herself again in bed. In the old times, she had been 公式文書，認めるd in the family as the one member of it who lived on affectionate 条件 with Montbarry. His other sister and his brothers were 絶えず quarrelling with him. Even his mother owned that her eldest son was of all her children the child whom she least liked. Sensible and resolute woman as she was, Mrs. Norbury shuddered with terror as she sat at the window of her room, watching the sunrise, and thinking of her dreams.

She made the first excuse that occurred to her, when her maid （機の）カム in at the usual hour, and noticed how ill she looked. The woman was of so superstitious a temperament that it would have been in the last degree indiscreet to 信用 her with the truth. Mrs. Norbury 単に 発言／述べるd that she had not 設立する the bed やめる to her liking, on account of the large size of it. She was accustomed at home, as her maid knew, to sleep in a small bed. 知らせるd of this 反対 later in the day, the 経営者／支配人 regretted that he could only 申し込む／申し出 to the lady the choice of one other bedchamber, numbered Thirty-eight, and 据えるd すぐに over the bedchamber which she 願望（する）d to leave. Mrs. Norbury 受託するd the 提案するd change of ４半期/4分の1s. She was now about to pass her second night in the room 占領するd in the old days of the palace by Baron Rivar.

Once more, she fell asleep as usual. And, once more, the frightful dreams of the first night terrified her, に引き続いて each other in the same succession. This time her 神経s, already shaken, were not equal to the 新たにするd 拷問 of terror （打撃，刑罰などを）与えるd on them. She threw on her dressing-gown, and 急ぐd out of her room in the middle of the night. The porter, alarmed by the banging of the door, met her hurrying headlong 負かす／撃墜する the stairs, in search of the first human 存在 she could find to keep her company. かなり surprised at this last new manifestation of the famous 'English eccentricity,' the man looked at the hotel 登録（する）, and led the lady upstairs again to the room 占領するd by her maid. The maid was not asleep, and, more wonderful still, was not even undressed. She received her mistress 静かに. When they were alone, and when Mrs. Norbury had, as a 事柄 of necessity, taken her attendant into her 信用／信任, the woman made a very strange reply.

'I have been asking about the hotel, at the servants' supper to-night,' she said. 'The valet of one of the gentlemen staying here has heard that the late Lord Montbarry was the last person who lived in the palace, before it was made into an hotel. The room he died in, ma'am, was the room you slept in last night. Your room tonight is the room just above it. I said nothing for 恐れる of 脅すing you. For my own part, I have passed the night as you see, keeping my light on, and reading my Bible. In my opinion, no member of your family can hope to be happy or comfortable in this house.'

'What do you mean?'

'Please to let me explain myself, ma'am. When Mr. Henry Westwick was here (I have this from the valet, too) he 占領するd the room his brother died in (without knowing it), like you. For two nights he never の近くにd his 注目する，もくろむs. Without any 推論する／理由 for it (the valet heard him tell the gentlemen in the coffee-room) he could not sleep; he felt so low and so wretched in himself. And what is more, when daytime （機の）カム, he couldn't even eat while he was under this roof. You may laugh at me, ma'am—but even a servant may draw her own 結論s. It's my 結論 that something happened to my lord, which we 非，不，無 of us know about, when he died in this house. His ghost walks in torment until he can tell it—and the living persons 関係のある to him are the persons who feel he is 近づく them. Those persons may yet see him in the time to come. Don't, pray don't stay any longer in this dreadful place! I wouldn't stay another night here myself—no, not for anything that could be 申し込む／申し出d me!'

Mrs. Norbury at once 始める，決める her servant's mind at 緩和する on this last point.

'I don't think about it as you do,' she said 厳粛に. 'But I should like to speak to my brother of what has happened. We will go 支援する to Milan.'

Some hours やむを得ず elapsed before they could leave the hotel, by the first train in the forenoon.

In that interval, Mrs. Norbury's maid 設立する an 適切な時期 of confidentially 知らせるing the valet of what had passed between her mistress and herself. The valet had other friends to whom he 関係のある the circumstances in his turn. In 予定 course of time, the narrative, passing from mouth to mouth, reached the ears of the 経営者／支配人. He 即時に saw that the credit of the hotel was in danger, unless something was done to retrieve the character of the room numbered Fourteen. English travellers, 井戸／弁護士席 熟知させるd with the peerage of their native country, 知らせるd him that Henry Westwick and Mrs. Norbury were by no means the only members of the Montbarry family. Curiosity might bring more of them to the hotel, after 審理，公聴会 what had happened. The 経営者／支配人's ingenuity easily 攻撃する，衝突する on the obvious means of 誤って導くing them, in this 事例／患者. The numbers of all the rooms were enamelled in blue, on white 磁器 plates, screwed to the doors. He ordered a new plate to be 用意が出来ている, 耐えるing the number, '13 A'; and he kept the room empty, after its tenant for the time 存在 had gone away, until the plate was ready. He then re-numbered the room; placing the 除去するd Number Fourteen on the door of his own room (on the second 床に打ち倒す), which, not 存在 to let, had not 以前 been numbered at all. By this 装置, Number Fourteen disappeared at once and for ever from the 調書をとる／予約するs of the hotel, as the number of a bedroom to let.

Having 警告するd the servants to beware of gossiping with travellers, on the 支配する of the changed numbers, under 刑罰，罰則 of 存在 解任するd, the 経営者／支配人 composed his mind with the reflection that he had done his 義務 to his 雇用者s. 'Now,' he thought to himself, with an excusable sense of 勝利, 'let the whole family come here if they like! The hotel is a match for them.'

CHAPTER XVIII

Before the end of the week, the 経営者／支配人 設立する himself in relations with 'the family' once more. A 電報電信 from Milan 発表するd that Mr. Francis Westwick would arrive in Venice on the next day; and would be 強いるd if Number Fourteen, on the first 床に打ち倒す, could be reserved for him, in the event of its 存在 空いている at the time.

The 経営者／支配人 paused to consider, before he 問題／発行するd his directions.

The re-numbered room had been last let to a French gentleman. It would be 占領するd on the day of Mr. Francis Westwick's arrival, but it would be empty again on the day after. Would it be 井戸／弁護士席 to reserve the room for the special 占領／職業 of Mr. Francis? and when he had passed the night unsuspiciously and comfortably in 'No. 13 A,' to ask him in the presence of 証言，証人／目撃するs how he liked his bedchamber? In this 事例／患者, if the 評判 of the room happened to be called in question again, the answer would vindicate it, on the 証拠 of a member of the very family which had first given Number Fourteen a bad 指名する. After a little reflection, the 経営者／支配人 decided on trying the 実験, and directed that '13 A' should be reserved accordingly.

On the next day, Francis Westwick arrived in excellent spirits.

He had 調印するd 協定s with the most popular ダンサー in Italy; he had transferred the 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of Mrs. Norbury to his brother Henry, who had joined him in Milan; and he was now at 十分な liberty to amuse himself by 実験（する）ing in every possible way the 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 影響（力） 演習d over his 親族s by the new hotel. When his brother and sister first told him what their experience had been, he 即時に 宣言するd that he would go to Venice in the 利益／興味 of his theatre. The circumstances 関係のある to him 含む／封じ込めるd invaluable hints for a ghost-演劇. The 肩書を与える occurred to him in the 鉄道: 'The Haunted Hotel.' 地位，任命する that in red letters six feet high, on a 黒人／ボイコット ground, all over London—and 信用 the excitable public to （人が）群がる into the theatre!

Received with the politest attention by the 経営者／支配人, Francis met with a 失望 on entering the hotel. 'Some mistake, sir. No such room on the first 床に打ち倒す as Number Fourteen. The room 耐えるing that number is on the second 床に打ち倒す, and has been 占領するd by me, from the day when the hotel opened. Perhaps you meant number 13 A, on the first 床に打ち倒す? It will be at your service to-morrow—a charming room. In the mean time, we will do the best we can for you, to-night.'

A man who is the successful 経営者／支配人 of a theatre is probably the last man in the civilized universe who is 有能な of 存在 impressed with favourable opinions of his fellow-creatures. Francis 個人として 始める，決める the 経営者／支配人 負かす／撃墜する as a humbug, and the story about the numbering of the rooms as a 嘘（をつく）.

On the day of his arrival, he dined by himself in the restaurant, before the hour of the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する d'hote, for the 表明する 目的 of 尋問 the waiter, without 存在 overheard by anybody. The answer led him to the 結論 that '13 A' 占領するd the 状況／情勢 in the hotel which had been 述べるd by his brother and sister as the 状況／情勢 of '14.' He asked next for the 訪問者s' 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）; and 設立する that the French gentleman who then 占領するd '13 A,' was the proprietor of a theatre in Paris, 本人自身で 井戸／弁護士席 known to him. Was the gentleman then in the hotel? He had gone out, but would certainly return for the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する d'hote. When the public dinner was over, Francis entered the room, and was welcomed by his Parisian 同僚, literally, with open 武器. 'Come and have a cigar in my room,' said the friendly Frenchman. 'I want to hear whether you have really engaged that woman at Milan or not.' In this 平易な way, Francis 設立する his 適切な時期 of comparing the 内部の of the room with the description which he had heard of it at Milan.

Arriving at the door, the Frenchman bethought himself of his travelling companion. 'My scene-painter is here with me,' he said, 'on the look-out for 構成要素s. An excellent fellow, who will take it as a 親切 if we ask him to join us. I'll tell the porter to send him up when he comes in.' He 手渡すd the 重要な of his room to Francis. 'I will be 支援する in a minute. It's at the end of the 回廊（地帯）—13 A.'

Francis entered the room alone. There were the decorations on the 塀で囲むs and the 天井, 正確に／まさに as they had been 述べるd to him! He had just time to perceive this at a ちらりと見ること, before his attention was コースを変えるd to himself and his own sensations, by a grotesquely disagreeable occurrence which took him 完全に by surprise.

He became conscious of a mysteriously 不快な／攻撃 odour in the room, 完全に new in his experience of 反乱ing smells. It was composed (if such a thing could be) of two mingling exhalations, which were 分かれて-discoverable exhalations にもかかわらず. This strange blending of odours consisted of something faintly and unpleasantly aromatic, mixed with another underlying smell, so unutterably sickening that he threw open the window, and put his 長，率いる out into the fresh 空気／公表する, unable to 耐える the horribly 感染させるd atmosphere for a moment longer.

The French proprietor joined his English friend, with his cigar already lit. He started 支援する in 狼狽 at a sight terrible to his countrymen in general—the sight of an open window. 'You English people are perfectly mad on the 支配する of fresh 空気／公表する!' he exclaimed. 'We shall catch our deaths of 冷淡な.'

Francis turned, and looked at him in astonishment. 'Are you really not aware of the smell there is in the room?' he asked.

'Smell!' repeated his brother-経営者／支配人. 'I smell my own good cigar. Try one yourself. And for Heaven's sake shut the window!'

Francis 拒絶する／低下するd the cigar by a 調印する. '許す me,' he said. 'I will leave you to の近くに the window. I feel faint and giddy—I had better go out.' He put his handkerchief over his nose and mouth, and crossed the room to the door.

The Frenchman followed the movements of Francis, in such a 明言する／公表する of bewilderment that he 現実に forgot to 掴む the 適切な時期 of shutting out the fresh 空気／公表する. 'Is it so 汚い as that?' he asked, with a 幅の広い 星／主役にする of amazement.

'Horrible!' Francis muttered behind his handkerchief. 'I never smelt anything like it in my life!'

There was a knock at the door. The scene-painter appeared. His 雇用者 即時に asked him if he smelt anything.

'I smell your cigar. Delicious! Give me one 直接／まっすぐに!'

'Wait a minute. Besides my cigar, do you smell anything else—vile, abominable, overpowering, indescribable, never-never-never-smelt before?'

The scene-painter appeared to be puzzled by the vehement energy of the language 演説（する）／住所d to him. 'The room is as fresh and 甘い as a room can be,' he answered. As he spoke, he looked 支援する with astonishment at Francis Westwick, standing outside in the 回廊（地帯）, and 注目する，もくろむing the 内部の of the bedchamber with an 表現 of undisguised disgust.

The Parisian director approached his English 同僚, and looked at him with 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な and anxious scrutiny.

'You see, my friend, here are two of us, with as good noses as yours, who smell nothing. If you want 証拠 from more noses, look there!' He pointed to two little English girls, at play in the 回廊（地帯）. 'The door of my room is wide open—and you know how 急速な／放蕩な a smell can travel. Now listen, while I 控訴，上告 to these innocent noses, in the language of their own dismal island. My little loves, do you 匂いをかぐ a 汚い smell here—ha?' The children burst out laughing, and answered emphatically, 'No.' 'My good Westwick,' the Frenchman 再開するd, in his own language, 'the 結論 is surely plain? There is something wrong, very wrong, with your own nose. I recommend you to see a 医療の man.'

Having given that advice, he returned to his room, and shut out the horrid fresh 空気／公表する with a loud exclamation of 救済. Francis left the hotel, by the 小道／航路s that led to the Square of St. 示す. The night-微風 soon 生き返らせるd him. He was able to light a cigar, and to think 静かに over what had happened.

CHAPTER XIX

避けるing the （人が）群がる under the colonnades, Francis walked slowly up and 負かす／撃墜する the noble open space of the square, bathed in the light of the rising moon.

Without 存在 aware of it himself, he was a 徹底的な materialist. The strange 影響 produced on him by the room—に引き続いて on the other strange 影響s produced on the other 親族s of his dead brother—演習d no perplexing 影響（力） over the mind of this sensible man. 'Perhaps,' he 反映するd, 'my temperament is more imaginative than I supposed it to be—and this is a trick played on me by my own fancy? Or, perhaps, my friend is 権利; something is 肉体的に amiss with me? I don't feel ill, certainly. But that is no 安全な criterion いつかs. I am not going to sleep in that abominable room to-night—I can 井戸／弁護士席 wait till to-morrow to decide whether I shall speak to a doctor or not. In the mean time, the hotel doesn't seem likely to 供給（する） me with the 支配する of a piece. A terrible smell from an invisible ghost is a perfectly new idea. But it has one drawback. If I realise it on the 行う／開催する／段階, I shall 運動 the audience out of the theatre.'

As his strong ありふれた sense arrived at this facetious 結論, he became aware of a lady, dressed 完全に in 黒人／ボイコット, who was 観察するing him with 示すd attention. 'Am I 権利 in supposing you to be Mr. Francis Westwick?' the lady asked, at the moment when he looked at her.

'That is my 指名する, madam. May I 問い合わせ to whom I have the honour of speaking?'

'We have only met once,' she answered a little evasively, 'when your late brother introduced me to the members of his family. I wonder if you have やめる forgotten my big 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs and my hideous complexion?' She 解除するd her 隠す as she spoke, and turned so that the moonlight 残り／休憩（する）d on her 直面する.

Francis recognised at a ちらりと見ること the woman of all others whom he most cordially disliked—the 未亡人 of his dead brother, the first Lord Montbarry. He frowned as he looked at her. His experience on the 行う／開催する／段階, gathered at innumerable rehearsals with actresses who had sorely tried his temper, had accustomed him to speak 概略で to women who were distasteful to him. 'I remember you,' he said. 'I thought you were in America!'

She took no notice of his ungracious トン and manner; she 簡単に stopped him when he 解除するd his hat, and turned to leave her.

'Let me walk with you for a few minutes,' she 静かに replied. 'I have something to say to you.'

He showed her his cigar. 'I am smoking,' he said.

'I don't mind smoking.'

After that, there was nothing to be done (short of downright brutality) but to 産する／生じる. He did it with the worst possible grace. '井戸／弁護士席?' he 再開するd. 'What do you want of me?'

'You shall hear 直接／まっすぐに, Mr. Westwick. Let me first tell you what my position is. I am alone in the world. To the loss of my husband has now been 追加するd another bereavement, the loss of my companion in America, my brother—Baron Rivar.'

The 評判 of the Baron, and the 疑問 which スキャンダル had thrown on his assumed 関係 to the Countess, were 井戸／弁護士席 known to Francis. '発射 in a 賭事ing-saloon?' he asked 残酷に.

'The question is a perfectly natural one on your part,' she said, with the impenetrably ironical manner which she could assume on 確かな occasions. 'As a native of horse-racing England, you belong to a nation of gamblers. My brother died no 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の death, Mr. Westwick. He sank, with many other unfortunate people, under a fever 流布している in a Western city which we happened to visit. The calamity of his loss made the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs unendurable to me. I left by the first steamer that sailed from New York—a French 大型船 which brought me to Havre. I continued my lonely 旅行 to the South of フラン. And then I went on to Venice.'

'What does all this 事柄 to me?' Francis thought to himself. She paused, evidently 推定する／予想するing him to say something. 'So you have come to Venice?' he said carelessly. 'Why?'

'Because I couldn't help it,' she answered.

Francis looked at her with 冷笑的な curiosity. 'That sounds 半端物,' he 発言／述べるd. 'Why couldn't you help it?'

'Women are accustomed to 行為／法令／行動する on impulse,' she explained. 'Suppose we say that an impulse has directed my 旅行? And yet, this is the last place in the world that I wish to find myself in. 協会s that I detest are connected with it in my mind. If I had a will of my own, I would never see it again. I hate Venice. As you see, however, I am here. When did you 会合，会う with such an 不当な woman before? Never, I am sure!' She stopped, 注目する，もくろむd him for a moment, and suddenly altered her トン. 'When is 行方不明になる Agnes Lockwood 推定する／予想するd to be in Venice?' she asked.

It was not 平易な to throw Francis off his balance, but that 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の question did it. 'How the devil did you know that 行方不明になる Lockwood was coming to Venice?' he exclaimed.

She laughed—a bitter mocking laugh. 'Say, I guessed it!'

Something in her トン, or perhaps something in the audacious 反抗 of her 注目する，もくろむs as they 残り／休憩（する）d on him, roused the quick temper that was in Francis Warwick. 'Lady Montbarry—!' he began.

'Stop there!' she interposed. 'Your brother Stephen's wife calls herself Lady Montbarry now. I 株 my 肩書を与える with no woman. Call me by my 指名する before I committed the 致命的な mistake of marrying your brother. 演説（する）／住所 me, if you please, as Countess Narona.'

'Countess Narona,' Francis 再開するd, 'if your 反対する in （人命などを）奪う，主張するing my 知識 is to mystify me, you have come to the wrong man. Speak plainly, or 許す me to wish you good evening.'

'If your 反対する is to keep 行方不明になる Lockwood's arrival in Venice a secret,' she retorted, 'speak plainly, Mr. Westwick, on your 味方する, and say so.'

Her 意向 was evidently to irritate him; and she 後継するd. 'Nonsense!' he broke out petulantly. 'My brother's travelling 手はず／準備 are secrets to nobody. He brings 行方不明になる Lockwood here, with Lady Montbarry and the children. As you seem so 井戸／弁護士席 知らせるd, perhaps you know why she is coming to Venice?'

The Countess had suddenly become 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な and thoughtful. She made no reply. The two strangely associated companions, having reached one extremity of the square, were now standing before the church of St. 示す. The moonlight was 有望な enough to show the architecture of the grand cathedral in its wonderful variety of 詳細（に述べる）. Even the pigeons of St. 示す were 明白な, in dark closely packed 列／漕ぐ／騒動s, roosting in the archways of the 広大な／多数の／重要な 入り口 doors.

'I never saw the old church look so beautiful by moonlight,' the Countess said 静かに; speaking, not to Francis, but to herself. 'Good-bye, St. 示す's by moonlight! I shall not see you again.'

She turned away from the church, and saw Francis listening to her with wondering looks. 'No,' she 再開するd, placidly 選ぶing up the lost thread of the conversation, 'I don't know why 行方不明になる Lockwood is coming here, I only know that we are to 会合，会う in Venice.'

'By previous 任命?'

'By 運命,' she answered, with her 長，率いる on her breast, and her 注目する，もくろむs on the ground. Francis burst out laughing. 'Or, if you like it better,' she 即時に 再開するd, 'by what fools call Chance.' Francis answered easily, out of the depths of his strong ありふれた sense. 'Chance seems to be taking a queer way of bringing the 会合 about,' he said. 'We have all arranged to 会合，会う at the Palace Hotel. How is it that your 指名する is not on the 訪問者s' 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）? 運命 せねばならない have brought you to the Palace Hotel too.'

She 突然の pulled 負かす／撃墜する her 隠す. '運命 may do that yet!' she said. 'The Palace Hotel?' she repeated, speaking once more to herself. 'The old hell, transformed into the new purgatory. The place itself! Jesu Maria! the place itself!' She paused and laid her 手渡す on her companion's arm. 'Perhaps 行方不明になる Lockwood is not going there with the 残り／休憩（する） of you?' she burst out with sudden 切望. 'Are you 前向きに／確かに sure she will be at the hotel?'

'前向きに／確かに! 港／避難所't I told you that 行方不明になる Lockwood travels with Lord and Lady Montbarry? and don't you know that she is a member of the family? You will have to move, Countess, to our hotel.'

She was perfectly impenetrable to the bantering トン in which he spoke. 'Yes,' she said faintly, 'I shall have to move to your hotel.' Her 手渡す was still on his arm—he could feel her shivering from 長，率いる to foot while she spoke. Heartily as he disliked and 不信d her, the ありふれた instinct of humanity 強いるd him to ask if she felt 冷淡な.

'Yes,' she said. '冷淡な and faint.'

'冷淡な and faint, Countess, on such a night as this?'

'The night has nothing to do with it, Mr. Westwick. How do you suppose the 犯罪の feels on the scaffold, while the hangman is putting the rope around his neck? 冷淡な and faint, too, I should think. Excuse my grim fancy. You see, 運命 has got the rope 一連の会議、交渉／完成する my neck—and I feel it.'

She looked about her. They were at that moment の近くに to the famous cafe known as 'Florian's.' 'Take me in there,' she said; 'I must have something to 生き返らせる me. You had better not hesitate. You are 利益／興味d in 生き返らせるing me. I have not said what I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to say to you yet. It's 商売／仕事, and it's connected with your theatre.'

Wondering inwardly what she could かもしれない want with his theatre, Francis reluctantly 産する／生じるd to the necessities of the 状況／情勢, and took her into the cafe. He 設立する a 静かな corner in which they could take their places without attracting notice. 'What will you have?' he 問い合わせd resignedly. She gave her own orders to the waiter, without troubling him to speak for her.

'Maraschino. And a マリファナ of tea.'

The waiter 星／主役にするd; Francis 星／主役にするd. The tea was a novelty (in 関係 with maraschino) to both of them. Careless whether she surprised them or not, she 教えるd the waiter, when her directions had been 従うd with, to 注ぐ a large ワイン-glass-十分な of the liqueur into a tumbler, and to fill it up from the teapot. 'I can't do it for myself,' she 発言／述べるd, 'my 手渡す trembles so.' She drank the strange mixture 熱望して, hot as it was. 'Maraschino punch—will you taste some of it?' she said. 'I 相続する the 発見 of this drink. When your English Queen Caroline was on the Continent, my mother was 大（公）使館員d to her 法廷，裁判所. That much 負傷させるd 王室の Person invented, in her happier hours, maraschino punch. 情愛深く 大（公）使館員d to her gracious mistress, my mother 株d her tastes. And I, in my turn, learnt from my mother. Now, Mr. Westwick, suppose I tell you what my 商売／仕事 is. You are 経営者／支配人 of a theatre. Do you want a new play?'

'I always want a new play—供給するd it's a good one.'

'And you 支払う／賃金, if it's a good one?'

'I 支払う／賃金 liberally—in my own 利益／興味s.'

'If I 令状 the play, will you read it?'

Francis hesitated. 'What has put 令状ing a play into your 長，率いる?' he asked.

'Mere 事故,' she answered. 'I had once occasion to tell my late brother of a visit which I paid to 行方不明になる Lockwood, when I was last in England. He took no 利益／興味 at what happened at the interview, but something struck him in my way of relating it. He said, "You 述べる what passed between you and the lady with the point and contrast of good 行う／開催する／段階 対話. You have the 劇の instinct—try if you can 令状 a play. You might make money." That put it into my 長，率いる.'

Those last words seemed to startle Francis. 'Surely you don't want money!' he exclaimed.

'I always want money. My tastes are expensive. I have nothing but my poor little four hundred a year—and the 難破させる that is left of the other money: about two hundred 続けざまに猛撃するs in circular 公式文書，認めるs—no more.'

Francis knew that she was referring to the ten thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs paid by the 保険 offices. 'All those thousands gone already!' he exclaimed.

She blew a little puff of 空気／公表する over her fingers. 'Gone like that!' she answered coolly.

'Baron Rivar?'

She looked at him with a flash of 怒り／怒る in her hard 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs.

'My 事件／事情／状勢s are my own secret, Mr. Westwick. I have made you a 提案—and you have not answered me yet. Don't say No, without thinking first. Remember what a life 地雷 has been. I have seen more of the world than most people, 脚本家s 含むd. I have had strange adventures; I have heard remarkable stories; I have 観察するd; I have remembered. Are there no 構成要素s, here in my 長，率いる, for 令状ing a play—if the 適切な時期 is 認めるd to me?' She waited a moment, and suddenly repeated her strange question about Agnes.

'When is 行方不明になる Lockwood 推定する／予想するd to be in Venice?'

'What has that to do with your new play, Countess?'

The Countess appeared to feel some difficulty in giving that question its fit reply. She mixed another tumbler 十分な of maraschino punch, and drank one good half of it before she spoke again.

'It has everything to do with my new play,' was all she said. 'Answer me.' Francis answered her.

'行方不明になる Lockwood may be here in a week. Or, for all I know to the contrary, sooner than that.'

'Very 井戸／弁護士席. If I am a living woman and a 解放する／自由な woman in a week's time—or if I am in 所有／入手 of my senses in a week's time (don't interrupt me; I know what I am talking about)—I shall have a sketch or 輪郭（を描く） of my play ready, as a 見本／標本 of what I can do. Once again, will you read it?'

'I will certainly read it. But, Countess, I don't understand—'

She held up her 手渡す for silence, and finished the second tumbler of maraschino punch.

'I am a living enigma—and you want to know the 権利 reading of me,' she said. 'Here is the reading, as your English phrase goes, in a nutshell. There is a foolish idea in the minds of many persons that the natives of the warm 気候s are imaginative people. There never was a greater mistake. You will find no such unimaginative people anywhere as you find in Italy, Spain, Greece, and the other Southern countries. To anything fanciful, to anything spiritual, their minds are deaf and blind by nature. Now and then, in the course of centuries, a 広大な／多数の／重要な genius springs up の中で them; and he is the exception which 証明するs the 支配する. Now see! I, though I am no genius—I am, in my little way (as I suppose), an exception too. To my 悲しみ, I have some of that imagination which is so ありふれた の中で the English and the Germans—so rare の中で the Italians, the Spaniards, and the 残り／休憩（する） of them! And what is the result? I think it has become a 病気 in me. I am filled with presentiments which make this wicked life of 地雷 one long terror to me. It doesn't 事柄, just now, what they are. Enough that they 絶対 治める／統治する me—they 運動 me over land and sea at their own horrible will; they are in me, and 拷問ing me, at this moment! Why don't I resist them? Ha! but I do resist them. I am trying (with the help of the good punch) to resist them now. At intervals I cultivate the difficult virtue of ありふれた sense. いつかs, sound sense makes a 希望に満ちた woman of me. At one time, I had the hope that what seemed reality to me was only mad delusion, after all—I even asked the question of an English doctor! At other times, other sensible 疑問s of myself beset me. Never mind dwelling on them now—it always ends in the old terrors and superstitions taking 所有／入手 of me again. In a week's time, I shall know whether 運命 does indeed decide my 未来 for me, or whether I decide it for myself. In the last 事例／患者, my 決意／決議 is to 吸収する this self-tormenting fancy of 地雷 in the 占領／職業 that I have told you of already. Do you understand me a little better now? And, our 商売／仕事 存在 settled, dear Mr. Westwick, shall we get out of this hot room into the nice 冷静な／正味の 空気／公表する again?'

They rose to leave the cafe. Francis 個人として 結論するd that the maraschino punch 申し込む／申し出d the only discoverable explanation of what the Countess had said to him.

CHAPTER XX

'Shall I see you again?' she asked, as she held out her 手渡す to take leave. 'It is やめる understood between us, I suppose, about the play?'

Francis 解任するd his 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の experience of that evening in the re-numbered room. 'My stay in Venice is uncertain,' he replied. 'If you have anything more to say about this 劇の 投機・賭ける of yours, it may be 同様に to say it now. Have you decided on a 支配する already? I know the public taste in England better than you do—I might save you some waste of time and trouble, if you have not chosen your 支配する wisely.'

'I don't care what 支配する I 令状 about, so long as I 令状,' she answered carelessly. 'If you have got a 支配する in your 長，率いる, give it to me. I answer for the characters and the 対話.'

'You answer for the characters and the 対話,' Francis repeated. 'That's a bold way of speaking for a beginner! I wonder if I should shake your sublime 信用／信任 in yourself, if I 示唆するd the most ticklish 支配する to 扱う which is known to the 行う／開催する／段階? What do you say, Countess, to entering the 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）s with Shakespeare, and trying a 演劇 with a ghost in it? A true story, mind! 設立するd on events in this very city in which you and I are 利益／興味d.'

She caught him by the arm, and drew him away from the （人が）群がるd colonnade into the 独房監禁 middle space of the square. 'Now tell me!' she said 熱望して. 'Here, where nobody is 近づく us. How am I 利益／興味d in it? How? how?'

Still 持つ／拘留するing his arm, she shook him in her impatience to hear the coming 公表，暴露. For a moment he hesitated. Thus far, amused by her ignorant belief in herself, he had 単に spoken in jest. Now, for the first time, impressed by her irresistible earnestness, he began to consider what he was about from a more serious point of 見解（をとる）. With her knowledge of all that had passed in the old palace, before its 変形 into an hotel, it was surely possible that she might 示唆する some explanation of what had happened to his brother, and sister, and himself. Or, failing to do this, she might accidentally 明らかにする／漏らす some event in her own experience which, 事実上の／代理 as a hint to a competent dramatist, might 証明する to be the making of a play. The 繁栄 of his theatre was his one serious 反対する in life. 'I may be on the trace of another "Corsican Brothers,"' he thought. 'A new piece of that sort would be ten thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs in my pocket, at least.'

With these 動機s (worthy of the 選び出す／独身-hearted devotion to 劇の 商売／仕事 which made Francis a successful 経営者／支配人) he 関係のある, without その上の hesitation, what his own experience had been, and what the experience of his 親族s had been, in the haunted hotel. He even 述べるd the 突発／発生 of superstitious terror which had escaped Mrs. Norbury's ignorant maid. 'Sad stuff, if you look at it reasonably,' he 発言／述べるd. 'But there is something 劇の in the notion of the ghostly 影響（力） making itself felt by the relations in succession, as they one after another enter the 致命的な room—until the one chosen 親族 comes who will see the Unearthly Creature, and know the terrible truth. 構成要素 for a play, Countess—first-率 構成要素 for a play!'

There he paused. She neither moved nor spoke. He stooped and looked closer at her.

What impression had he produced? It was an impression which his 最大の ingenuity had failed to 心配する. She stood by his 味方する—just as she had stood before Agnes when her question about Ferrari was plainly answered at last—like a woman turned to 石／投石する. Her 注目する，もくろむs were 空いている and rigid; all the life in her 直面する had faded out of it. Francis took her by the 手渡す. Her 手渡す was as 冷淡な as the pavement that they were standing on. He asked her if she was ill.

Not a muscle in her moved. He might 同様に have spoken to the dead.

'Surely,' he said, 'you are not foolish enough to take what I have been telling you 本気で?'

Her lips moved slowly. As it seemed, she was making an 成果／努力 to speak to him.

'Louder,' he said. 'I can't hear you.'

She struggled to 回復する 所有／入手 of herself. A faint light began to 軟化する the dull 冷淡な 星／主役にする of her 注目する，もくろむs. In a moment more she spoke so that he could hear her.

'I never thought of the other world,' she murmured, in low dull トンs, like a woman talking in her sleep.

Her mind had gone 支援する to the day of her last memorable interview with Agnes; she was slowly 解任するing the 自白 that had escaped her, the 警告 words which she had spoken at that past time. やむを得ず incapable of understanding this, Francis looked at her in perplexity. She went on in the same dull 空いている トン, 刻々と に引き続いて out her own train of thought, with her heedless 注目する，もくろむs on his 直面する, and her wandering mind far away from him.

'I said some trifling event would bring us together the next time. I was wrong. No trifling event will bring us together. I said I might be the person who told her what had become of Ferrari, if she 軍隊d me to it. Shall I feel some other 影響（力） than hers? Will he 軍隊 me to it? When she sees him, shall I see him too?'

Her 長，率いる sank a little; her 激しい eyelids dropped slowly; she heaved a long low 疲れた／うんざりした sigh. Francis put her arm in his, and made an 試みる／企てる to rouse her.

'Come, Countess, you are 疲れた／うんざりした and over-wrought. We have had enough talking to-night. Let me see you 安全な 支援する to your hotel. Is it far from here?'

She started when he moved, and 強いるd her to move with him, as if he had suddenly awakened her out of a 深い sleep.

'Not far,' she said faintly. 'The old hotel on the quay. My mind's in a strange 明言する／公表する; I have forgotten the 指名する.'

'Danieli's?'

'Yes!'

He led her on slowly. She …を伴ってd him in silence as far as the end of the Piazzetta. There, when the 十分な 見解（をとる） of the moonlit Lagoon 明らかにする／漏らすd itself, she stopped him as he turned に向かって the Riva degli Schiavoni. 'I have something to ask you. I want to wait and think.'

She 回復するd her lost idea, after a long pause.

'Are you going to sleep in the room to-night?' she asked.

He told her that another traveller was in 所有／入手 of the room that night. 'But the 経営者／支配人 has reserved it for me to-morrow,' he 追加するd, 'if I wish to have it.'

'No,' she said. 'You must give it up.'

'To whom?'

'To me!'

He started. 'After what I have told you, do you really wish to sleep in that room to-morrow night?'

'I must sleep in it.'

'Are you not afraid?'

'I am horribly afraid.'

'So I should have thought, after what I have 観察するd in you to-night. Why should you take the room? You are not 強いるd to 占領する it, unless you like.'

'I was not 強いるd to go to Venice, when I left America,' she answered. 'And yet I （機の）カム here. I must take the room, and keep the room, until—' She broke off at those words. 'Never mind the 残り／休憩（する）,' she said. 'It doesn't 利益／興味 you.'

It was useless to 論争 with her. Francis changed the 支配する. 'We can do nothing to-night,' he said. 'I will call on you to-morrow morning, and hear what you think of it then.'

They moved on again to the hotel. As they approached the door, Francis asked if she was staying in Venice under her own 指名する.

She shook her 長，率いる. 'As your brother's 未亡人, I am known here. As Countess Narona, I am known here. I want to be unknown, this time, to strangers in Venice; I am travelling under a ありふれた English 指名する.' She hesitated, and stood still. 'What has come to me?' she muttered to herself. 'Some things I remember; and some I forget. I forgot Danieli's—and now I forget my English 指名する.' She drew him hurriedly into the hall of the hotel, on the 塀で囲む of which hung a 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of 訪問者s' 指名するs. Running her finger slowly 負かす／撃墜する the 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）, she pointed to the English 指名する that she had assumed:—'Mrs. James.'

'Remember that when you call to-morrow,' she said. 'My 長，率いる is 激しい. Good night.'

Francis went 支援する to his own hotel, wondering what the events of the next day would bring 前へ／外へ. A new turn in his 事件／事情／状勢s had taken place in his absence. As he crossed the hall, he was requested by one of the servants to walk into the 私的な office. The 経営者／支配人 was waiting there with a 厳粛に pre-占領するd manner, as if he had something serious to say. He regretted to hear that Mr. Francis Westwick had, like other members of the family, discovered serious sources of 不快 in the new hotel. He had been 知らせるd in strict 信用／信任 of Mr. Westwick's 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 反対 to the atmosphere of the bedroom upstairs. Without 推定するing to discuss the 事柄, he must beg to be excused from reserving the room for Mr. Westwick after what had happened.

Francis answered はっきりと, a little ruffled by the トン in which the 経営者／支配人 had spoken to him. 'I might, very かもしれない, have 拒絶する／低下するd to sleep in the room, if you had reserved it,' he said. 'Do you wish me to leave the hotel?'

The 経営者／支配人 saw the error that he had committed, and 急いでd to 修理 it. 'Certainly not, sir! We will do our best to make you comfortable while you stay with us. I beg your 容赦, if I have said anything to 感情を害する／違反する you. The 評判 of an 設立 like this is a 事柄 of very serious importance. May I hope that you will do us the 広大な／多数の／重要な favour to say nothing about what has happened upstairs? The two French gentlemen have kindly 約束d to keep it a secret.'

This 陳謝 left Francis no polite 代案／選択肢 but to 認める the 経営者／支配人's request. 'There is an end to the Countess's wild 計画／陰謀,' he thought to himself, as he retired for the night. 'So much the better for the Countess!'

He rose late the next morning. 問い合わせing for his Parisian friends, he was 知らせるd that both the French gentlemen had left for Milan. As he crossed the hall, on his way to the restaurant, he noticed the 長，率いる porter chalking the numbers of the rooms on some articles of luggage which were waiting to go upstairs. One trunk attracted his attention by the 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の number of old travelling labels left on it. The porter was 場内取引員／株価 it at the moment—and the number was, '13 A.' Francis 即時に looked at the card fastened on the lid. It bore the ありふれた English 指名する, 'Mrs. James'! He at once 問い合わせd about the lady. She had arrived 早期に that morning, and she was then in the Reading Room. Looking into the room, he discovered a lady in it alone. 前進するing a little nearer, he 設立する himself 直面する to 直面する with the Countess.

She was seated in a dark corner, with her 長，率いる 負かす／撃墜する and her 武器 crossed over her bosom. 'Yes,' she said, in a トン of 疲れた／うんざりした impatience, before Francis could speak to her. 'I thought it best not to wait for you—I 決定するd to get here before anybody else could take the room.'

'Have you taken it for long?' Francis asked.

'You told me 行方不明になる Lockwood would be here in a week's time. I have taken it for a week.'

'What has 行方不明になる Lockwood to do with it?'

'She has everything to do with it—she must sleep in the room. I shall give the room up to her when she comes here.'

Francis began to understand the superstitious 目的 that she had in 見解（をとる）. 'Are you (an educated woman) really of the same opinion as my sister's maid!' he exclaimed. 'Assuming your absurd superstition to be a serious thing, you are taking the wrong means to 証明する it true. If I and my brother and sister have seen nothing, how should Agnes Lockwood discover what was not 明らかにする／漏らすd to us? She is only distantly 関係のある to the Montbarrys—she is only our cousin.'

'She was nearer to the heart of the Montbarry who is dead than any of you,' the Countess answered 厳しく. 'To the last day of his life, my 哀れな husband repented his desertion of her. She will see what 非，不，無 of you have seen—she shall have the room.'

Francis listened, utterly at a loss to account for the 動機s that animated her. 'I don't see what 利益／興味 you have in trying this 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 実験,' he said.

'It is my 利益／興味 not to try it! It is my 利益／興味 to 飛行機で行く from Venice, and never 始める，決める 注目する，もくろむs on Agnes Lockwood or any of your family again!'

'What 妨げるs you from doing that?'

She started to her feet and looked at him wildly. 'I know no more what 妨げるs me than you do!' she burst out. 'Some will that is stronger than 地雷 運動s me on to my 破壊, in spite of my own self!' She suddenly sat 負かす／撃墜する again, and waved her 手渡す for him to go. 'Leave me,' she said. 'Leave me to my thoughts.'

Francis left her, 堅固に 説得するd by this time that she was out of her senses. For the 残り／休憩（する） of the day, he saw nothing of her. The night, so far as he knew, passed 静かに. The next morning he breakfasted 早期に, 決定するing to wait in the restaurant for the 外見 of the Countess. She （機の）カム in and ordered her breakfast 静かに, looking dull and worn and self-吸収するd, as she had looked when he last saw her. He 急いでd to her （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, and asked if anything had happened in the night.

'Nothing,' she answered.

'You have 残り／休憩（する）d 同様に as usual?'

'やめる 同様に as usual. Have you had any letters this morning? Have you heard when she is coming?'

'I have had no letters. Are you really going to stay here? Has your experience of last night not altered the opinion which you 表明するd to me yesterday?'

'Not in the least.'

The momentary gleam of 活気／アニメーション which had crossed her 直面する when she questioned him about Agnes, died out of it again when he answered her. She looked, she spoke, she ate her breakfast, with a 空いている 辞職, like a woman who had done with hopes, done with 利益／興味s, done with everything but the mechanical movements and instincts of life.

Francis went out, on the customary travellers' 巡礼の旅 to the 神社s of Titian and Tintoret. After some hours of absence, he 設立する a letter waiting for him when he got 支援する to the hotel. It was written by his brother Henry, and it recommended him to return to Milan すぐに. The proprietor of a French theatre, recently arrived from Venice, was trying to induce the famous ダンサー whom Francis had engaged to break 約束 with him and 受託する a higher salary.

Having made this startling 告示, Henry proceeded to 知らせる his brother that Lord and Lady Montbarry, with Agnes and the children, would arrive in Venice in three days more. 'They know nothing of our adventures at the hotel,' Henry wrote; 'and they have telegraphed to the 経営者／支配人 for the accommodation that they want. There would be something absurdly superstitious in our giving them a 警告 which would 脅す the ladies and children out of the best hotel in Venice. We shall be a strong party this time—too strong a party for ghosts! I shall 会合，会う the travellers on their arrival, of course, and try my luck again at what you call the Haunted Hotel. Arthur Barville and his wife have already got as far on their way as Trent; and two of the lady's relations have arranged to …を伴って them on the 旅行 to Venice.'

自然に indignant at the 行為／行う of his Parisian 同僚, Francis made his 準備s for returning to Milan by the train of that day.

On his way out, he asked the 経営者／支配人 if his brother's 電報電信 had been received. The 電報電信 had arrived, and, to the surprise of Francis, the rooms were already reserved. 'I thought you would 辞退する to let any more of the family into the house,' he said satirically. The 経営者／支配人 answered (with the 予定 dash of 尊敬（する）・点) in the same トン. 'Number 13 A is 安全な, sir, in the 占領／職業 of a stranger. I am the servant of the Company; and I dare not turn money out of the hotel.'

審理，公聴会 this, Francis said good-bye—and said nothing more. He was ashamed to 認める it to himself, but he felt an irresistible curiosity to know what would happen when Agnes arrived at the hotel. Besides, 'Mrs. James' had reposed a 信用／信任 in him. He got into his gondola, 尊敬（する）・点ing the 信用／信任 of 'Mrs. James.'

に向かって evening on the third day, Lord Montbarry and his travelling companions arrived, punctual to their 任命.

'Mrs. James,' sitting at the window of her room watching for them, saw the new Lord land from the gondola first. He 手渡すd his wife to the steps. The three children were next committed to his care. Last of all, Agnes appeared in the little 黒人／ボイコット doorway of the gondola cabin, and, taking Lord Montbarry's 手渡す, passed in her turn to the steps. She wore no 隠す. As she 上がるd to the door of the hotel, the Countess (注目する，もくろむing her through an オペラ-glass) noticed that she paused to look at the outside of the building, and that her 直面する was very pale.

CHAPTER XXI

Lord and Lady Montbarry were received by the housekeeper; the 経営者／支配人 存在 absent for a day or two on 商売／仕事 connected with the 事件／事情／状勢s of the hotel.

The rooms reserved for the travellers on the first 床に打ち倒す were three in number; consisting of two bedrooms 開始 into each other, and communicating on the left with a 製図／抽選-room. 完全にする so far, the 手はず／準備 証明するd to be いっそう少なく 満足な in 言及／関連 to the third bedroom 要求するd for Agnes and for the eldest daughter of Lord Montbarry, who usually slept with her on their travels. The bed-議会 on the 権利 of the 製図／抽選-room was already 占領するd by an English 未亡人 lady. Other bedchambers at the other end of the 回廊（地帯） were also let in every 事例／患者. There was accordingly no 代案／選択肢 but to place at the 処分 of Agnes a comfortable room on the second 床に打ち倒す. Lady Montbarry vainly complained of this 分離 of one of the members of her travelling party from the 残り／休憩（する）. The housekeeper politely hinted that it was impossible for her to ask other travellers to give up their rooms. She could only 表明する her 悔いる, and 保証する 行方不明になる Lockwood that her bed-議会 on the second 床に打ち倒す was one of the best rooms in that part of the hotel.

On the 退職 of the housekeeper, Lady Montbarry noticed that Agnes had seated herself apart, feeling 明らかに no 利益／興味 in the question of the bedrooms. Was she ill? No; she felt a little unnerved by the 鉄道 旅行, and that was all. 審理，公聴会 this, Lord Montbarry 提案するd that she should go out with him, and try the 実験 of half an hour's walk in the 冷静な／正味の evening 空気／公表する. Agnes 喜んで 受託するd the suggestion. They directed their steps に向かって the square of St. 示す, so as to enjoy the 微風 blowing over the lagoon. It was the first visit of Agnes to Venice. The fascination of the wonderful city of the waters 発揮するd its 十分な 影響（力） over her 極度の慎重さを要する nature. The 提案するd half-hour of the walk had passed away, and was 急速な／放蕩な 拡大するing to half an hour more, before Lord Montbarry could 説得する his companion to remember that dinner was waiting for them. As they returned, passing under the colonnade, neither of them noticed a lady in 深い 嘆く／悼むing, loitering in the open space of the square. She started as she recognised Agnes walking with the new Lord Montbarry—hesitated for a moment—and then followed them, at a 控えめの distance, 支援する to the hotel.

Lady Montbarry received Agnes in high spirits—with news of an event which had happened in her absence.

She had not left the hotel more than ten minutes, before a little 公式文書，認める in pencil was brought to Lady Montbarry by the housekeeper. The writer 証明するd to be no いっそう少なく a person than the 未亡人 lady who 占領するd the room on the other 味方する of the 製図／抽選-room, which her ladyship had vainly hoped to 安全な・保証する for Agnes. 令状ing under the 指名する of Mrs. James, the polite 未亡人 explained that she had heard from the housekeeper of the 失望 experienced by Lady Montbarry in the 事柄 of the rooms. Mrs. James was やめる alone; and as long as her bed-議会 was airy and comfortable, it 事柄d nothing to her whether she slept on the first or the second 床に打ち倒す of the house. She had accordingly much 楽しみ in 提案するing to change rooms with 行方不明になる Lockwood. Her luggage had already been 除去するd, and 行方不明になる Lockwood had only to take 所有／入手 of the room (Number 13 A), which was now 完全に at her 処分.

'I すぐに 提案するd to see Mrs. James,' Lady Montbarry continued, 'and to thank her 本人自身で for her extreme 親切. But I was 知らせるd that she had gone out, without leaving word at what hour she might be 推定する／予想するd to return. I have written a little 公式文書，認める of thanks, 説 that we hope to have the 楽しみ of 本人自身で 表明するing our sense of Mrs. James's 儀礼 to-morrow. In the mean time, Agnes, I have ordered your boxes to be 除去するd downstairs. Go!—and 裁判官 for yourself, my dear, if that good lady has not given up to you the prettiest room in the house!'

With those words, Lady Montbarry left 行方不明になる Lockwood to make a 迅速な 洗面所 for dinner.

The new room at once produced a favourable impression on Agnes. The large window, 開始 into a balcony, 命令（する）d an admirable 見解（をとる） of the canal. The decorations on the 塀で囲むs and 天井 were skilfully copied from the exquisitely graceful designs of Raphael in the Vatican. The 大規模な wardrobe 所有するd compartments of unusual size, in which 二塁打 the number of dresses that Agnes 所有するd might have been conveniently hung at 十分な length. In the inner corner of the room, 近づく the 長，率いる of the bedstead, there was a 休会 which had been turned into a little dressing-room, and which opened by a second door on the inferior staircase of the hotel, 一般的に used by the servants. Noticing these 面s of the room at a ちらりと見ること, Agnes made the necessary change in her dress, as quickly as possible. On her way 支援する to the 製図／抽選-room she was 演説（する）／住所d by a chambermaid in the 回廊（地帯） who asked for her 重要な. 'I will put your room tidy for the night, 行方不明になる,' the woman said, 'and I will then bring the 重要な 支援する to you in the 製図／抽選-room.'

While the chambermaid was at her work, a 独房監禁 lady, loitering about the 回廊（地帯） of the second storey, was watching her over the bannisters. After a while, the maid appeared, with her pail in her 手渡す, leaving the room by way of the dressing-room and the 支援する stairs. As she passed out of sight, the lady on the second 床に打ち倒す (no other, it is needless to 追加する, than the Countess herself) ran 速く 負かす／撃墜する the stairs, entered the bed-議会 by the 主要な／長／主犯 door, and hid herself in the empty 味方する compartment of the wardrobe. The chambermaid returned, 完全にするd her work, locked the door of the dressing-room on the inner 味方する, locked the 主要な／長／主犯 入り口-door on leaving the room, and returned the 重要な to Agnes in the 製図／抽選-room.

The travellers were just sitting 負かす／撃墜する to their late dinner, when one of the children noticed that Agnes was not wearing her watch. Had she left it in her bed-議会 in the hurry of changing her dress? She rose from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する at once in search of her watch; Lady Montbarry advising her, as she went out, to see to the 安全 of her bed-議会, in the event of there 存在 thieves in the house. Agnes 設立する her watch, forgotten on the 洗面所 （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, as she had 心配するd. Before leaving the room again she 行為／法令／行動するd on Lady Montbarry's advice, and tried the 重要な in the lock of the dressing-room door. It was 適切に 安全な・保証するd. She left the bed-議会, locking the main door behind her.

すぐに on her 出発, the Countess, 抑圧するd by the 限定するd 空気／公表する in the wardrobe, 投機・賭けるd on stepping out of her hiding place into the empty room.

Entering the dressing-room, she listened at the door, until the silence outside 知らせるd her that the 回廊（地帯） was empty. Upon this, she 打ち明けるd the door, and, passing out, の近くにd it again softly; leaving it to all 外見 (when 見解（をとる）d on the inner 味方する) as carefully 安全な・保証するd as Agnes had seen it when she tried the 重要な in the lock with her own 手渡す.

While the Montbarrys were still at dinner, Henry Westwick joined them, arriving from Milan.

When he entered the room, and again when he 前進するd to shake 手渡すs with her, Agnes was conscious of a latent feeling which 内密に 報いるd Henry's unconcealed 楽しみ on 会合 her again. For a moment only, she returned his look; and in that moment her own 観察 told her that she had silently encouraged him to hope. She saw it in the sudden glow of happiness which overspread his 直面する; and she confusedly took 避難 in the usual 従来の 調査s relating to the 親族s whom he had left at Milan.

Taking his place at the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, Henry gave a most amusing account of the position of his brother Francis between the mercenary オペラ-ダンサー on one 味方する, and the unscrupulous 経営者／支配人 of the French theatre on the other. 事柄s had proceeded to such extremities, that the 法律 had been called on to 干渉する, and had decided the 論争 in favour of Francis. On winning the victory the English 経営者／支配人 had at once left Milan, 解任するd to London by the 事件／事情／状勢s of his theatre. He was …を伴ってd on the 旅行 支援する, as he had been …を伴ってd on the 旅行 out, by his sister. 解決するd, after passing two nights of terror in the Venetian hotel, never to enter it again, Mrs. Norbury asked to be excused from appearing at the family festival, on the ground of ill-health. At her age, travelling 疲労，（軍の）雑役d her, and she was glad to take advantage of her brother's 護衛する to return to England.

While the talk at the dinner-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する flowed easily onward, the evening-time 前進するd to night—and it became necessary to think of sending the children to bed.

As Agnes rose to leave the room, …を伴ってd by the eldest girl, she 観察するd with surprise that Henry's manner suddenly changed. He looked serious and pre-占領するd; and when his niece wished him good night, he 突然の said to her, 'Marian, I want to know what part of the hotel you sleep in?' Marian, puzzled by the question, answered that she was going to sleep, as usual, with 'Aunt Agnes.' Not 満足させるd with that reply, Henry next 問い合わせd whether the bedroom was 近づく the rooms 占領するd by the other members of the travelling party. Answering for the child, and wondering what Henry's 反対する could かもしれない be, Agnes について言及するd the polite sacrifice made to her convenience by Mrs. James. 'Thanks to that lady's 親切,' she said, 'Marian and I are only on the other 味方する of the 製図／抽選-room.' Henry made no 発言／述べる; he looked incomprehensibly discontented as he opened the door for Agnes and her companion to pass out. After wishing them good night, he waited in the 回廊（地帯） until he saw them enter the 致命的な corner-room—and then he called 突然の to his brother, 'Come out, Stephen, and let us smoke!'

As soon as the two brothers were at liberty to speak together 個人として, Henry explained the 動機 which had led to his strange 調査s about the bedrooms. Francis had 知らせるd him of the 会合 with the Countess at Venice, and of all that had followed it; and Henry now carefully repeated the narrative to his brother in all its 詳細（に述べる）s. 'I am not 満足させるd,' he 追加するd, 'about that woman's 目的 in giving up her room. Without alarming the ladies by telling them what I have just told you, can you not 警告する Agnes to be careful in 安全な・保証するing her door?'

Lord Montbarry replied, that the 警告 had been already given by his wife, and that Agnes might be 信用d to take good care of herself and her little bed-fellow. For the 残り／休憩（する）, he looked upon the story of the Countess and her superstitions as a piece of theatrical exaggeration, amusing enough in itself, but unworthy of a moment's serious attention.

While the gentlemen were absent from the hotel, the room which had been already associated with so many startling circumstances, became the scene of another strange event in which Lady Montbarry's eldest child was 関心d.

Little Marian had been got ready for bed as usual, and had (so far) taken hardly any notice of the new room. As she knelt 負かす／撃墜する to say her 祈りs, she happened to look up at that part of the 天井 above her which was just over the 長，率いる of the bed. The next instant she alarmed Agnes, by starting to her feet with a cry of terror, and pointing to a small brown 位置／汚点／見つけ出す on one of the white panelled spaces of the carved 天井. 'It's a 位置／汚点／見つけ出す of 血!' the child exclaimed. 'Take me away! I won't sleep here!'

Seeing plainly that it would be useless to 推論する／理由 with her while she was in the room, Agnes hurriedly wrapped Marian in a dressing-gown, and carried her 支援する to her mother in the 製図／抽選-room. Here, the ladies did their best to soothe and 安心させる the trembling girl. The 成果／努力 証明するd to be useless; the impression that had been produced on the young and 極度の慎重さを要する mind was not to be 除去するd by 説得／派閥. Marian could give no explanation of the panic of terror that had 掴むd her. She was やめる unable to say why the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す on the 天井 looked like the colour of a 位置／汚点／見つけ出す of 血. She only knew that she should die of terror if she saw it again. Under these circumstances, but one 代案／選択肢 was left. It was arranged that the child should pass the night in the room 占領するd by her two younger sisters and the nurse.

In half an hour more, Marian was 平和的に asleep with her arm around her sister's neck. Lady Montbarry went 支援する with Agnes to her room to see the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す on the 天井 which had so strangely 脅すd the child. It was so small as to be only just perceptible, and it had in all probability been 原因（となる）d by the carelessness of a workman, or by a dripping from water accidentally spilt on the 床に打ち倒す of the room above.

'I really cannot understand why Marian should place such a shocking 解釈／通訳 on such a trifling thing,' Lady Montbarry 発言／述べるd.

'I 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う the nurse is in some way 責任のある for what has happened,' Agnes 示唆するd. 'She may やめる かもしれない have been telling Marian some 悲劇の nursery story which has left its mischievous impression behind it. Persons in her position are sadly ignorant of the danger of exciting a child's imagination. You had better 警告を与える the nurse to-morrow.'

Lady Montbarry looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the room with 賞賛. 'Is it not prettily decorated?' she said. 'I suppose, Agnes, you don't mind sleeping here by yourself.?'

Agnes laughed. 'I feel so tired,' she replied, 'that I was thinking of bidding you good-night, instead of going 支援する to the 製図／抽選-room.'

Lady Montbarry turned に向かって the door. 'I see your jewel-事例／患者 on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する,' she 再開するd. 'Don't forget to lock the other door there, in the dressing-room.'

'I have already seen to it, and tried the 重要な myself,' said Agnes. 'Can I be of any use to you before I go to bed?'

'No, my dear, thank you; I feel sleepy enough to follow your example. Good night, Agnes—and pleasant dreams on your first night in Venice.'

CHAPTER XXII

Having の近くにd and 安全な・保証するd the door on Lady Montbarry's 出発, Agnes put on her dressing-gown, and, turning to her open boxes, began the 商売／仕事 of unpacking. In the hurry of making her 洗面所 for dinner, she had taken the first dress that lay uppermost in the trunk, and had thrown her travelling 衣装 on the bed. She now opened the doors of the wardrobe for the first time, and began to hang her dresses on the hooks in the large compartment on one 味方する.

After a few minutes only of this 占領／職業, she grew 疲れた／うんざりした of it, and decided on leaving the trunks as they were, until the next morning. The oppressive south 勝利，勝つd, which had blown throughout the day, still 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるd at night. The atmosphere of the room felt の近くに; Agnes threw a shawl over her 長，率いる and shoulders, and, 開始 the window, stepped into the balcony to look at the 見解（をとる）.

The night was 激しい and 曇った: nothing could be distinctly seen. The canal beneath the window looked like a 黒人／ボイコット 湾; the opposite houses were barely 明白な as a 列／漕ぐ／騒動 of 影をつくる／尾行するs, dimly relieved against the starless and moonless sky. At long intervals, the 警告 cry of a belated gondolier was just audible, as he turned the corner of a distant canal, and called to invisible boats which might be approaching him in the 不明瞭. Now and then, the nearer 下落する of an oar in the water told of the viewless passage of other gondolas bringing guests 支援する to the hotel. Excepting these rare sounds, the mysterious night-silence of Venice was literally the silence of the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な.

Leaning on the parapet of the balcony, Agnes looked vacantly into the 黒人／ボイコット 無効の beneath. Her thoughts 逆戻りするd to the 哀れな man who had broken his 誓約（する）d 約束 to her, and who had died in that house. Some change seemed to have come over her since her arrival in Venice; some new 影響（力） appeared to be at work. For the first time in her experience of herself, compassion and 悔いる were not the only emotions 誘発するd in her by the remembrance of the dead Montbarry. A keen sense of the wrong that she had 苦しむd, never yet felt by that gentle and 許すing nature, was felt by it now. She 設立する herself thinking of the bygone days of her humiliation almost as 厳しく as Henry Westwick had thought of them—she who had rebuked him the last time he had spoken slightingly of his brother in her presence! A sudden 恐れる and 疑問 of herself, startled her 肉体的に 同様に as morally. She turned from the shadowy abyss of the dark water as if the mystery and the gloom of it had been 責任のある for the emotions which had taken her by surprise. 突然の の近くにing the window, she threw aside her shawl, and lit the candles on the mantelpiece, impelled by a sudden craving for light in the 孤独 of her room.

The 元気づける brightness 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her, contrasting with the 黒人／ボイコット gloom outside, 回復するd her spirits. She felt herself enjoying the light like a child!

Would it be 井戸／弁護士席 (she asked herself) to get ready for bed? No! The sense of drowsy 疲労，（軍の）雑役 that she had felt half an hour since was gone. She returned to the dull 雇用 of unpacking her boxes. After a few minutes only, the 占領／職業 became irksome to her once more. She sat 負かす／撃墜する by the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, and took up a guide-調書をとる／予約する. 'Suppose I 知らせる myself,' she thought, 'on the 支配する of Venice?'

Her attention wandered from the 調書をとる／予約する, before she had turned the first page of it.

The image of Henry Westwick was the 統括するing image in her memory now. 解任するing the minutest 出来事/事件s and 詳細（に述べる）s of the evening, she could think of nothing which 現在のd him under other than a favourable and 利益／興味ing 面. She smiled to herself softly, her colour rose by 罰金 gradations, as she felt the 十分な 高級な of dwelling on the perfect truth and modesty of his devotion to her. Was the 不景気 of spirits from which she had 苦しむd so 断固としてやる on her travels attributable, by any chance, to their long 分離 from each other—embittered perhaps by her own vain 悔いる when she remembered her 厳しい 歓迎会 of him in Paris? Suddenly conscious of this bold question, and of the self-abandonment which it 暗示するd, she returned mechanically to her 調書をとる／予約する, 不信ing the unrestrained liberty of her own thoughts. What lurking 誘惑s to forbidden tenderness find their hiding-places in a woman's dressing-gown, when she is alone in her room at night! With her heart in the tomb of the dead Montbarry, could Agnes even think of another man, and think of love? How shameful! how unworthy of her! For the second time, she tried to 利益／興味 herself in the guide-調書をとる／予約する—and once more she tried in vain. Throwing the 調書をとる／予約する aside, she turned 猛烈に to the one 資源 that was left, to her luggage—解決するd to 疲労，（軍の）雑役 herself without mercy, until she was 疲れた／うんざりした enough and sleepy enough to find a 安全な 避難 in bed.

For some little time, she 固執するd in the monotonous 占領／職業 of transferring her 着せる／賦与するs from her trunk to the wardrobe. The large clock in the hall, striking 中央の-night, reminded her that it was getting late. She sat 負かす／撃墜する for a moment in an arm-議長，司会を務める by the 病人の枕元, to 残り／休憩（する）.

The silence in the house now caught her attention, and held it—held it disagreeably. Was everybody in bed and asleep but herself? Surely it was time for her to follow the general example? With a 確かな irritable nervous haste, she rose again and undressed herself. 'I have lost two hours of 残り／休憩（する）,' she thought, frowning at the reflection of herself in the glass, as she arranged her hair for the night. 'I shall be good for nothing to-morrow!'

She lit the night-light, and 消滅させるd the candles—with one exception, which she 除去するd to a little （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, placed on the 味方する of the bed opposite to the 味方する 占領するd by the arm-議長，司会を務める. Having put her travelling-box of matches and the guide-調書をとる／予約する 近づく the candle, in 事例／患者 she might be sleepless and might want to read, she blew out the light, and laid her 長，率いる on the pillow.

The curtains of the bed were 宙返り飛行d 支援する to let the 空気／公表する pass 自由に over her. Lying on her left 味方する, with her 直面する turned away from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, she could see the arm-議長，司会を務める by the 薄暗い night-light. It had a chintz covering—代表するing large bunches of roses scattered over a pale green ground. She tried to 疲れた／うんざりした herself into drowsiness by counting over and over again the bunches of roses that were 明白な from her point of 見解（をとる）. Twice her attention was distracted from the counting, by sounds outside—by the clock chiming the half-hour past twelve; and then again, by the 落ちる of a pair of boots on the upper 床に打ち倒す, thrown out to be cleaned, with that barbarous 無視（する） of the 慰安 of others which is observable in humanity when it 住むs an hotel. In the silence that followed these passing 騒動s, Agnes went on counting the roses on the arm-議長，司会を務める, more and more slowly. Before long, she 混乱させるd herself in the 人物／姿／数字s—tried to begin counting again—thought she would wait a little first—felt her eyelids drooping, and her 長，率いる reclining lower and lower on the pillow—sighed faintly—and sank into sleep.

How long that first sleep lasted, she never knew. She could only remember, in the after-time, that she woke 即時に.

Every faculty and perception in her passed the 境界 line between insensibility and consciousness, so to speak, at a leap. Without knowing why, she sat up suddenly in the bed, listening for she knew not what. Her 長，率いる was in a whirl; her heart （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 furiously, without any assignable 原因（となる）. But one trivial event had happened during the interval while she had been asleep. The night-light had gone out; and the room, as a 事柄 of course, was in total 不明瞭.

She felt for the match-box, and paused after finding it. A vague sense of 混乱 was still in her mind. She was in no hurry to light the match. The pause in the 不明瞭 was, for the moment, agreeable to her.

In the quieter flow of her thoughts during this interval, she could ask herself the natural question:—What 原因（となる） had awakened her so suddenly, and had so strangely shaken her 神経s? Had it been the 影響（力） of a dream? She had not dreamed at all—or, to speak more 正確に, she had no waking remembrance of having dreamed. The mystery was beyond her fathoming: the 不明瞭 began to 抑圧する her. She struck the match on the box, and lit her candle.

As the welcome light diffused itself over the room, she turned from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and looked に向かって the other 味方する of the bed.

In the moment when she turned, the 冷気／寒がらせる of a sudden terror gripped her 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the heart, as with the clasp of an icy 手渡す.

She was not alone in her room!

There—in the 議長，司会を務める at the 病人の枕元—there, suddenly 明らかにする／漏らすd under the flow of light from the candle, was the 人物／姿／数字 of a woman, reclining. Her 長，率いる lay 支援する over the 議長，司会を務める. Her 直面する, turned up to the 天井, had the 注目する，もくろむs の近くにd, as if she was wrapped in a 深い sleep.

The shock of the 発見 held Agnes speechless and helpless. Her first conscious 活動／戦闘, when she was in some degree mistress of herself again, was to lean over the bed, and to look closer at the woman who had so incomprehensibly stolen into her room in the dead of night. One ちらりと見ること was enough: she started 支援する with a cry of amazement. The person in the 議長，司会を務める was no other than the 未亡人 of the dead Montbarry—the woman who had 警告するd her that they were to 会合，会う again, and that the place might be Venice!

Her courage returned to her, stung into 活動／戦闘 by the natural sense of indignation which the presence of the Countess 刺激するd.

'Wake up!' she called out. 'How dare you come here? How did you get in? Leave the room—or I will call for help!'

She raised her 発言する／表明する at the last words. It produced no 影響. Leaning さらに先に over the bed, she boldly took the Countess by the shoulder and shook her. Not even this 成果／努力 後継するd in rousing the sleeping woman. She still lay 支援する in the 議長，司会を務める, 所有するd by a torpor like the torpor of death—insensible to sound, insensible to touch. Was she really sleeping? Or had she fainted?

Agnes looked closer at her. She had not fainted. Her breathing was audible, rising and 落ちるing in 深い 激しい gasps. At intervals she ground her teeth savagely. Beads of perspiration stood thickly on her forehead. Her clenched 手渡すs rose and fell slowly from time to time on her （競技場の）トラック一周. Was she in the agony of a dream? or was she spiritually conscious of something hidden in the room?

The 疑問 伴う／関わるd in that last question was unendurable. Agnes 決定するd to rouse the servants who kept watch in the hotel at night.

The bell-扱う was 直す／買収する，八百長をするd to the 塀で囲む, on the 味方する of the bed by which the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する stood.

She raised herself from the crouching position which she had assumed in looking の近くに at the Countess; and, turning に向かって the other 味方する of the bed, stretched out her 手渡す to the bell. At the same instant, she stopped and looked 上向き. Her 手渡す fell helplessly at her 味方する. She shuddered, and sank 支援する on the pillow.

What had she seen?

She had seen another 侵入者 in her room.

中途の between her 直面する and the 天井, there hovered a human 長，率いる—厳しいd at the neck, like a 長，率いる struck from the 団体／死体 by the guillotine.

Nothing 明白な, nothing audible, had given her any intelligible 警告 of its 外見. Silently and suddenly, the 長，率いる had taken its place above her. No supernatural change had passed over the room, or was perceptible in it now. The dumbly-拷問d 人物／姿／数字 in the 議長，司会を務める; the 幅の広い window opposite the foot of the bed, with the 黒人／ボイコット night beyond it; the candle 燃やすing on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する—these, and all other 反対するs in the room, remained unaltered. One 反対する more, unutterably horrid, had been 追加するd to the 残り／休憩（する）. That was the only change—no more, no いっそう少なく.

By the yellow candlelight she saw the 長，率いる distinctly, hovering in 中央の-空気／公表する above her. She looked at it 確固に, （一定の）期間-bound by the terror that held her.

The flesh of the 直面する was gone. The shrivelled 肌 was darkened in hue, like the 肌 of an Egyptian mummy—except at the neck. There it was of a はしけ colour; there it showed 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs and splashes of the hue of that brown 位置／汚点／見つけ出す on the 天井, which the child's fanciful terror had distorted into the likeness of a 位置／汚点／見つけ出す of 血. Thin remains of a discoloured moustache and whiskers, hanging over the upper lip, and over the hollows where the cheeks had once been, made the 長，率いる just recognisable as the 長，率いる of a man. Over all the features death and time had done their obliterating work. The eyelids were の近くにd. The hair on the skull, discoloured like the hair on the 直面する, had been burnt away in places. The bluish lips, parted in a 直す／買収する，八百長をするd grin, showed the 二塁打 列／漕ぐ／騒動 of teeth. By slow degrees, the hovering 長，率いる (perfectly still when she first saw it) began to descend に向かって Agnes as she lay beneath. By slow degrees, that strange doubly-blended odour, which the Commissioners had discovered in the 丸天井s of the old palace—which had sickened Francis Westwick in the bed-議会 of the new hotel—spread its fetid exhalations over the room. Downward and downward the hideous apparition made its slow 進歩, until it stopped の近くに over Agnes—stopped, and turned slowly, so that the 直面する of it 直面するd the 上昇傾向d 直面する of the woman in the 議長，司会を務める.

There was a pause. Then, a supernatural movement 乱すd the rigid repose of the dead 直面する.

The の近くにd eyelids opened slowly. The 注目する，もくろむs 明らかにする／漏らすd themselves, 有望な with the glassy film of death—and 直す／買収する，八百長をするd their dreadful look on the woman in the 議長，司会を務める.

Agnes saw that look; saw the eyelids of the living woman open slowly like the eyelids of the dead; saw her rise, as if in obedience to some silent 命令（する）—and saw no more.

Her next conscious impression was of the sunlight 注ぐing in at the window; of the friendly presence of Lady Montbarry at the 病人の枕元; and of the children's wondering 直面するs peeping in at the door.

CHAPTER XXIII

'...You have some 影響（力） over Agnes. Try what you can do, Henry, to make her take a sensible 見解（をとる） of the 事柄. There is really nothing to make a fuss about. My wife's maid knocked at her door 早期に in the morning, with the customary cup of tea. Getting no answer, she went 一連の会議、交渉／完成する to the dressing-room—設立する the door on that 味方する 打ち明けるd—and discovered Agnes on the bed in a fainting fit. With my wife's help, they brought her to herself again; and she told the 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の story which I have just repeated to you. You must have seen for yourself that she has been over-疲労，（軍の）雑役d, poor thing, by our long 鉄道 旅行s: her 神経s are out of order—and she is just the person to be easily terrified by a dream. She obstinately 辞退するs, however, to 受託する this 合理的な／理性的な 見解（をとる）. Don't suppose that I have been 厳しい with her! All that a man can do to humour her I have done. I have written to the Countess (in her assumed 指名する) 申し込む／申し出ing to 回復する the room to her. She 令状s 支援する, 前向きに／確かに 拒絶する／低下するing to return to it. I have accordingly arranged (so as not to have the thing known in the hotel) to 占領する the room for one or two nights, and to leave Agnes to 回復する her spirits under my wife's care. Is there anything more that I can do? Whatever questions Agnes has asked of me I have answered to the best of my ability; she knows all that you told me about Francis and the Countess last night. But try as I may I can't 静かな her mind. I have given up the 試みる／企てる in despair, and left her in the 製図／抽選-room. Go, like a good fellow, and try what you can do to compose her.'

In those words, Lord Montbarry 明言する／公表するd the 事例／患者 to his brother from the 合理的な／理性的な point of 見解（をとる）. Henry made no 発言／述べる, he went straight to the 製図／抽選-room.

He 設立する Agnes walking 速く backwards and 今後s, 紅潮／摘発するd and excited. 'If you come here to say what your brother has been 説 to me,' she broke out, before he could speak, 'spare yourself the trouble. I don't want ありふれた sense—I want a true friend who will believe in me.'

'I am that friend, Agnes,' Henry answered 静かに, 'and you know it.'

'You really believe that I am not deluded by a dream?'

I know that you are not deluded—in one particular, at least.'

'In what particular?'

'In what you have said of the Countess. It is perfectly true—'

Agnes stopped him there. 'Why do I only hear this morning that the Countess and Mrs. James are one and the same person?' she asked distrustfully. 'Why was I not told of it last night?'

'You forget that you had 受託するd the 交流 of rooms before I reached Venice,' Henry replied. 'I felt 堅固に tempted to tell you, even then—but your sleeping 手はず／準備 for the night were all made; I should only have inconvenienced and alarmed you. I waited till the morning, after 審理，公聴会 from my brother that you had yourself seen to your 安全 from any 侵入占拠. How that 侵入占拠 was 遂行するd it is impossible to say. I can only 宣言する that the Countess's presence by your 病人の枕元 last night was no dream of yours. On her own 当局 I can 証言する that it was a reality.'

'On her own 当局?' Agnes repeated 熱望して. 'Have you seen her this morning?'

'I have seen her not ten minutes since.'

'What was she doing?'

She was busily engaged in 令状ing. I could not even get her to look at me until I thought of について言及するing your 指名する.'

'She remembered me, of course?'

'She remembered you with some difficulty. Finding that she wouldn't answer me on any other 条件, I questioned her as if I had come direct from you. Then she spoke. She not only 認める that she had the same superstitious 動機 for placing you in that room which she had 定評のある to Francis—she even owned that she had been by your 病人の枕元, watching through the night, "to see what you saw," as she 表明するd it. 審理，公聴会 this, I tried to 説得する her to tell me how she got into the room. Unluckily, her manuscript on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する caught her 注目する，もくろむ; she returned to her 令状ing. "The Baron wants money," she said; "I must get on with my play." What she saw or dreamed while she was in your room last night, it is at 現在の impossible to discover. But 裁判官ing by my brother's account of her, 同様に as by what I remember of her myself, some 最近の 影響（力） has been at work which has produced a 示すd change in this wretched woman for the worse. Her mind (since last night, perhaps) is 部分的に／不公平に deranged. One proof of it is that she spoke to me of the Baron as if he were still a living man. When Francis saw her, she 宣言するd that the Baron was dead, which is the truth. The 部隊d 明言する／公表するs 領事 at Milan showed us the 告示 of the death in an American newspaper. So far as I can see, such sense as she still 所有するs seems to be 完全に 吸収するd in one absurd idea—the idea of 令状ing a play for Francis to bring out at his theatre. He 収容する／認めるs that he encouraged her to hope she might get money in this way. I think he did wrong. Don't you agree with me?'

Without 注意するing the question, Agnes rose 突然の from her 議長，司会を務める.

'Do me one more 親切, Henry,' she said. 'Take me to the Countess at once.'

Henry hesitated. 'Are you composed enough to see her, after the shock that you have 苦しむd?' he asked.

She trembled, the 紅潮／摘発する on her 直面する died away, and left it deadly pale. But she held to her 決意／決議. 'You have heard of what I saw last night?' she said faintly.

'Don't speak of it!' Henry interposed. 'Don't uselessly agitate yourself.'

'I must speak! My mind is 十分な of horrid questions about it. I know I can't identify it—and yet I ask myself over and over again, in whose likeness did it appear? Was it in the likeness of Ferrari? or was it—?' she stopped, shuddering. 'The Countess knows, I must see the Countess!' she 再開するd 熱心に. 'Whether my courage fails me or not, I must make the 試みる／企てる. Take me to her before I have time to feel afraid of it!'

Henry looked at her anxiously. 'If you are really sure of your own 決意／決議,' he said, 'I agree with you—the sooner you see her the better. You remember how strangely she talked of your 影響（力） over her, when she 軍隊d her way into your room in London?'

'I remember it perfectly. Why do you ask?'

'For this 推論する／理由. In the 現在の 明言する／公表する of her mind, I 疑問 if she will be much longer 有能な of realizing her wild idea of you as the avenging angel who is to bring her to a reckoning for her evil 行為s. It may be 井戸／弁護士席 to try what your 影響（力） can do while she is still 有能な of feeling it.'

He waited to hear what Agnes would say. She took his arm and led him in silence to the door.

They 上がるd to the second 床に打ち倒す, and, after knocking, entered the Countess's room.

She was still busily engaged in 令状ing. When she looked up from the paper, and saw Agnes, a 空いている 表現 of 疑問 was the only 表現 in her wild 黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs. After a few moments, the lost remembrances and 協会s appeared to return slowly to her mind. The pen dropped from her 手渡す. Haggard and trembling, she looked closer at Agnes, and recognised her at last. 'Has the time come already?' she said in low awe-struck トンs. 'Give me a little longer 一時的休止，執行延期, I 港／避難所't done my 令状ing yet!'

She dropped on her 膝s, and held out her clasped 手渡すs entreatingly. Agnes was far from having 回復するd, after the shock that she had 苦しむd in the night: her 神経s were far from 存在 equal to the 緊張する that was now laid on them. She was so startled by the change in the Countess, that she was at a loss what to say or to do next. Henry was 強いるd to speak to her. 'Put your questions while you have the chance,' he said, lowering his 発言する／表明する. 'See! the 空いている look is coming over her 直面する again.'

Agnes tried to 決起大会／結集させる her courage. 'You were in my room last night—' she began. Before she could 追加する a word more, the Countess 解除するd her 手渡すs, and wrung them above her 長，率いる with a low moan of horror. Agnes shrank 支援する, and turned as if to leave the room. Henry stopped her, and whispered to her to try again. She obeyed him after an 成果／努力. 'I slept last night in the room that you gave up to me,' she 再開するd. 'I saw—'

The Countess suddenly rose to her feet. 'No more of that,' she cried. 'Oh, Jesu Maria! do you think I want to be told what you saw? Do you think I don't know what it means for you and for me? Decide for yourself, 行方不明になる. 診察する your own mind. Are you 井戸／弁護士席 保証するd that the day of reckoning has come at last? Are you ready to follow me 支援する, through the 罪，犯罪s of the past, to the secrets of the dead?'

She returned again to the 令状ing-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, without waiting to be answered. Her 注目する，もくろむs flashed; she looked like her old self once more as she spoke. It was only for a moment. The old ardour and impetuosity were nearly worn out. Her 長，率いる sank; she sighed ひどく as she 打ち明けるd a desk which stood on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. 開始 a drawer in the desk, she took out a leaf of vellum, covered with faded 令状ing. Some ragged ends of silken thread were still 大（公）使館員d to the leaf, as if it had been torn out of a 調書をとる／予約する.

'Can you read Italian?' she asked, 手渡すing the leaf to Agnes.

Agnes answered silently by an inclination of her 長，率いる.

'The leaf,' the Countess proceeded, 'once belonged to a 調書をとる／予約する in the old library of the palace, while this building was still a palace. By whom it was torn out you have no need to know. For what 目的 it was torn out you may discover for yourself, if you will. Read it first—at the fifth line from the 最高の，を越す of the page.'

Agnes felt the serious necessity of composing herself. 'Give me a 議長，司会を務める,' she said to Henry; 'and I will do my best.' He placed himself behind her 議長，司会を務める so that he could look over her shoulder and help her to understand the 令状ing on the leaf. （判決などを）下すd into English, it ran as follows:—

I have now 完全にするd my literary 調査する of the first 床に打ち倒す of the palace. At the 願望（する） of my noble and gracious patron, the lord of this glorious edifice, I next 上がる to the second 床に打ち倒す, and continue my 目録 or description of the pictures, decorations, and other treasures of art therein 含む／封じ込めるd. Let me begin with the corner room at the western extremity of the palace, called the Room of the Caryatides, from the statues which support the mantel-piece. This work is of comparatively 最近の 死刑執行: it dates from the eighteenth century only, and 明らかにする／漏らすs the corrupt taste of the period in every part of it. Still, there is a 確かな 利益／興味 which 大（公）使館員s to the mantel-piece: it 隠すs a cleverly 建設するd hiding-place, between the 床に打ち倒す of the room and the 天井 of the room beneath, which was made during the last evil days of the Inquisition in Venice, and which is 報告（する）／憶測d to have saved an ancestor of my gracious lord 追求するd by that terrible 法廷. The 機械／機構 of this curious place of concealment has been kept in good order by the 現在の lord, as a 種類 of curiosity. He condescended to show me the method of working it. Approaching the two Caryatides, 残り／休憩（する） your 手渡す on the forehead (中途の between the eyebrows) of the 人物／姿／数字 which is on your left as you stand opposite to the fireplace, then 圧力（をかける） the 長，率いる inwards as if you were 押し進めるing it against the 塀で囲む behind. By doing this, you 始める，決める in 動議 the hidden 機械／機構 in the 塀で囲む which turns the hearthstone on a pivot, and 公表する／暴露するs the hollow place below. There is room enough in it for a man to 嘘（をつく） easily at 十分な length. The method of の近くにing the cavity again is 平等に simple. Place both your 手渡すs on the 寺s of the 人物／姿／数字s; pull as if you were pulling it に向かって you—and the hearthstone will 回転する into its proper position again.

'You need read no さらに先に,' said the Countess. 'Be careful to remember what you have read.'

She put 支援する the page of vellum in her 令状ing-desk, locked it, and led the way to the door.

'Come!' she said; 'and see what the mocking Frenchman called "The beginning of the end."'

Agnes was barely able to rise from her 議長，司会を務める; she trembled from 長，率いる to foot. Henry gave her his arm to support her. '恐れる nothing,' he whispered; 'I shall be with you.'

The Countess proceeded along the 西方の 回廊（地帯）, and stopped at the door numbered Thirty-eight. This was the room which had been 住むd by Baron Rivar in the old days of the palace: it was 据えるd すぐに over the bedchamber in which Agnes had passed the night. For the last two days the room had been empty. The absence of luggage in it, when they opened the door, showed that it had not yet been let.

'You see?' said the Countess, pointing to the carved 人物／姿／数字 at the 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place; 'and you know what to do. Have I deserved that you should temper 司法（官） with mercy?' she went on in lower トンs. 'Give me a few hours more to myself. The Baron wants money—I must get on with my play.'

She smiled vacantly, and imitated the 活動／戦闘 of 令状ing with her 権利 手渡す as she pronounced the last words. The 成果／努力 of concentrating her 弱めるd mind on other and いっそう少なく familiar topics than the constant want of money in the Baron's lifetime, and the vague prospect of 伸び（る） from the still unfinished play, had evidently exhausted her poor reserves of strength. When her request had been 認めるd, she 演説（する）／住所d no 表現s of 感謝 to Agnes; she only said, 'Feel no 恐れる, 行方不明になる, of my 試みる／企てるing to escape you. Where you are, there I must be till the end comes.'

Her 注目する，もくろむs wandered 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the room with a last 疲れた／うんざりした and stupefied look. She returned to her 令状ing with slow and feeble steps, like the steps of an old woman.

CHAPTER XXIV

Henry and Agnes were left alone in the Room of the Caryatides.

The person who had written the description of the palace—probably a poor author or artist—had 正確に pointed out the defects of the mantel-piece. Bad taste, 展示（する）ing itself on the most 高くつく／犠牲の大きい and splendid 規模, was 明白な in every part of the work. It was にもかかわらず 大いに admired by ignorant travellers of all classes; partly on account of its 課すing size, and partly on account of the number of variously-coloured marbles which the sculptor had contrived to introduce into his design. Photographs of the mantel-piece were 展示（する）d in the public rooms, and 設立する a ready sale の中で English and American 訪問者s to the hotel.

Henry led Agnes to the 人物／姿／数字 on the left, as they stood 直面するing the empty 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place. 'Shall I try the 実験,' he asked, 'or will you?' She 突然の drew her arm away from him, and turned 支援する to the door. 'I can't even look at it,' she said. 'That merciless marble 直面する 脅すs me!'

Henry put his 手渡す on the forehead of the 人物／姿／数字. 'What is there to alarm you, my dear, in this 慣例的に classical 直面する?' he asked jestingly. Before he could 圧力（をかける） the 長，率いる inwards, Agnes hurriedly opened the door. 'Wait till I am out of the room!' she cried. 'The 明らかにする idea of what you may find there horrifies me!' She looked 支援する into the room as she crossed the threshold. 'I won't leave you altogether,' she said, 'I will wait outside.'

She の近くにd the door. Left by himself, Henry 解除するd his 手渡す once more to the marble forehead of the 人物／姿／数字.

For the second time, he was checked on the point of setting the 機械／機構 of the hiding-place in 動議. On this occasion, the interruption （機の）カム from an 突発／発生 of friendly 発言する／表明するs in the 回廊（地帯）. A woman's 発言する／表明する exclaimed, 'Dearest Agnes, how glad I am to see you again!' A man's 発言する／表明する followed, 申し込む／申し出ing to introduce some friend to '行方不明になる Lockwood.' A third 発言する／表明する (which Henry recognised as the 発言する／表明する of the 経営者／支配人 of the hotel) became audible next, directing the housekeeper to show the ladies and gentlemen the 空いている apartments at the other end of the 回廊（地帯）. 'If more accommodation is 手配中の，お尋ね者,' the 経営者／支配人 went on, 'I have a charming room to let here.' He opened the door as he spoke, and 設立する himself 直面する to 直面する with Henry Westwick.

'This is indeed an agreeable surprise, sir!' said the 経営者／支配人 cheerfully. 'You are admiring our famous chimney-piece, I see. May I ask, Mr. Westwick, how you find yourself in the hotel, this time? Have the supernatural 影響（力）s 影響する／感情d your appetite again?'

'The supernatural 影響（力）s have spared me, this time,' Henry answered. 'Perhaps you may yet find that they have 影響する／感情d some other member of the family.' He spoke 厳粛に, resenting the familiar トン in which the 経営者／支配人 had referred to his previous visit to the hotel. 'Have you just returned?' he asked, by way of changing the topic.

'Just this minute, sir. I had the honour of travelling in the same train with friends of yours who have arrived at the hotel—Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Barville, and their travelling companions. 行方不明になる Lockwood is with them, looking at the rooms. They will be here before long, if they find it convenient to have an extra room at their 処分.'

This 告示 decided Henry on 調査するing the hiding-place, before the interruption occurred. It had crossed his mind, when Agnes left him, that he ought perhaps to have a 証言，証人／目撃する, in the not very probable event of some alarming 発見 taking place. The too-familiar 経営者／支配人, 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うing nothing, was there at his 処分. He turned again to the Caryan 人物／姿／数字, maliciously 解決するing to make the 経営者／支配人 his 証言，証人／目撃する.

'I am delighted to hear that our friends have arrived at last,' he said. 'Before I shake 手渡すs with them, let me ask you a question about this queer work of art here. I see photographs of it downstairs. Are they for sale?'

'Certainly, Mr. Westwick!'

'Do you think the chimney-piece is as solid as it looks?' Henry proceeded. 'When you （機の）カム in, I was just wondering whether this 人物／姿／数字 here had not accidentally got 緩和するd from the 塀で囲む behind it.' He laid his 手渡す on the marble forehead, for the third time. 'To my 注目する，もくろむ, it looks a little out of the perpendicular. I almost fancied I could jog the 長，率いる just now, when I touched it.' He 圧力（をかける）d the 長，率いる inwards as he said those words.

A sound of jarring アイロンをかける was 即時に audible behind the 塀で囲む. The solid hearthstone in 前線 of the 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place turned slowly at the feet of the two men, and 公表する／暴露するd a dark cavity below. At the same moment, the strange and sickening combination of odours, hitherto associated with the 丸天井s of the old palace and with the bed-議会 beneath, now floated up from the open 休会, and filled the room.

The 経営者／支配人 started 支援する. 'Good God, Mr. Westwick!' he exclaimed, 'what does this mean?'

Remembering, not only what his brother Francis had felt in the room beneath, but what the experience of Agnes had been on the previous night, Henry was 決定するd to be on his guard. 'I am as much surprised as you are,' was his only reply.

'Wait for me one moment, sir,' said the 経営者／支配人. 'I must stop the ladies and gentlemen outside from coming in.'

He hurried away—not forgetting to の近くに the door after him. Henry opened the window, and waited there breathing the purer 空気／公表する. Vague 逮捕s of the next 発見 to come, filled his mind for the first time. He was doubly 解決するd, now, not to 動かす a step in the 調査 without a 証言，証人／目撃する.

The 経営者／支配人 returned with a wax 次第に減少する in his 手渡す, which he lighted as soon as he entered the room.

'We need 恐れる no interruption now,' he said. 'Be so 肉親，親類d, Mr. Westwick, as to 持つ／拘留する the light. It is my 商売／仕事 to find out what this 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 発見 means.'

Henry held the 次第に減少する. Looking into the cavity, by the 薄暗い and flickering light, they both （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd a dark 反対する at the 底（に届く） of it. 'I think I can reach the thing,' the 経営者／支配人 発言／述べるd, 'if I 嘘（をつく） 負かす／撃墜する, and put my 手渡す into the 穴を開ける.'

He knelt on the 床に打ち倒す—and hesitated. 'Might I ask you, sir, to give me my gloves?' he said. 'They are in my hat, on the 議長，司会を務める behind you.'

Henry gave him the gloves. 'I don't know what I may be going to take 持つ／拘留する of,' the 経営者／支配人 explained, smiling rather uneasily as he put on his 権利 glove.

He stretched himself at 十分な length on the 床に打ち倒す, and passed his 権利 arm into the cavity. 'I can't say 正確に／まさに what I have got 持つ／拘留する of,' he said. 'But I have got it.'

Half raising himself, he drew his 手渡す out.

The next instant, he started to his feet with a shriek of terror. A human 長，率いる dropped from his nerveless しっかり掴む on the 床に打ち倒す, and rolled to Henry's feet. It was the hideous 長，率いる that Agnes had seen hovering above her, in the 見通し of the night!

The two men looked at each other, both struck speechless by the same emotion of horror. The 経営者／支配人 was the first to 支配（する）／統制する himself. 'See to the door, for God's sake!' he said. 'Some of the people outside may have heard me.'

Henry moved mechanically to the door.

Even when he had his 手渡す on the 重要な, ready to turn it in the lock in 事例／患者 of necessity, he still looked 支援する at the appalling 反対する on the 床に打ち倒す. There was no 可能性 of identifying those decayed and distorted features with any living creature whom he had seen—and, yet, he was conscious of feeling a vague and awful 疑問 which shook him to the soul. The questions which had 拷問d the mind of Agnes, were now his questions too. He asked himself, 'In whose likeness might I have recognised it before the decay 始める，決める in? The likeness of Ferrari? or the likeness of—?' He paused trembling, as Agnes had paused trembling before him. Agnes! The 指名する, of all women's 指名するs the dearest to him, was a terror to him now! What was he to say to her? What might be the consequence if he 信用d her with the terrible truth?

No footsteps approached the door; no 発言する／表明するs were audible outside. The travellers were still 占領するd in the rooms at the eastern end of the 回廊（地帯）.

In the 簡潔な／要約する interval that had passed, the 経営者／支配人 had 十分に 回復するd himself to be able to think once more of the first and 真っ先の 利益／興味s of his life—the 利益／興味s of the hotel. He approached Henry anxiously.

'If this frightful 発見 becomes known,' he said, 'the の近くにing of the hotel and the 廃虚 of the Company will be the 必然的な results. I feel sure that I can 信用 your discretion, sir, so far?'

'You can certainly 信用 me,' Henry answered. 'But surely discretion has its 限界s,' he 追加するd, 'after such a 発見 as we have made?'

The 経営者／支配人 understood that the 義務 which they 借りがあるd to the community, as honest and 法律-がまんするing men, was the 義務 to which Henry now referred. 'I will at once find the means,' he said, 'of 伝えるing the remains 個人として out of the house, and I will myself place them in the care of the police 当局. Will you leave the room with me? or do you not 反対する to keep watch here, and help me when I return?'

While he was speaking, the 発言する／表明するs of the travellers made themselves heard again at the end of the 回廊（地帯）. Henry 即時に 同意d to wait in the room. He shrank from 直面するing the 必然的な 会合 with Agnes if he showed himself in the 回廊（地帯） at that moment.

The 経営者／支配人 急いでd his 出発, in the hope of escaping notice. He was discovered by his guests before he could reach the 長，率いる of the stairs. Henry heard the 発言する／表明するs plainly as he turned the 重要な. While the terrible 演劇 of 発見 was in 進歩 on one 味方する of the door, trivial questions about the amusements of Venice, and facetious discussions on the 親族 長所s of French and Italian cookery, were 訴訟／進行 on the other. Little by little, the sound of the talking grew fainter. The 訪問者s, having arranged their 計画（する）s of amusement for the day, were on their way out of the hotel. In a minute or two, there was silence once more.

Henry turned to the window, thinking to relieve his mind by looking at the 有望な 見解（をとる） over the canal. He soon grew 疲れた／うんざりしたd of the familiar scene. The morbid fascination which seems to be 演習d by all horrible sights, drew him 支援する again to the 恐ろしい 反対する on the 床に打ち倒す.

Dream or reality, how had Agnes 生き残るd the sight of it? As the question passed through his mind, he noticed for the first time something lying on the 床に打ち倒す 近づく the 長，率いる. Looking closer, he perceived a thin little plate of gold, with three 誤った teeth 大（公）使館員d to it, which had 明らかに dropped out (緩和するd by the shock) when the 経営者／支配人 let the 長，率いる 落ちる on the 床に打ち倒す.

The importance of this 発見, and the necessity of not too readily communicating it to others, 即時に struck Henry. Here surely was a chance—if any chance remained—of identifying the shocking 遺物 of humanity which lay before him, the dumb 証言，証人／目撃する of a 罪，犯罪! 事実上の／代理 on this idea, he took 所有／入手 of the teeth, 目的ing to use them as a last means of 調査 when other 試みる／企てるs at 調査 had been tried and had failed.

He went 支援する again to the window: the 孤独 of the room began to 重さを計る on his spirits. As he looked out again at the 見解（をとる）, there was a soft knock at the door. He 急いでd to open it—and checked himself in the 行為／法令／行動する. A 疑問 occurred to him. Was it the 経営者／支配人 who had knocked? He called out, 'Who is there?'

The 発言する／表明する of Agnes answered him. 'Have you anything to tell me, Henry?'

He was hardly able to reply. 'Not just now,' he said, confusedly. '許す me if I don't open the door. I will speak to you a little later.'

The 甘い 発言する／表明する made itself heard again, pleading with him piteously. 'Don't leave me alone, Henry! I can't go 支援する to the happy people downstairs.'

How could he resist that 控訴，上告? He heard her sigh—he heard the rustling of her dress as she moved away in despair. The very thing that he had shrunk from doing but a few minutes since was the thing that he did now! He joined Agnes in the 回廊（地帯）. She turned as she heard him, and pointed, trembling, in the direction of the の近くにd room. 'Is it so terrible as that?' she asked faintly.

He put his arm 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her to support her. A thought （機の）カム to him as he looked at her, waiting in 疑問 and 恐れる for his reply. 'You shall know what I have discovered,' he said, 'if you will first put on your hat and cloak, and come out with me.'

She was 自然に surprised. 'Can you tell me your 反対する in going out?' she asked.

He owned what his 反対する was unreservedly. 'I want, before all things,' he said, 'to 満足させる your mind and 地雷, on the 支配する of Montbarry's death. I am going to take you to the doctor who …に出席するd him in his illness, and to the 領事 who followed him to the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な.'

Her 注目する，もくろむs 残り／休憩（する）d on Henry gratefully. 'Oh, how 井戸／弁護士席 you understand me!' she said. The 経営者／支配人 joined them at the same moment, on his way up the stairs. Henry gave him the 重要な of the room, and then called to the servants in the hall to have a gondola ready at the steps. 'Are you leaving the hotel?' the 経営者／支配人 asked. 'In search of 証拠,' Henry whispered, pointing to the 重要な. 'If the 当局 want me, I shall be 支援する in an hour.'

CHAPTER XXV

The day had 前進するd to evening. Lord Montbarry and the bridal party had gone to the オペラ. Agnes alone, pleading the excuse of 疲労，（軍の）雑役, remained at the hotel. Having kept up 外見s by …を伴ってing his friends to the theatre, Henry Westwick slipped away after the first 行為／法令／行動する, and joined Agnes in the 製図／抽選-room.

'Have you thought of what I said to you earlier in the day?' he asked, taking a 議長，司会を務める at her 味方する. 'Do you agree with me that the one dreadful 疑問 which 抑圧するd us both is at least 始める，決める at 残り／休憩（する）?'

Agnes shook her 長，率いる sadly. 'I wish I could agree with you, Henry—I wish I could honestly say that my mind is at 緩和する.'

The answer would have discouraged most men. Henry's patience (where Agnes was 関心d) was equal to any 需要・要求するs on it.

'If you will only look 支援する at the events of the day,' he said, 'you must surely 収容する／認める that we have not been 完全に baffled. Remember how Dr. Bruno 性質の／したい気がして of our 疑問s:—"After thirty years of 医療の practice, do you think I am likely to mistake the symptoms of death by bronchitis?" If ever there was an unanswerable question, there it is! Was the 領事's 証言 doubtful in any part of it? He called at the palace to 申し込む／申し出 his services, after 審理，公聴会 of Lord Montbarry's death; he arrived at the time when the 棺 was in the house; he himself saw the 死体 placed in it, and the lid screwed 負かす／撃墜する. The 証拠 of the priest is 平等に beyond 論争. He remained in the room with the 棺, reciting the 祈りs for the dead, until the funeral left the palace. 耐える all these 声明s in mind, Agnes; and how can you 否定する that the question of Montbarry's death and burial is a question 始める，決める at 残り／休憩（する）? We have really but one 疑問 left: we have still to ask ourselves whether the remains which I discovered are the remains of the lost 特使, or not. There is the 事例／患者, as I understand it. Have I 明言する／公表するd it 公正に／かなり?'

Agnes could not 否定する that he had 明言する／公表するd it 公正に／かなり.

'Then what 妨げるs you from experiencing the same sense of 救済 that I feel?' Henry asked.

'What I saw last night 妨げるs me,' Agnes answered. 'When we spoke of this 支配する, after our 調査s were over, you reproached me with taking what you called the superstitious 見解（をとる）. I don't やめる 収容する／認める that—but I do 認める that I should find the superstitious 見解（をとる） intelligible if I heard it 表明するd by some other person. Remembering what your brother and I once were to each other in the bygone time, I can understand the apparition making itself 明白な to me, to （人命などを）奪う，主張する the mercy of Christian burial, and the vengeance 予定 to a 罪，犯罪. I can even perceive some faint 可能性 of truth in the explanation which you 述べるd as the mesmeric theory—that what I saw might be the result of 磁石の 影響（力） communicated to me, as I lay between the remains of the 殺人d husband above me and the 有罪の wife 苦しむing the 拷問s of 悔恨 at my 病人の枕元. But what I do not understand is, that I should have passed through that dreadful ordeal; having no previous knowledge of the 殺人d man in his lifetime, or only knowing him (if you suppose that I saw the apparition of Ferrari) through the 利益／興味 which I took in his wife. I can't 論争 your 推論する／理由ing, Henry. But I feel in my heart of hearts that you are deceived. Nothing will shake my belief that we are still as far from having discovered the dreadful truth as ever.'

Henry made no その上の 試みる／企てる to 論争 with her. She had impressed him with a 確かな 気が進まない 尊敬（する）・点 for her own opinion, in spite of himself.

'Have you thought of any better way of arriving at the truth?' he asked. 'Who is to help us? No 疑問 there is the Countess, who has the 手がかり（を与える） to the mystery in her own 手渡すs. But, in the 現在の 明言する／公表する of her mind, is her 証言 to be 信用d—even if she were willing to speak? 裁判官ing by my own experience, I should say decidedly not.'

'You don't mean that you have seen her again?' Agnes 熱望して interposed.

'Yes. I 乱すd her once more over her endless 令状ing; and I 主張するd on her speaking out plainly.'

'Then you told her what you 設立する when you opened the hiding-place?'

'Of course I did!' Henry replied. 'I said that I held her 責任がある the 発見, though I had not について言及するd her 関係 with it to the 当局 as yet. She went on with her 令状ing as if I had spoken in an unknown tongue! I was 平等に obstinate, on my 味方する. I told her plainly that the 長，率いる had been placed under the care of the police, and that the 経営者／支配人 and I had 調印するd our 宣言s and given our 証拠. She paid not the slightest 注意する to me. By way of tempting her to speak, I 追加するd that the whole 調査 was to be kept a secret, and that she might depend on my discretion. For the moment I thought I had 後継するd. She looked up from her 令状ing with a passing flash of curiosity, and said, "What are they going to do with it?"—meaning, I suppose, the 長，率いる. I answered that it was to be 個人として buried, after photographs of it had first been taken. I even went the length of communicating the opinion of the 外科医 協議するd, that some 化学製品 means of 逮捕（する）ing decomposition had been used and had only 部分的に／不公平に 後継するd—and I asked her point-blank if the 外科医 was 権利? The 罠（にかける） was not a bad one—but it 完全に failed. She said in the coolest manner, "Now you are here, I should like to 協議する you about my play; I am at a loss for some new 出来事/事件s." Mind! there was nothing satirical in this. She was really eager to read her wonderful work to me—evidently supposing that I took a special 利益／興味 in such things, because my brother is the 経営者／支配人 of a theatre! I left her, making the first excuse that occurred to me. So far as I am 関心d, I can do nothing with her. But it is possible that your 影響（力） may 後継する with her again, as it has 後継するd already. Will you make the 試みる／企てる, to 満足させる your own mind? She is still upstairs; and I am やめる ready to …を伴って you.'

Agnes shuddered at the 明らかにする suggestion of another interview with the Countess.

'I can't! I daren't!' she exclaimed. 'After what has happened in that horrible room, she is more repellent to me than ever. Don't ask me to do it, Henry! Feel my 手渡す—you have turned me as 冷淡な as death only with talking of it!'

She was not 誇張するing the terror that 所有するd her. Henry 急いでd to change the 支配する.

'Let us talk of something more 利益／興味ing,' he said. 'I have a question to ask you about yourself. Am I 権利 in believing that the sooner you get away from Venice the happier you will be?'

'権利?' she repeated excitedly. 'You are more than 権利! No words can say how I long to be away from this horrible place. But you know how I am 据えるd—you heard what Lord Montbarry said at dinner-time?'

'Suppose he has altered his 計画（する）s, since dinner-time?' Henry 示唆するd.

Agnes looked surprised. 'I thought he had received letters from England which 強いるd him to leave Venice to-morrow,' she said.

'やめる true,' Henry 認める. 'He had arranged to start for England to-morrow, and to leave you and Lady Montbarry and the children to enjoy your holiday in Venice, under my care. Circumstances have occurred, however, which have 軍隊d him to alter his 計画（する）s. He must take you all 支援する with him to-morrow because I am not able to assume the 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of you. I am 強いるd to give up my holiday in Italy, and return to England too.'

Agnes looked at him in some little perplexity: she was not やめる sure whether she understood him or not.

'Are you really 強いるd to go 支援する?' she asked.

Henry smiled as he answered her. 'Keep the secret,' he said, 'or Montbarry will never 許す me!'

She read the 残り／休憩（する） in his 直面する. 'Oh!' she exclaimed, blushing brightly, 'you have not given up your pleasant holiday in Italy on my account?'

'I shall go 支援する with you to England, Agnes. That will be holiday enough for me.'

She took his 手渡す in an irrepressible 爆発 of 感謝. 'How good you are to me!' she murmured tenderly. 'What should I have done in the troubles that have come to me, without your sympathy? I can't tell you, Henry, how I feel your 親切.'

She tried impulsively to 解除する his 手渡す to her lips. He gently stopped her. 'Agnes,' he said, 'are you beginning to understand how truly I love you?'

That simple question 設立する its own way to her heart. She owned the whole truth, without 説 a word. She looked at him—and then looked away again.

He drew her nearer to him. 'My own darling!' he whispered—and kissed her. Softly and tremulously, the 甘い lips ぐずぐず残るd, and touched his lips in return. Then her 長，率いる drooped. She put her 武器 一連の会議、交渉／完成する his neck, and hid her 直面する on his bosom. They spoke no more.

The charmed silence had lasted but a little while, when it was mercilessly broken by a knock at the door.

Agnes started to her feet. She placed herself at the piano; the 器具 存在 opposite to the door, it was impossible, when she seated herself on the music-stool, for any person entering the room to see her 直面する. Henry called out irritably, 'Come in.'

The door was not opened. The person on the other 味方する of it asked a strange question.

'Is Mr. Henry Westwick alone?'

Agnes 即時に recognised the 発言する／表明する of the Countess. She hurried to a second door, which communicated with one of the bedrooms. 'Don't let her come 近づく me!' she whispered nervously. 'Good night, Henry! good night!'

If Henry could, by an 成果／努力 of will, have 輸送（する）d the Countess to the uttermost ends of the earth, he would have made the 成果／努力 without 悔恨. As it was, he only repeated, more irritably than ever, 'Come in!'

She entered the room slowly with her everlasting manuscript in her 手渡す. Her step was unsteady; a dark 紅潮／摘発する appeared on her 直面する, in place of its customary pallor; her 注目する，もくろむs were bloodshot and 広範囲にわたって dilated. In approaching Henry, she showed a strange incapability of calculating her distances—she struck against the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する 近づく which he happened to be sitting. When she spoke, her articulation was 混乱させるd, and her pronunciation of some of the longer words was hardly intelligible. Most men would have 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd her of 存在 under the 影響（力） of some intoxicating アルコール飲料. Henry took a truer 見解（をとる）—he said, as he placed a 議長，司会を務める for her, 'Countess, I am afraid you have been working too hard: you look as if you 手配中の，お尋ね者 残り／休憩（する）.'

She put her 手渡す to her 長，率いる. 'My 発明 has gone,' she said. 'I can't 令状 my fourth 行為／法令／行動する. It's all a blank—all a blank!'

Henry advised her to wait till the next day. 'Go to bed,' he 示唆するd; and try to sleep.'

She waved her 手渡す impatiently. 'I must finish the play,' she answered. 'I only want a hint from you. You must know something about plays. Your brother has got a theatre. You must often have heard him talk about fourth and fifth 行為／法令／行動するs—you must have seen rehearsals, and all the 残り／休憩（する） of it.' She 突然の thrust the manuscript into Henry's 手渡す. 'I can't read it to you,' she said; 'I feel giddy when I look at my own 令状ing. Just run your 注目する，もくろむ over it, there's a good fellow—and give me a hint.'

Henry ちらりと見ることd at the manuscript. He happened to look at the 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of the persons of the 演劇. As he read the 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） he started and turned 突然の to the Countess, ーするつもりであるing to ask her for some explanation. The words were 一時停止するd on his lips. It was but too plainly useless to speak to her. Her 長，率いる lay 支援する on the rail of the 議長，司会を務める. She seemed to be half asleep already. The 紅潮／摘発する on her 直面する had 深くするd: she looked like a woman who was in danger of having a fit.

He rang the bell, and directed the man who answered it to send one of the chambermaids upstairs. His 発言する／表明する seemed to 部分的に／不公平に rouse the Countess; she opened her 注目する，もくろむs in a slow drowsy way. 'Have you read it?' she asked.

It was necessary as a mere 行為／法令／行動する of humanity to humour her. 'I will read it willingly,' said Henry, 'if you will go upstairs to bed. You shall hear what I think of it to-morrow morning. Our 長，率いるs will be clearer, we shall be better able to make the fourth 行為／法令／行動する in the morning.'

The chambermaid （機の）カム in while he was speaking. 'I am afraid the lady is ill,' Henry whispered. 'Take her up to her room.' The woman looked at the Countess and whispered 支援する, 'Shall we send for a doctor, sir?'

Henry advised taking her upstairs first, and then asking the 経営者／支配人's opinion. There was 広大な／多数の／重要な difficulty in 説得するing her to rise, and 受託する the support of the chambermaid's arm. It was only by 繰り返し言うd 約束s to read the play that night, and to make the fourth 行為／法令／行動する in the morning, that Henry 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるd on the Countess to return to her room.

Left to himself, he began to feel a 確かな languid curiosity in relation to the manuscript. He looked over the pages, reading a line here and a line there. Suddenly he changed colour as he read—and looked up from the manuscript like a man bewildered. 'Good God! what does this mean?' he said to himself.

His 注目する，もくろむs turned nervously to the door by which Agnes had left him. She might return to the 製図／抽選-room, she might want to see what the Countess had written. He looked 支援する again at the passage which had startled him—considered with himself for a moment—and, snatching up the unfinished play, suddenly and softly left the room.

CHAPTER XXVI

Entering his own room on the upper 床に打ち倒す, Henry placed the manuscript on his （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, open at the first leaf. His 神経s were unquestionably shaken; his 手渡す trembled as he turned the pages, he started at chance noises on the staircase of the hotel.

The シナリオ, or 輪郭（を描く）, of the Countess's play began with no formal prefatory phrases. She 現在のd herself and her work with the 平易な familiarity of an old friend.

'許す me, dear Mr. Francis Westwick, to introduce to you the persons in my 提案するd Play. Behold them, arranged symmetrically in a line.

'My Lord. The Baron. The 特使. The Doctor. The Countess.

'I don't trouble myself, you see, to 投資する fictitious family 指名するs. My characters are 十分に distinguished by their social 肩書を与えるs, and by the striking contrast which they 現在の one with another.

The First 行為／法令／行動する opens—

'No! Before I open the First 行為／法令／行動する, I must 発表する, 不正 to myself, that this Play is 完全に the work of my own 発明. I 軽蔑（する） to borrow from actual events; and, what is more 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の still, I have not stolen one of my ideas from the Modern French 演劇. As the 経営者／支配人 of an English theatre, you will 自然に 辞退する to believe this. It doesn't 事柄. Nothing 事柄s—except the 開始 of my first 行為／法令／行動する.

'We are at Homburg, in the famous Salon d'Or, at the 高さ of the season. The Countess (exquisitely dressed) is seated at the green （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. Strangers of all nations are standing behind the players, 投機・賭けるing their money or only looking on. My Lord is の中で the strangers. He is struck by the Countess's personal 外見, in which beauties and defects are fantastically mingled in the most attractive manner. He watches the Countess's game, and places his money where he sees her deposit her own little 火刑／賭ける. She looks 一連の会議、交渉／完成する at him, and says, "Don't 信用 to my colour; I have been unlucky the whole evening. Place your 火刑／賭ける on the other colour, and you may have a chance of winning." My Lord (a true Englishman) blushes, 屈服するs, and obeys. The Countess 証明するs to be a prophet. She loses again. My Lord 勝利，勝つs twice the sum that he has 危険d.

'The Countess rises from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. She has no more money, and she 申し込む／申し出s my Lord her 議長，司会を務める.

'Instead of taking it, he politely places his winnings in her 手渡す, and begs her to 受託する the 貸付金 as a favour to himself. The Countess 火刑／賭けるs again, and loses again. My Lord smiles superbly, and 圧力（をかける）s a second 貸付金 on her. From that moment her luck turns. She 勝利，勝つs, and 勝利，勝つs 大部分は. Her brother, the Baron, trying his fortune in another room, hears of what is going on, and joins my Lord and the Countess.

'支払う／賃金 attention, if you please, to the Baron. He is delineated as a remarkable and 利益／興味ing character.

'This noble person has begun life with a 選び出す／独身-minded devotion to the science of 実験の chemistry, very surprising in a young and handsome man with a brilliant 未来 before him. A 深遠な knowledge of the occult sciences has 説得するd the Baron that it is possible to solve the famous problem called the "Philosopher's 石／投石する." His own pecuniary 資源s have long since been exhausted by his 高くつく／犠牲の大きい 実験s. His sister has next 供給（する）d him with the small fortune at her 処分: reserving only the family jewels, placed in the 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of her 銀行業者 and friend at Frankfort. The Countess's fortune also 存在 swallowed up, the Baron has in a 致命的な moment sought for new 供給（する）s at the gaming （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. He 証明するs, at starting on his perilous career, to be a favourite of fortune; 勝利，勝つs 大部分は, and, 式のs! profanes his noble enthusiasm for science by 産する／生じるing his soul to the all-debasing passion of the gamester.

'At the period of the Play, the Baron's good fortune has 砂漠d him. He sees his way to a 栄冠を与えるing 実験 in the 致命的な search after the secret of transmuting the baser elements into gold. But how is he to 支払う／賃金 the 予選 expenses? 運命, like a mocking echo, answers, How?

'Will his sister's winnings (with my Lord's money) 証明する large enough to help him? Eager for this result, he gives the Countess his advice how to play. From that 悲惨な moment the 感染 of his own 逆の fortune spreads to his sister. She loses again, and again—loses to the last farthing.

'The amiable and 豊富な Lord 申し込む／申し出s a third 貸付金; but the scrupulous Countess 前向きに／確かに 辞退するs to take it. On leaving the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, she 現在のs her brother to my Lord. The gentlemen 落ちる into pleasant talk. My Lord asks leave to 支払う／賃金 his 尊敬（する）・点s to the Countess, the next morning, at her hotel. The Baron hospitably 招待するs him to breakfast. My Lord 受託するs, with a last admiring ちらりと見ること at the Countess which does not escape her brother's 観察, and takes his leave for the night.

'Alone with his sister, the Baron speaks out plainly. "Our 事件／事情／状勢s," he says, "are in a desperate 条件, and must find a desperate 治療（薬）. Wait for me here, while I make 調査s about my Lord. You have evidently produced a strong impression on him. If we can turn that impression into money, no 事柄 at what sacrifice, the thing must be done."

'The Countess now 占領するs the 行う／開催する／段階 alone, and indulges in a soliloquy which develops her character.

'It is at once a dangerous and attractive character. 巨大な capacities for good are implanted in her nature, 味方する by 味方する with 平等に remarkable capacities for evil. It 残り／休憩（する）s with circumstances to develop either the one or the other. 存在 a person who produces a sensation wherever she goes, this noble lady is 自然に made the 支配する of all sorts of scandalous 報告（する）／憶測s. To one of these 報告（する）／憶測s (which 誤って and abominably points to the Baron as her lover instead of her brother) she now 言及するs with just indignation. She has just 表明するd her 願望（する） to leave Homburg, as the place in which the vile calumny first took its rise, when the Baron returns, overhears her last words, and says to her, "Yes, leave Homburg by all means; 供給するd you leave it in the character of my Lord's betrothed wife!"

'The Countess is startled and shocked. She 抗議するs that she does not 報いる my Lord's 賞賛 for her. She even goes the length of 辞退するing to see him again. The Baron answers, "I must 前向きに／確かに have 命令（する） of money. Take your choice, between marrying my Lord's income, in the 利益／興味 of my grand 発見—or leave me to sell myself and my 肩書を与える to the first rich woman of low degree who is ready to buy me."

'The Countess listens in surprise and 狼狽. Is it possible that the Baron is in earnest? He is horribly in earnest. "The woman who will buy me," he says, "is in the next room to us at this moment. She is the 豊富な 未亡人 of a ユダヤ人の usurer. She has the money I want to reach the 解答 of the 広大な／多数の／重要な problem. I have only to be that woman's husband, and to make myself master of untold millions of gold. Take five minutes to consider what I have said to you, and tell me on my return which of us is to marry for the money I want, you or I."

'As he turns away, the Countess stops him.

'All the noblest 感情s in her nature are exalted to the highest pitch. "Where is the true woman," she exclaims, "who wants time to consummate the sacrifice of herself, when the man to whom she is 充てるd 需要・要求するs it? She does not want five minutes—she does not want five seconds—she 持つ／拘留するs out her 手渡す to him, and she says, Sacrifice me on the altar of your glory! Take as stepping-石／投石するs on the way to your 勝利, my love, my liberty, and my life!"

'On this grand 状況／情勢 the curtain 落ちるs. 裁判官ing by my first 行為／法令／行動する, Mr. Westwick, tell me truly, and don't be afraid of turning my 長，率いる:—Am I not 有能な of 令状ing a good play?'

Henry paused between the First and Second 行為／法令／行動するs; 反映するing, not on the 長所s of the play, but on the strange resemblance which the 出来事/事件s so far 現在のd to the 出来事/事件s that had …に出席するd the 悲惨な marriage of the first Lord Montbarry.

Was it possible that the Countess, in the 現在の 条件 of her mind, supposed herself to be 演習ing her 発明 when she was only 演習ing her memory?

The question 伴う／関わるd considerations too serious to be made the 支配する of a 迅速な 決定／判定勝ち（する）. Reserving his opinion, Henry turned the page, and 充てるd himself to the reading of the next 行為／法令／行動する. The manuscript proceeded as follows:—

*

'The Second 行為／法令／行動する opens at Venice. An interval of four months has elapsed since the date of the scene at the 賭事ing （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. The 活動／戦闘 now takes place in the 歓迎会-room of one of the Venetian palaces.

'The Baron is discovered, alone, on the 行う／開催する／段階. He 逆戻りするs to the events which have happened since the の近くに of the First 行為／法令／行動する. The Countess has sacrificed herself; the mercenary marriage has taken place—but not without 障害s, 原因（となる）d by difference of opinion on the question of marriage 解決／入植地s.

'私的な 調査s, 学校／設けるd in England, have 知らせるd the Baron that my Lord's income is derived 主として from what is called entailed 所有物／資産／財産. In 事例／患者 of 事故s, he is surely bound to do something for his bride? Let him, for example, insure his life, for a sum 提案するd by the Baron, and let him so settle the money that his 未亡人 shall have it, if he dies first.

'My Lord hesitates. The Baron wastes no time in useless discussion. "Let us by all means" (he says) "consider the marriage as broken off." My Lord 転換s his ground, and 嘆願d for a smaller sum than the sum 提案するd. The Baron 簡潔に replies, "I never 取引." My lord is in love; the natural result follows—he gives way.

'So far, the Baron has no 原因（となる） to complain. But my Lord's turn comes, when the marriage has been celebrated, and when the honeymoon is over. The Baron has joined the married pair at a palace which they have 雇うd in Venice. He is still bent on solving the problem of the "Philosopher's 石／投石する." His 研究室／実験室 is 始める，決める up in the 丸天井s beneath the palace—so that smells from 化学製品 実験s may not incommode the Countess, in the higher 地域s of the house. The one 障害 in the way of his grand 発見 is, as usual, the want of money. His position at the 現在の time has become truly 批判的な. He 借りがあるs 負債s of honour to gentlemen in his own 階級 of life, which must 前向きに／確かに be paid; and he 提案するs, in his own friendly manner, to borrow the money of my Lord. My Lord 前向きに／確かに 辞退するs, in the rudest 条件. The Baron 適用するs to his sister to 演習 her conjugal 影響（力）. She can only answer that her noble husband (存在 no longer distractedly in love with her) now appears in his true character, as one of the meanest men living. The sacrifice of the marriage has been made, and has already 証明するd useless.

'Such is the 明言する／公表する of 事件／事情／状勢s at the 開始 of the Second 行為／法令／行動する.

'The 入り口 of the Countess suddenly 乱すs the Baron's reflections. She is in a 明言する／公表する 国境ing on frenzy. Incoherent 表現s of 激怒（する） burst from her lips: it is some time before she can 十分に 支配（する）／統制する herself to speak plainly. She has been doubly 侮辱d—first, by a menial person in her 雇用; secondly, by her husband. Her maid, an Englishwoman, has 宣言するd that she will serve the Countess no longer. She will give up her 給料, and return at once to England. 存在 asked her 推論する／理由 for this strange 訴訟／進行, she insolently hints that the Countess's service is no service for an honest woman, since the Baron has entered the house. The Countess does, what any lady in her position would do; she indignantly 解任するs the wretch on the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す.

'My Lord, 審理，公聴会 his wife's 発言する／表明する raised in 怒り／怒る, leaves the 熟考する／考慮する in which he is accustomed to shut himself up over his 調書をとる／予約するs, and asks what this 騒動 means. The Countess 知らせるs him of the outrageous language and 行為／行う of her maid. My Lord not only 宣言するs his entire 是認 of the woman's 行為／行う, but 表明するs his own abominable 疑問s of his wife's fidelity in language of such horrible brutality that no lady could 汚染する her lips by repeating it. "If I had been a man," the Countess says, "and if I had had a 武器 in my 手渡す, I would have struck him dead at my feet!"

'The Baron, listening silently so far, now speaks. "許す me to finish the 宣告，判決 for you," he says. "You would have struck your husband dead at your feet; and by that 無分別な 行為／法令／行動する, you would have 奪うd yourself of the 保険 money settled on the 未亡人—the very money which is 手配中の，お尋ね者 to relieve your brother from the unendurable pecuniary position which he now 占領するs!"

'The Countess 厳粛に reminds the Baron that this is no joking 事柄. After what my Lord has said to her, she has little 疑問 that he will communicate his 悪名高い 疑惑s to his lawyers in England. If nothing is done to 妨げる it, she may be 離婚d and 不名誉d, and thrown on the world, with no 資源 but the sale of her jewels to keep her from 餓死するing.

'At this moment, the 特使 who has been engaged to travel with my Lord from England crosses the 行う／開催する／段階 with a letter to take to the 地位，任命する. The Countess stops him, and asks to look at the 演説（する）／住所 on the letter. She takes it from him for a moment, and shows it to her brother. The handwriting is my Lord's; and the letter is directed to his lawyers in London.

'The 特使 proceeds to the 地位，任命する-office. The Baron and the Countess look at each other in silence. No words are needed. They 完全に understand the position in which they are placed; they 明確に see the terrible 治療（薬） for it. What is the plain 代案／選択肢 before them? 不名誉 and 廃虚—or, my Lord's death and the 保険 money!

'The Baron walks backwards and 今後s in 広大な／多数の／重要な agitation, talking to himself. The Countess hears fragments of what he is 説. He speaks of my Lord's 憲法, probably 弱めるd in India—of a 冷淡な which my Lord has caught two or three days since—of the remarkable manner in which such slight things as 冷淡なs いつかs end in serious illness and death.

'He 観察するs that the Countess is listening to him, and asks if she has anything to 提案する. She is a woman who, with many defects, has the 広大な／多数の／重要な 長所 of speaking out. "Is there no such thing as a serious illness," she asks, "corked up in one of those 瓶／封じ込めるs of yours in the 丸天井s downstairs?"

'The Baron answers by 厳粛に shaking his 長，率いる. What is he afraid of?—a possible examination of the 団体／死体 after death? No: he can 始める，決める any 地位，任命する-mortem examination at 反抗. It is the 過程 of 治めるing the 毒（薬） that he dreads. A man so distinguished as my Lord cannot be taken 本気で ill without 医療の 出席. Where there is a Doctor, there is always danger of 発見. Then, again, there is the 特使, faithful to my Lord as long as my Lord 支払う／賃金s him. Even if the Doctor sees nothing 怪しげな, the 特使 may discover something. The 毒（薬）, to do its work with the necessary secrecy, must be 繰り返して 治めるd in 卒業生（する）d doses. One trifling miscalculation or mistake may rouse 疑惑. The 保険 offices may hear of it, and may 辞退する to 支払う／賃金 the money. As things are, the Baron will not 危険 it, and will not 許す his sister to 危険 it in his place.

'My Lord himself is the next character who appears. He has 繰り返して rung for the 特使, and the bell has not been answered. "What does this insolence mean?"

'The Countess (speaking with 静かな dignity—for why should her 悪名高い husband have the satisfaction of knowing how 深く，強烈に he has 負傷させるd her?) reminds my Lord that the 特使 has gone to the 地位，任命する. My Lord asks suspiciously if she has looked at the letter. The Countess 知らせるs him coldly that she has no curiosity about his letters. Referring to the 冷淡な from which he is 苦しむing, she 問い合わせs if he thinks of 協議するing a 医療の man. My Lord answers 概略で that he is やめる old enough to be 有能な of doctoring himself.

'As he makes this reply, the 特使 appears, returning from the 地位，任命する. My Lord gives him orders to go out again and buy some lemons. He 提案するs to try hot lemonade as a means of inducing perspiration in bed. In that way he has 以前は cured 冷淡なs, and in that way he will cure the 冷淡な from which he is 苦しむing now.

'The 特使 obeys in silence. 裁判官ing by 外見s, he goes very reluctantly on this second errand.

'My Lord turns to the Baron (who has thus far taken no part in the conversation) and asks him, in a sneering トン, how much longer he 提案するs to 長引かせる his stay in Venice. The Baron answers 静かに, "Let us speak plainly to one another, my Lord. If you wish me to leave your house, you have only to say the word, and I go." My Lord turns to his wife, and asks if she can support the calamity of her brother's absence—laying a grossly 侮辱ing 強調 on the word "brother." The Countess 保存するs her impenetrable composure; nothing in her betrays the deadly 憎悪 with which she regards the 肩書を与えるd ruffian who has 侮辱d her. "You are master in this house, my Lord," is all she says. "Do as you please."

'My Lord looks at his wife; looks at the Baron—and suddenly alters his トン. Does he perceive in the composure of the Countess and her brother something lurking under the surface that 脅すs him? This is at least 確かな , he makes a clumsy 陳謝 for the language that he has used. (Abject wretch!)

'My Lord's excuses are interrupted by the return of the 特使 with the lemons and hot water.

'The Countess 観察するs for the first time that the man looks ill. His 手渡すs tremble as he places the tray on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. My Lord orders his 特使 to follow him, and make the lemonade in the bedroom. The Countess 発言／述べるs that the 特使 seems hardly 有能な of obeying his orders. 審理，公聴会 this, the man 収容する／認めるs that he is ill. He, too, is 苦しむing from a 冷淡な; he has been kept waiting in a draught at the shop where he bought the lemons; he feels alternately hot and 冷淡な, and he begs 許可 to 嘘（をつく） 負かす／撃墜する for a little while on his bed.

'Feeling her humanity 控訴，上告d to, the Countess volunteers to make the lemonade herself. My Lord takes the 特使 by the arm, leads him aside, and whispers these words to him: "Watch her, and see that she puts nothing into the lemonade; then bring it to me with your own 手渡すs; and, then, go to bed, if you like."

'Without a word more to his wife, or to the Baron, my Lord leaves the room.

'The Countess makes the lemonade, and the 特使 takes it to his master.

'Returning, on the way to his own room, he is so weak, and feels, he says, so giddy, that he is 強いるd to support himself by the 支援するs of the 議長，司会を務めるs as he passes them. The Baron, always considerate to persons of low degree, 申し込む／申し出s his arm. "I am afraid, my poor fellow," he says, "that you are really ill." The 特使 makes this 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の answer: "It's all over with me, Sir: I have caught my death."

'The Countess is 自然に startled. "You are not an old man," she says, trying to rouse the 特使's spirits. "At your age, catching 冷淡な doesn't surely mean catching your death?" The 特使 直す／買収する，八百長をするs his 注目する，もくろむs despairingly on the Countess.

'"My 肺s are weak, my Lady," he says; "I have already had two attacks of bronchitis. The second time, a 広大な／多数の／重要な 内科医 joined my own doctor in 出席 on me. He considered my 回復 almost in the light of a 奇蹟. Take care of yourself," he said. "If you have a third attack of bronchitis, as certainly as two and two make four, you will be a dead man. I feel the same inward shivering, my Lady, that I felt on those two former occasions—and I tell you again, I have caught my death in Venice."

'Speaking some 慰安ing words, the Baron leads him to his room. The Countess is left alone on the 行う／開催する／段階.

'She seats herself, and looks に向かって the door by which the 特使 has been led out. "Ah! my poor fellow," she says, "if you could only change 憲法s with my Lord, what a happy result would follow for the Baron and for me! If you could only get cured of a trumpery 冷淡な with a little hot lemonade, and if he could only catch his death in your place—!"

'She suddenly pauses—considers for a while—and springs to her feet, with a cry of 勝利を得た surprise: the wonderful, the unparalleled idea has crossed her mind like a flash of 雷. Make the two men change 指名するs and places—and the 行為 is done! Where are the 障害s? 除去する my Lord (by fair means or foul) from his room; and keep him 内密に 囚人 in the palace, to live or die as 未来 necessity may 決定する. Place the 特使 in the 空いている bed, and call in the doctor to see him—ill, in my Lord's character, and (if he dies) dying under my Lord's 指名する!'

*

The manuscript dropped from Henry's 手渡すs. A sickening sense of horror overpowered him. The question which had occurred to his mind at the の近くに of the First 行為／法令／行動する of the Play assumed a new and terrible 利益／興味 now. As far as the scene of the Countess's soliloquy, the 出来事/事件s of the Second 行為／法令／行動する had 反映するd the events of his late brother's life as faithfully as the 出来事/事件s of the First 行為／法令／行動する. Was the monstrous 陰謀（を企てる）, 明らかにする／漏らすd in the lines which he had just read, the offspring of the Countess's morbid imagination? or had she, in this 事例／患者 also, deluded herself with the idea that she was inventing when she was really 令状ing under the 影響（力） of her own 有罪の remembrances of the past? If the latter 解釈／通訳 were the true one, he had just read the narrative of the 熟視する／熟考するd 殺人 of his brother, planned in 冷淡な 血 by a woman who was at that moment 住むing the same house with him. While, to make the fatality 完全にする, Agnes herself had innocently 供給するd the conspirators with the one man who was fitted to be the passive スパイ／執行官 of their 罪，犯罪.

Even the 明らかにする 疑問 that it might be so was more than he could 耐える. He left his room; 解決するd to 軍隊 the truth out of the Countess, or to 公然と非難する her before the 当局 as a murderess 捕まらないで.

Arrived at her door, he was met by a person just leaving the room. The person was the 経営者／支配人. He was hardly recognisable; he looked and spoke like a man in a 明言する／公表する of desperation.

'Oh, go in, if you like!' he said to Henry. '示す this, sir! I am not a superstitious man; but I do begin to believe that 罪，犯罪s carry their own 悪口を言う／悪態 with them. This hotel is under a 悪口を言う／悪態. What happens in the morning? We discover a 罪，犯罪 committed in the old days of the palace. The night comes, and brings another dreadful event with it—a death; a sudden and shocking death, in the house. Go in, and see for yourself! I shall 辞職する my 状況／情勢, Mr. Westwick: I can't 競う with the fatalities that 追求する me here!'

Henry entered the room.

The Countess was stretched on her bed. The doctor on one 味方する, and the chambermaid on the other, were standing looking at her. From time to time, she drew a 激しい stertorous breath, like a person 抑圧するd in sleeping. 'Is she likely to die?' Henry asked.

'She is dead,' the doctor answered. 'Dead of the 決裂 of a 血-大型船 on the brain. Those sounds that you hear are 純粋に mechanical—they may go on for hours.'

Henry looked at the chambermaid. She had little to tell. The Countess had 辞退するd to go to bed, and had placed herself at her desk to proceed with her 令状ing. Finding it useless to remonstrate with her, the maid had left the room to speak to the 経営者／支配人. In the shortest possible time, the doctor was 召喚するd to the hotel, and 設立する the Countess dead on the 床に打ち倒す. There was this to tell—and no more.

Looking at the 令状ing-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する as he went out, Henry saw the sheet of paper on which the Countess had traced her last lines of 令状ing. The characters were almost illegible. Henry could just distinguish the words, 'First 行為／法令／行動する,' and 'Persons of the 演劇.' The lost wretch had been thinking of her Play to the last, and had begun it all over again!

CHAPTER XXVII

Henry returned to his room.

His first impulse was to throw aside the manuscript, and never to look at it again. The one chance of relieving his mind from the dreadful 不確定 that 抑圧するd it, by 得るing 肯定的な 証拠 of the truth, was a chance 絶滅するd by the Countess's death. What good 目的 could be served, what 救済 could he 心配する, if he read more?

He walked up and 負かす／撃墜する the room. After an interval, his thoughts took a new direction; the question of the manuscript 現在のd itself under another point of 見解（をとる）. Thus far, his reading had only 知らせるd him that the 共謀 had been planned. How did he know that the 計画（する） had been put in 死刑執行?

The manuscript lay just before him on the 床に打ち倒す. He hesitated; then 選ぶd it up; and, returning to the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, read on as follows, from the point at which he had left off.

'While the Countess is still 吸収するd in the bold yet simple combination of circumstances which she has discovered, the Baron returns. He takes a serious 見解（をとる） of the 事例／患者 of the 特使; it may be necessary, he thinks, to send for 医療の advice. No servant is left in the palace, now the English maid has taken her 出発. The Baron himself must fetch the doctor, if the doctor is really needed.

'"Let us have 医療の help, by all means," his sister replies. "But wait and hear something that I have to say to you first." She then electrifies the Baron by communicating her idea to him. What danger of 発見 have they to dread? My Lord's life in Venice has been a life of 絶対の seclusion: nobody but his 銀行業者 knows him, even by personal 外見. He has 現在のd his letter of credit as a perfect stranger; and he and his 銀行業者 have never seen each other since that first visit. He has given no parties, and gone to no parties. On the few occasions when he has 雇うd a gondola or taken a walk, he has always been alone. Thanks to the atrocious 疑惑 which makes him ashamed of 存在 seen with his wife, he has led the very life which makes the 提案するd 企業 平易な of 業績／成就.

'The 用心深い Baron listens—but gives no 肯定的な opinion, as yet. "See what you can do with the 特使," he says; "and I will decide when I hear the result. One 価値のある hint I may give you before you go. Your man is easily tempted by money—if you only 申し込む／申し出 him enough. The other day, I asked him, in jest, what he would do for a thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs. He answered, 'Anything.' 耐える that in mind; and 申し込む／申し出 your highest 企て，努力，提案 without 取引ing."

'The scene changes to the 特使's room, and shows the poor wretch with a photographic portrait of his wife in his 手渡す, crying. The Countess enters.

'She wisely begins by sympathising with her 熟視する／熟考するd 共犯者. He is duly 感謝する; he confides his 悲しみs to his gracious mistress. Now that he believes himself to be on his death-bed, he feels 悔恨 for his neglectful 治療 of his wife. He could 辞職する himself to die; but despair overpowers him when he remembers that he has saved no money, and that he will leave his 未亡人, without 資源s, to the mercy of the world.

'On this hint, the Countess speaks. "Suppose you were asked to do a perfectly 平易な thing," she says; "and suppose you were rewarded for doing it by a 現在の of a thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs, as a 遺産／遺物 for your 未亡人?"

'The 特使 raises himself on his pillow, and looks at the Countess with an 表現 of incredulous surprise. She can hardly be cruel enough (he thinks) to joke with a man in his 哀れな 苦境. Will she say plainly what this perfectly 平易な thing is, the doing of which will 会合，会う with such a magnificent reward?

'The Countess answers that question by confiding her 事業／計画（する） to the 特使, without the slightest reserve.

'Some minutes of silence follow when she has done. The 特使 is not weak enough yet to speak without stopping to think first. Still keeping his 注目する，もくろむs on the Countess, he makes a quaintly insolent 発言／述べる on what he has just heard. "I have not hitherto been a 宗教的な man; but I feel myself on the way to it. Since your ladyship has spoken to me, I believe in the Devil." It is the Countess's 利益／興味 to see the humorous 味方する of this 自白 of 約束. She takes no offence. She only says, "I will give you half an hour by yourself, to think over my 提案. You are in danger of death. Decide, in your wife's 利益／興味s, whether you will die 価値（がある） nothing, or die 価値（がある） a thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs."

'Left alone, the 特使 本気で considers his position—and decides. He rises with difficulty; 令状s a few lines on a leaf taken from his pocket-調書をとる／予約する; and, with slow and 滞るing steps, leaves the room.

'The Countess, returning at the 満期 of the half-hour's interval, finds the room empty. While she is wondering, the 特使 opens the door. What has he been doing out of his bed? He answers, "I have been 保護するing my own life, my lady, on the 明らかにする chance that I may 回復する from the bronchitis for the third time. If you or the Baron 試みる／企てるs to hurry me out of this world, or to 奪う me of my thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs reward, I shall tell the doctor where he will find a few lines of 令状ing, which 述べる your ladyship's 陰謀（を企てる）. I may not have strength enough, in the 事例／患者 supposed, to betray you by making a 完全にする 自白 with my own lips; but I can 雇う my last breath to speak the half-dozen words which will tell the doctor where he is to look. Those words, it is needless to 追加する, will be 演説（する）／住所d to your Ladyship, if I find your 約束／交戦s に向かって me faithfully kept."

'With this audacious preface, he proceeds to 明言する／公表する the 条件s on which he will play his part in the 共謀, and die (if he does die) 価値（がある） a thousand 続けざまに猛撃するs.

'Either the Countess or the Baron are to taste the food and drink brought to his 病人の枕元, in his presence, and even the 薬／医学s which the doctor may 定める／命ずる for him. As for the 約束d sum of money, it is to be produced in one bank-公式文書，認める, 倍のd in a sheet of paper, on which a line is to be written, dictated by the 特使. The two enclosures are then to be 調印（する）d up in an envelope, 演説（する）／住所d to his wife, and stamped ready for the 地位，任命する. This done, the letter is to be placed under his pillow; the Baron or the Countess 存在 at liberty to 満足させる themselves, day by day, at their own time, that the letter remains in its place, with the 調印（する） 無傷の, as long as the doctor has any hope of his 患者's 回復. The last 規定 follows. The 特使 has a 良心; and with a 見解（をとる） to keeping it 平易な, 主張するs that he shall be left in ignorance of that part of the 陰謀（を企てる） which relates to the sequestration of my Lord. Not that he cares 特に what becomes of his miserly master—but he does dislike taking other people's 責任／義務s on his own shoulders.

'These 条件s 存在 agreed to, the Countess calls in the Baron, who has been waiting events in the next room.

'He is 知らせるd that the 特使 has 産する／生じるd to 誘惑; but he is still too 用心深い to make any 妥協ing 発言／述べるs. Keeping his 支援する turned on the bed, he shows a 瓶／封じ込める to the Countess. It is labelled "Chloroform." She understands that my Lord is to be 除去するd from his room in a convenient 明言する／公表する of insensibility. In what part of the palace is he to be hidden? As they open the door to go out, the Countess whispers that question to the Baron. The Baron whispers 支援する, "In the 丸天井s!" The curtain 落ちるs.'

CHAPTER XXVIII

So the Second 行為／法令／行動する ended.

Turning to the Third 行為／法令／行動する, Henry looked wearily at the pages as he let them slip through his fingers. Both in mind and 団体／死体, he began to feel the need of repose.

In one important 尊敬（する）・点, the later 部分 of the manuscript 異なるd from the pages which he had just been reading. 調印するs of an overwrought brain showed themselves, here and there, as the 輪郭（を描く） of the play approached its end. The handwriting grew worse and worse. Some of the longer 宣告，判決s were left unfinished. In the 交流 of 対話, questions and answers were not always せいにするd それぞれ to the 権利 （衆議院の）議長. At 確かな intervals the writer's failing 知能 seemed to 回復する itself for a while; only to relapse again, and to lose the thread of the narrative more hopelessly than ever.

After reading one or two of the more coherent passages Henry recoiled from the ever-darkening horror of the story. He の近くにd the manuscript, heartsick and exhausted, and threw himself on his bed to 残り／休憩（する）. The door opened almost at the same moment. Lord Montbarry entered the room.

'We have just returned from the オペラ,' he said; 'and we have heard the news of that 哀れな woman's death. They say you spoke to her in her last moments; and I want to hear how it happened.'

'You shall hear how it happened,' Henry answered; 'and more than that. You are now the 長，率いる of the family, Stephen; and I feel bound, in the position which 抑圧するs me, to leave you to decide what せねばならない be done.'

With those introductory words, he told his brother how the Countess's play had come into his 手渡すs. 'Read the first few pages,' he said. 'I am anxious to know whether the same impression is produced on both of us.'

Before Lord Montbarry had got half-way through the First 行為／法令／行動する, he stopped, and looked at his brother. 'What does she mean by 誇るing of this as her own 発明?' he asked. 'Was she too crazy to remember that these things really happened?'

This was enough for Henry: the same impression had been produced on both of them. 'You will do as you please,' he said. 'But if you will be guided by me, spare yourself the reading of those pages to come, which 述べる our brother's terrible expiation of his heartless marriage.'

'Have you read it all, Henry?'

'Not all. I shrank from reading some of the latter part of it. Neither you nor I saw much of our 年上の brother after we left school; and, for my part, I felt, and never scrupled to 表明する my feeling, that he behaved infamously to Agnes. But when I read that unconscious 自白 of the murderous 共謀 to which he fell a 犠牲者, I remembered, with something like 悔恨, that the same mother bore us. I have felt for him to-night, what I am ashamed to think I never felt for him before.'

Lord Montbarry took his brother's 手渡す.

'You are a good fellow, Henry,' he said; 'but are you やめる sure that you have not been needlessly 苦しめるing yourself? Because some of this crazy creature's 令状ing accidentally tells what we know to be the truth, does it follow that all the 残り／休憩（する） is to be relied on to the end?'

'There is no possible 疑問 of it,' Henry replied.

'No possible 疑問?' his brother repeated. 'I shall go on with my reading, Henry—and see what justification there may be for that 確信して 結論 of yours.'

He read on 刻々と, until he had reached the end of the Second 行為／法令／行動する. Then he looked up.

'Do you really believe that the mutilated remains which you discovered this morning are the remains of our brother?' he asked. 'And do you believe it on such 証拠 as this?'

Henry answered silently by a 調印する in the affirmative.

Lord Montbarry checked himself—evidently on the point of entering an indignant 抗議する.

'You 認める that you have not read the later scenes of the piece,' he said. 'Don't be childish, Henry! If you 固執する in pinning your 約束 on such stuff as this, the least you can do is to make yourself 完全に 熟知させるd with it. Will you read the Third 行為／法令／行動する? No? Then I shall read it to you.'

He turned to the Third 行為／法令／行動する, and ran over those fragmentary passages which were 明確に enough written and 表明するd to be intelligible to the mind of a stranger.

'Here is a scene in the 丸天井s of the palace,' he began. 'The 犠牲者 of the 共謀 is sleeping on his 哀れな bed; and the Baron and the Countess are considering the position in which they stand. The Countess (同様に as I can make it out) has raised the money that is 手配中の，お尋ね者 by borrowing on the 安全 of her jewels at Frankfort; and the 特使 upstairs is still 宣言するd by the Doctor to have a chance of 回復. What are the conspirators to do, if the man does 回復する? The 用心深い Baron 示唆するs setting the 囚人 解放する／自由な. If he 投機・賭けるs to 控訴，上告 to the 法律, it is 平易な to 宣言する that he is 支配する to insane delusion, and to call his own wife as 証言，証人／目撃する. On the other 手渡す, if the 特使 dies, how is the sequestrated and unknown nobleman to be put out of the way? Passively, by letting him 餓死する in his 刑務所，拘置所? No: the Baron is a man of 精製するd tastes; he dislikes needless cruelty. The active 政策 remains—say, 暗殺 by the knife of a 雇うd bravo? The Baron 反対するs to 信用ing an 共犯者; also to spending money on anyone but himself. Shall they 減少（する） their 囚人 into the canal? The Baron 拒絶する／低下するs to 信用 water; water will show him on the surface. Shall they 始める，決める his bed on 解雇する／砲火／射撃? An excellent idea; but the smoke might be seen. No: the circumstances 存在 now 完全に altered, 毒（薬）ing him 現在のs the easiest way out of it. He has 簡単に become a superfluous person. The cheapest 毒（薬） will do.—Is it possible, Henry, that you believe this 協議 really took place?'

Henry made no reply. The succession of the questions that had just been read to him, 正確に／まさに followed the succession of the dreams that had terrified Mrs. Norbury, on the two nights which she had passed in the hotel. It was useless to point out this coincidence to his brother. He only said, 'Go on.'

Lord Montbarry turned the pages until he （機の）カム to the next intelligible passage.

'Here,' he proceeded, 'is a 二塁打 scene on the 行う／開催する／段階—so far as I can understand the sketch of it. The Doctor is upstairs, innocently 令状ing his 証明書 of my Lord's decease, by the dead 特使's 病人の枕元. 負かす／撃墜する in the 丸天井s, the Baron stands by the 死体 of the 毒（薬）d lord, 準備するing the strong 化学製品 酸性のs which are to 減ずる it to a heap of ashes—Surely, it is not 価値（がある） while to trouble ourselves with deciphering such melodramatic horrors as these? Let us get on! let us get on!'

He turned the leaves again; 試みる／企てるing vainly to discover the meaning of the 混乱させるd scenes that followed. On the last page but one, he 設立する the last intelligible 宣告，判決s.

'The Third 行為／法令／行動する seems to be divided,' he said, 'into two Parts or Tableaux. I think I can read the 令状ing at the beginning of the Second Part. The Baron and the Countess open the scene. The Baron's 手渡すs are mysteriously 隠すd by gloves. He has 減ずるd the 団体／死体 to ashes by his own system of 火葬, with the exception of the 長，率いる—'

Henry interrupted his brother there. 'Don't read any more!' he exclaimed.

'Let us do the Countess 司法（官）,' Lord Montbarry 固執するd. 'There are not half a dozen lines more that I can make out! The 偶発の breaking of his jar of 酸性の has burnt the Baron's 手渡すs 厳しく. He is still unable to proceed to the 破壊 of the 長，率いる—and the Countess is woman enough (with all her wickedness) to 縮む from 試みる／企てるing to take his place—when the first news is received of the coming arrival of the （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 of 調査 despatched by the 保険 offices. The Baron feels no alarm. 問い合わせ as the （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 may, it is the natural death of the 特使 (in my Lord's character) that they are blindly 調査／捜査するing. The 長，率いる not 存在 destroyed, the obvious 代案／選択肢 is to hide it—and the Baron is equal to the occasion. His 熟考する／考慮するs in the old library have 知らせるd him of a 安全な place of concealment in the palace. The Countess may recoil from 扱うing the 酸性のs and watching the 過程 of 火葬; but she can surely ぱらぱら雨 a little 殺菌するing 砕く—'

'No more!' Henry 繰り返し言うd. 'No more!'

'There is no more that can be read, my dear fellow. The last page looks like sheer delirium. She may 井戸／弁護士席 have told you that her 発明 had failed her!'

'直面する the truth honestly, Stephen, and say her memory.'

Lord Montbarry rose from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する at which he had been sitting, and looked at his brother with pitying 注目する，もくろむs.

'Your 神経s are out of order, Henry,' he said. 'And no wonder, after that frightful 発見 under the hearth-石／投石する. We won't 論争 about it; we will wait a day or two until you are やめる yourself again. In the 合間, let us understand each other on one point at least. You leave the question of what is to be done with these pages of 令状ing to me, as the 長，率いる of the family?'

'I do.'

Lord Montbarry 静かに took up the manuscript, and threw it into the 解雇する／砲火／射撃. 'Let this rubbish be of some use,' he said, 持つ／拘留するing the pages 負かす／撃墜する with the poker. 'The room is getting chilly—the Countess's play will 始める，決める some of these charred スピードを出す／記録につけるs 炎上ing again.' He waited a little at the 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place, and returned to his brother. 'Now, Henry, I have a last word to say, and then I have done. I am ready to 収容する／認める that you have つまずくd, by an unlucky chance, on the proof of a 罪，犯罪 committed in the old days of the palace, nobody knows how long ago. With that one 譲歩, I 論争 everything else. Rather than agree in the opinion you have formed, I won't believe anything that has happened. The supernatural 影響（力）s that some of us felt when we first slept in this hotel—your loss of appetite, our sister's dreadful dreams, the smell that overpowered Francis, and the 長，率いる that appeared to Agnes—I 宣言する them all to be sheer delusions! I believe in nothing, nothing, nothing!' He opened the door to go out, and looked 支援する into the room. 'Yes,' he 再開するd, 'there is one thing I believe in. My wife has committed a 違反 of 信用／信任—I believe Agnes will marry you. Good night, Henry. We leave Venice the first thing to-morrow morning.

So Lord Montbarry 性質の／したい気がして of the mystery of The Haunted Hotel.

POSTSCRIPT

A last chance of deciding the difference of opinion between the two brothers remained in Henry's 所有／入手. He had his own idea of the use to which he might put the 誤った teeth as a means of 調査 when he and his fellow-travellers returned to England.

The only 生き残るing depositary of the 国内の history of the family in past years, was Agnes Lockwood's old nurse. Henry took his first 適切な時期 of trying to 生き返らせる her personal recollections of the 死んだ Lord Montbarry. But the nurse had never forgiven the 広大な／多数の／重要な man of the family for his desertion of Agnes; she きっぱりと 辞退するd to 協議する her memory. 'Even the 明らかにする sight of my lord, when I last saw him in London,' said the old woman, 'made my finger-nails itch to 始める，決める their 示す on his 直面する. I was sent on an errand by 行方不明になる Agnes; and I met him coming out of his dentist's door—and, thank God, that's the last I ever saw of him!'

Thanks to the nurse's quick temper and quaint way of 表明するing herself, the 反対する of Henry's 調査s was 伸び（る）d already! He 投機・賭けるd on asking if she had noticed the 状況／情勢 of the house. She had noticed, and still remembered the 状況／情勢—did Master Henry suppose she had lost the use of her senses, because she happened to be nigh on eighty years old? The same day, he took the 誤った teeth to the dentist, and 始める，決める all その上の 疑問 (if 疑問 had still been possible) at 残り／休憩（する） for ever. The teeth had been made for the first Lord Montbarry.

Henry never 明らかにする／漏らすd the 存在 of this last link in the chain of 発見 to any living creature, his brother Stephen 含むd. He carried his terrible secret with him to the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な.

There was one other event in the memorable past on which he 保存するd the same compassionate silence. Little Mrs. Ferrari never knew that her husband had been—not, as she supposed, the Countess's 犠牲者—but the Countess's 共犯者. She still believed that the late Lord Montbarry had sent her the thousand-続けざまに猛撃する 公式文書，認める, and still recoiled from making use of a 現在の which she 固執するd in 宣言するing had 'the stain of her husband's 血 on it.' Agnes, with the 未亡人's entire 是認, took the money to the Children's Hospital; and spent it in 追加するing to the number of the beds.

In the spring of the new year, the marriage took place. At the special request of Agnes, the members of the family were the only persons 現在の at the 儀式. There was no wedding breakfast—and the honeymoon was spent in the 退職 of a cottage on the banks of the Thames.

During the last few days of the 住居 of the newly married couple by the riverside, Lady Montbarry's children were 招待するd to enjoy a day's play in the garden. The eldest girl overheard (and 報告（する）／憶測d to her mother) a little conjugal 対話 which touched on the topic of The Haunted Hotel.

'Henry, I want you to give me a kiss.'

'There it is, my dear.'

'Now I am your wife, may I speak to you about something?'

'What is it?'

'Something that happened the day before we left Venice. You saw the Countess, during the last hours of her life. Won't you tell me whether she made any 自白 to you?'

'No conscious 自白, Agnes—and therefore no 自白 that I need 苦しめる you by repeating.'

'Did she say nothing about what she saw or heard, on that dreadful night in my room?'

'Nothing. We only know that her mind never 回復するd the terror of it.'

Agnes was not やめる 満足させるd. The 支配する troubled her. Even her own 簡潔な／要約する intercourse with her 哀れな 競争相手 of other days 示唆するd questions that perplexed her. She remembered the Countess's 予測. 'You have to bring me to the day of 発見, and to the 罰 that is my doom.' Had the 予測 簡単に faded, like other mortal prophecies?—or had it been 実行するd on the terrible night when she had seen the apparition, and when she had innocently tempted the Countess to watch her in her room?

Let it, however, be 記録，記録的な／記録するd, の中で the other virtues of Mrs. Henry Westwick, that she never again 試みる／企てるd to 説得する her husband into betraying his secrets. Other men's wives, 審理，公聴会 of this 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 行為／行う (and 存在 trained in the modern school of morals and manners), 自然に regarded her with compassionate contempt. They spoke of Agnes, from that time 前へ／外へ, as 'rather an old-fashioned person.'

Is that all?

That is all.

Is there no explanation of the mystery of The Haunted Hotel?

Ask yourself if there is any explanation of the mystery of your own life and death.—別れの（言葉，会）.

THE END

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