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肩書を与える: The Haunted Woman
Author: David Lindsay
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eBook No.: 0608401h.html
Language: English
Date first 地位，任命するd: November 2006
Date most recently updated: November 2006

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The Haunted Woman

by

David Lindsay

一時期／支部 1 MARSHALL RETURNS FROM AMERICA

In the latter half of August, Marshall Stokes went to New York, in order to 勝利，勝つd up the 広い地所 of the lately-死んだ brother of the lady to whom he was betrothed. As a busy 同意して署名するing member of Lloyd's, he could ill afford the time--he was over there for 上向きs of a fortnight--but no 代案／選択肢 had 現在のd itself. 行方不明になる Loment had no 関係s in America, she 所有するd no other relations, except a 未亡人d aunt, with whom she live, and it was 明確に out of the question for either of the two ladies to travel across in person, to 診察する 調書をとる／予約するs, interview lawyers, を取り引きする （人命などを）奪う，主張するs, etc.--they had not the necessary 商売／仕事 experience. The 仕事, therefore, had devolved on Marshall. He had not been able to 結論する the 商売／仕事, but he had put it in a fair way of 存在 結論するd, and had 任命するd a reputable 会社／堅い to 行為／法令／行動する as 行方不明になる Loment's 代表者／国会議員s. The 広い地所 was 価値（がある） forty thousand dollars.

Upon his return to London about the middle of September he 設立する that his friends had 出発／死d for Brighton; Mrs. Moor--the aunt--明らかに was feeling rundown. A perfumed little 公式文書，認める from Isbel 圧力（をかける）d him to join them there. Marshall was unable to leave town すぐに, but two days later, on Friday afternoon, he 突然の shut 負かす／撃墜する work for the week-end, and モーターd 負かす／撃墜する by himself in glorious 天候. His heart was high, and as he ran through the richly gleaming Sussex country, overspread with a blue, plum-like bloom, arising from the September もやs, he thought that he had never seen anything やめる so lovely. The sun was brilliant, and there was a crisp, invigorating 微風.

He dined the same evening with Isbel and her aunt, in the public room at the Hotel Gondy, where they were staying. Neither of the ladies attracted as much attention as Marshall himself. His large, loose, powerful 人物／姿／数字 went admirably with evening dress, while his 十分な-血d 直面する, still covered with ocean tan, was peculiarly noticeable for its 激しい, good-humored immobility; his very 手渡すs, 抱擁する and crimson, yet not vulgar, 示すd him out from other men. Isbel kept alternately ちらりと見ることing at him and smiling 負かす／撃墜する at her plate with 楽しみ, apropos of nothing. Most of the talking （機の）カム from him. Reserving 商売／仕事 until afterwards, he entertained his friends during the meal with his personal experiences in the 部隊d 明言する／公表するs, the relation of which was （判決などを）下すd more piquant by a 解放する／自由な 採択 of the very 最新の slang. Aunt and niece were both perfectly 熟知させるd with America, but they had the tact to keep this to themselves.

Isbel was dressed in 黒人／ボイコット, on account of her brother's death. The gown, によれば the 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるing fashion, was 削減（する） low across her somewhat 十分な bosom, bur lower still in the 支援する. She was neither plain nor handsome; a first ちらりと見ること showed an ordinarily attractive girl of five-and-twenty, and nothing more. Her 直面する was rather short and 幅の広い, with 厚い but 極度の慎重さを要する features, a lowish forehead, and a dull, 激しい 肌, （判決などを）下すd almost unnaturally pale by the 過度の 量 of 力／強力にする she 雇うd. The tranquillity of her 表現 was rarely broken by an emotion or a smile, but whenever this did happen it was like a mask 解除するing. The 十分な, grey-黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs as a 支配する appeared a trifle bored and absent, but occasionally they 狭くするd into a subtle and 侵入するing ちらりと見ること which nearly 似ているd a を刺す. Her hair was long and 罰金, but mouse-coloured. She was short, rather than tall, and somewhat too 幅の広い-hipped for modern ideas of beauty; にもかかわらず, her person was graceful and 井戸／弁護士席-covered, she moved with style, while her 手渡すs and feet were 特に small and aristocratic. She 影響する／感情d little 宝石類.

She 命令（する）d all her friends, and was adored by the two or three nearest to her. その上の, no 事柄 what company she was in, and although she never 発揮するd herself to 勝利，勝つ people, before the evening was out her personality always 後継するd in making itself felt, and she became the centre of 利益／興味 to men and women alike. Never self-conscious, never embarrassed, always 静かな and rather ennuye, she fascinated by the very strength of her silence, which, it was abundantly （疑いを）晴らす, had nothing in ありふれた with stupidity. She had already 拒絶する／低下するd three 申し込む／申し出s of marriage, before Marshall had appeared on her horizon. Curiously enough, these 申し込む／申し出s had all been made by men very much older than herself.

She had a queer habit, while sitting, of 絶えず, though やめる unconsciously, …に出席するing her person. She would keep putting her 手渡す to her hair, adjusting her skirt, feeling her waist-禁止（する）d, altering the position of a necklace or bracelet, etc. It was not vanity, but a sort of nervous irritability, which 妨げるd her from continuing still. Her aunt frequently 警告を与えるd her against the fault, which was one of those that grow by indulgence; Isbel would 否定する the offence, and five minutes later would begin to repeat it. The strange thing was that a good many persons of the other sex liked to watch her toying with her 衣料品s in this way. She was perfectly 井戸／弁護士席 aware of the fact, and it rather disgusted her.

Mrs. Moor, the third member of the party, had just entered her sixtieth year. She was--as already について言及するd--a 未亡人. Her husband, a stockbroker in a small way, had during the rubber にわか景気 amassed a sudden fortune, which fell to her 損なわれていない upon his death in 1911. By shrewd 憶測 she had 増加するd it かなり since, and could now be regarded as a 豊富な woman. Isbel's father, who had died nearly at the same time, was her younger brother. He was a widower, with only one other child, a son--the one who had recently died in New York. Isbel, who at that time was sixteen became Ann Moor's 区, under the will. She was at once 除去するd from school--rather against her 願望（する）--and the two women 開始するd the more or いっそう少なく 浮浪者 存在 together, which they had continued ever since, drifting from hotel to hotel in all ４半期/4分の1s of the globe. It was a 解放する／自由な life, and Isbel （機の）カム to grow 極端に fond of it. In any 事例／患者, her own money was not 十分な to support her, so that in a manner she was 扶養家族 upon her aunt's whims. It only remains to 追加する that she tyrannised over the older woman in all her personal relations, and that the latter not only permitted this, but even seemed to 推定する／予想する it as a natural thing.

Mrs. Moor was short, 築く, and dignified, with a somewhat stiff carriage. Her 直面する, which 似ているd yellow marble, bore a 終始一貫して 厳しい and dauntless 表現, rarely relaxing into a smile. She was in 完全にする 所有／入手 of all her faculties, and her health, 一般に speaking, was good. The art of dressing she did not understand; Isbel selected her 衣料品s for her, while her maid told her when and how to put them on. She was, in fact, one of those eccentric women who せねばならない have been born men. Her tastes were masculine, her knowledge 主として 関係のある to masculine topics. She knew, for instance, how to 投資する her money to the best advantage, how to buy and sell land, and how to 計画（する） a serviceable house; but what she did not know was how to flatter men, how to talk gracefully about nothing, how to 利益／興味 herself in the minute 詳細（に述べる）s of another woman's 世帯, or how to identify herself in thought with the members of the upper circles of society. She 屈服するd to no 当局, and took pride in speaking her mind in whatever company she might find herself. The natural consequence was that, while her friends esteemed her 高度に for her 本物の 質s, they were more than a little 脅すd of her, and never really regarded her as one of themselves. It いつかs 夜明けd on her that she was lonely. On such occasions she sought solace in music. She loved everything classical, Beethoven in particular she venerated, but the history of music （機の）カム to an end, for her, with Brahms. Weeks would pass without her once 開始 the piano, and then a sudden, almost 熱烈な yearning would 掴む her, when she would sit 負かす／撃墜する and play by the hour together. Her 死刑執行 was bold, slow, rather coarse, 十分な of 深い feeling.

The two women were 過度に fond of each other, thought neither cared to show it. Temperamentally, however, they were so antagonistic that たびたび（訪れる） quarrels were 必然的な. Whenever this happened, the aunt ordinarily 表明するd herself in vigorous language, while Isbel, on the other 手渡す, would become sullen and vindictive, 説 little, but 要求するing time to be appeased.

As soon as dinner was 結論するd, the trio retired to Mrs. Moor's 私的な apartment on the first 床に打ち倒す. The waiter brought up coffee and Chartreuse. The room was handsomely 任命するd, a 独特の 公式文書，認める 存在 lent to it by the bowls of pale chrysanthemums with which it was profusely and artistically decorated--Isbel's 労働 of love. The evening was chilly, and a small 解雇する／砲火／射撃 was 燃やすing in the grate. They brought their 議長，司会を務めるs 今後, so as to form a 半分-circle 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the hearth, Isbel 存在 in the middle. She stretched a languid 手渡す up, and took two cigarettes from an open box on the mantelshelf, passing one to Marshall and keeping one herself; Mrs. Moor very rarely smoked.

For some twenty minutes they talked 商売／仕事. Marshall told them 正確に／まさに what he had 遂行するd on the other 味方する, and what still remained to be done.

"Anyhow," said Mrs. Moor, "it seems that the main difficulties have been got over, and the money's やめる 安全な for Isbel?"

"Oh, やめる. She may have to wait some months before she can touch it--that's the only thing."

Isbel took little sips of coffee, and looked reflectively into the 解雇する／砲火／射撃.

"No 疑問 you'll find a use for it, Isbel, when it does come."

"Oh, it's more sentimental, aunt. 自然に, I don't want to go to Marshall with empty 手渡すs."

The others 抗議するd 同時に.

"You needn't cry out," said the girl calmly. "I know it's done very day, but that's no 推論する／理由 why I should be content to follow 控訴. After all, why should a married woman be a parasite? It makes her out to be a 肉親，親類d of 所有物／資産／財産. And that's not the worst..."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席, child. You've got the money--don't make a fuss."

"Isbel's 権利, mind you," said Marshall. "There's a decent 量 of 冷淡な horse-sense about what she says. A girl wants to feel 独立した・無所属. I'm not gifted with a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of imagination, but I can see it must be pretty rotten to have to keep on good 条件 with a man--even when she's not feeling like it--簡単に and 単独で for the sake of his cash."

"I wasn't thinking so much of my 態度 as yours," replied Isbel.

"Now, that is rather uncalled for. It isn't at all likely that a question of 私的な means is going to 影響する／感情 my behaviour. What made you come out with that?"

"Oh, I don't mean it in your sense," said Isbel. "I don't mean anything 残虐な or tyrannical, of course. I 簡単に say that your whole 態度 toward me would be unconsciously 修正するd, and you couldn't help it. 存在 a man, the mere knowledge that you held the purse would be bound to make you kinder and more chivalrous toward me. That would be a lifelong humiliation. I should never be able to feel やめる sure whether you were 存在 肉親，親類d to me or to my poverty."

"Rot!" exclaimed Marshall. "That sort of thing doesn't 存在する in married life."

"I couldn't 耐える to ask for love and be fed with sympathy." Her 発言する／表明する was 冷淡な, 静かな, and perfectly unembarrassed.

"You girls are all the same," said Mrs. Moor pettishly. "You have that word 'love' on the brain. Most married women are very thankful to have an 時折の dish of sympathy 始める，決める before them, I can 保証する you. We all know what love without sympathy is."

"What?"

"Pure, 残虐な egotism, my dear. If that's what your heart is crying for, so much the worse for you."

"Perhaps that's what I want, all the same. Every woman has a savage streak in her, they say. I should probably always sell myself to the highest 入札者--in love...You'd better look out, Marshall."

"井戸／弁護士席, it's a lucky thing we both know you 同様に as we do," said her aunt, dryly.

"The question is, do you know me?" Isbel fingered the lace of her corsage.

"The question is, what is there to know? Girls may be exceedingly mysterious to young me, but they're not in the least mysterious to old women, my dear. You've over-indulged in ロシアの literature lately."

Her niece laughed, as if unwillingly. "If all girls are so hopelessly alike, what becomes of ancestral traits?

"You don't （人命などを）奪う，主張する more ancestors than other people, I hope? What is this new 提起する／ポーズをとる of inscrutability, child?"

Marshall thought it high time to interrupt the duel, which 脅すd to develop into something unpleasant.

"To change the 支配する," he said, rather あわてて, "have you got 直す／買収する，八百長をするd for a house yet, Mrs. Moor?"

"No, I 港／避難所't. Why?"

"Would Sussex 控訴 you?"

Isbel 心配するd her aunt's reply, turning to him with a friendly smile, as if anxious to 中和する／阻止する the impression 原因（となる）d by her 解放する／自由な speaking. "Have you heard of something? どの辺に in Sussex?"

"近づく Steyning."

"You get there from 価値（がある）ing, don't you?"

"You get there from anywhere, in a car. It's not far from Brighton."

"Tell us all about it. What 肉親，親類d of a house is it?"

"Surely I may speak, Isbel!" said her aunt irritably. "Is it a large 所有物／資産／財産, Marshall? How did you come to hear of it?"

"It's an Elizabethan manor. Two hundred acres of ground go with it, mostly 木材／素質. The hall goes 支援する to the thirteenth century. I met the owner coming across."

"And the price?"

"He 拒絶する／低下するd to say off-手渡す. As a 事柄 of fact, he's not frightfully keen on selling at all. His wife's just died in San Francisco, so I snatched the 適切な時期 and asked him what his 計画（する）s were about going 支援する. He hasn't decided yet, but I've got a sort of idea that a 誘発する 企て，努力，提案 might do the trick, if it at all 控訴，上告s to you."

"Poor fellow! At least, I hope so...Young or old?"

"He told me his age--fifty-eight. He was in the Birmingham 厚かましさ／高級将校連 貿易（する）. His 指名する's 裁判官. You don't know him by any chance?"

"Do we, Isbel?"

"No."

"He is やめる a decent chap. He and his wife have lived at Runhill 法廷，裁判所 for eight years, so it sounds all 権利."

"Is that the 指名する of the house?"

"Yes. Historical--supposed to be derived from the old Saxon 'rune-hill,' so he says. The runes were engraved letters, ーするつもりであるd to keep off the trolls and blendings. I don't suppose that 利益／興味s you 大いに; what's more to the point is that the place is 完全に up to date, he tells me. He's spent no end on modern 改良s--electric lighting, and so 前へ／外へ...井戸／弁護士席 now, do you feel 性質の／したい気がして to take it up?"

Mrs. Moor wriggled in her 議長，司会を務める, which was a 調印する of 不決断. Isbel emitted clouds of cigarette-smoke, in the manner of women.

"An Elizabethan manor," she 発言／述べるd reflectively. "Sounds thrilling. Is there a family ghost?"

"Do you want one?"

"In any 事例／患者, you wouldn't have to live there long, child." Her aunt's トン was sharp. "That is, unless you've been 警報ing your programme, you two, behind my 支援する?"

"We're not conspirators, thanks. It's still to be April."

"Then pray leave me to make my own 手はず／準備. When could I go over to the house, Marshall?"

"Anytime, I fancy. Would you care to have 裁判官's 演説（する）／住所 in town?"

"Please."

He scribbled it on a 捨てる of paper, and passed it over.

Isbel 注目する，もくろむd him thoughtfully. "Aren't you coming with us, Marshall?"

"Really, I wasn't thinking of doing so. Of course, of you'd like me to..."

"We should," said Mrs. Moor. "What day would 控訴 you best?"

"There you have me." He hesitated..."井戸／弁護士席, as we're all here together, what's wrong with to-morrow morning? I could run you over in the car. The country's looking magnificent."

Mrs. Moor 協議するd the paper in her 手渡す. "But Mr. 裁判官 is in town, you say? How can we get an order to 見解（をとる） between now and to-morrow morning?"

"Yes, I see...As a 事柄 of fact, I have an order in my pocket."

"But, my dear boy, in that 事例／患者 why did you wish me to go to the trouble of communicating with Mr. 裁判官?"

"Yes, why did you?" 補足（する）d Isbel, puckering her brow.

"The order's a personal one, you see, and I had no idea I was coming with you."

The girl 星／主役にするd at him in a sort of bewilderment. "Do you mean you ーするつもりであるd to go alone, without us?"

"井戸／弁護士席, yes. I purposely didn't tell you, because it's more or いっそう少なく a confidential 事柄, but the fact is 裁判官 wants a 私的な opinion from me with regard to one of the rooms..."

"Go on. What sort of opinion? Do you mean he's planning and an alteration, or what?"

"Not an alteration 正確に／まさに, as far as I'm aware...I'm very sorry, Isbel, but it's confidential, as I said before. Having passed my word, of course I'm not at liberty to say anything more about it, much as I should like to...However, I shall be only too happy to …を伴って you both."

She slowly passed her palm backward and 今後 across her skirt, feeling its texture.

"It's very strange, though. So you meant to hide it from us altogether, this mysterious 処理／取引?"

"I meant to keep my word."

"In plain language, you 始める，決める out a higher value on the regard of this total stranger than on ours? I don't care two pins about the room, or what he 提案するs to do with it, but I certainly do care that..."

"But, my dear girl..."

"Why have you done it? It's disquieting. I shan't know what you're keeping 支援する now."

Mrs. Moor gazed 厳しく at her niece. "Do try not to be a fool, Isbel. If Marshall has passed on his word, do you want him to break it? He's perfectly in the 権利, only, of course, you must try to work up a scene. Just tell us 権利 out, Marshall--would you rather have us with you, or not?"

"I shall be delighted to have you with me...10.30 in the morning--will that 控訴?"

"Admirably. 井戸／弁護士席, that's that. Now you can go downstairs, you two. I want to read. I shan't see you again to-night, Marshall...Good-night!...（犯罪の）一味 for the waiter, please, as you go past. I want these things （疑いを）晴らすd away."

She remained sitting bolt upright in her 議長，司会を務める, waiting for the servant to come and go, when it was her 意向, not to read--she had changed her mind at the very moment of 表明するing it--but to play. These wretched 誤解s over nothing at all always left her with an unpleasant taste in her mouth, which she could only rid herself of by entering that other world of pure and lofty idealism.

The two younger people walked slowly downstairs, Isbel わずかに 主要な the way.

"Shall we see if we can get a game of billiards?" asked Marshall, in a somewhat subdued 発言する／表明する.

"If you like."

As they passed by the 製図／抽選-room the door was wide open; the room was empty.

"Let's come in here," said the girl.

They did so. She shut the door after them; both remained on their feet.

"May I ask," began Isbel, and a 位置／汚点／見つけ出す of colour （機の）カム into her cheeks, "if it is your 意向 to keep 信用／信任s from me? I wish to know."

"My dear Isbel--"

"Yes or no?" Her トン was 静かに 脅迫的な. Marshall felt that the 形態／調整ing of his whole 未来 very likely depended on the next few words 演説（する）／住所d by him to this tranquil, dangerous-mannered girl in 黒人／ボイコット.

He 反映するd before answering.

"Of course, if you put it in that way, Isbel, I mean to keep nothing from you. I gave my word to 裁判官, it's true, but I やめる see that perhaps I had no 権利 to give it. I fully realise that personal secrets vitiate the whole meaning of marriage."

"Then we'll say no more about it. I'm glad. If we held different 見解（をとる）s on the 支配する, it would be rather ominous, wouldn't it?...But what really is your compact wit this man--what does he want you to do 正確に／まさに? He's やめる a stranger, isn't he?"

"Oh, 絶対."

"Then tell me. I shan't talk."

"I know that. In any 事例／患者, the 事件／事情／状勢 isn't one of 国家の importance. The truth is, this chap 裁判官 once had--or thought he had--a succession of marvellous experiences in one of the rooms at Runhill; an attic on the 最高の，を越す storey which rejoices in the 指名する of the East Room. It happened just after he'd moved into the house, eight years ago, and 明らかに it's been 重さを計るing on his mind ever since. For some unknown 推論する／理由, it pleases him to imagine that I 所有する an 普通の／平均（する） quantum of ありふれた sense, on which account he has 招待するd my 援助 in （疑いを）晴らすing up the mystery. In a soft moment I agreed--and that's all there is to it."

"But I don't understand. Why you? What made him 直す／買収する，八百長をする on you?"

"I really can't say. It just resulted from a casual friendly conversation on board ship, coming home. We happened to be discussing the Fourth Dimension, and all that sort of thing."

"What were these marvellous experiences of his, then?"

"A 種類 of delusion, I take it. Every morning, for a week on end, a flight of stairs used to appear to him in that room, 主要な up out of a blank 塀で囲む. He avers that he not only saw them, but used to go up them, but he hasn't the vaguest recollection of what took place on 最高の，を越す."

"What an 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の fancy!"

"結局 his wife 設立する hi out at it--that is, of course she saw nothing, but it 脅すd him off. He had the room locked, and no one has 始める，決める foot in it from that day to this. Now she's dead, he appears to think there's no longer the same necessity for secrecy."

"Does he look mad?"

"Not in the least. Far from it."

"And you 現実に 約束d to 調査／捜査する?"

"My dear girl, what could I do? I couldn't tell the man to his 直面する that he was a lunatic, could I? There was no way out of it...It will be an excuse for a run in the car, anyway."

"So you agreed, 簡単に to spare his feelings?"

"We'll put it that way."

"I think it was rather 罰金 of you, Marshall...I'm glad you've told me.. I must know all your 事件／事情／状勢s. You see that, don't you?"

"Of course I see it."

Having 伸び（る）d her point, she 速く took him in both 武器, and 解除するd her lips to be kissed. They both laughed...Marshall, however, remained uneasy. After they had separated again--for 明白に it was no place for love-making--he thoughtfully scrutinised her 砕くd 直面する, with its 安定した, indecipherable 注目する，もくろむs.

"While we're by ourselves, perhaps you'll tell me, Isbel--what 正確に／まさに did you mean just now by that 発言／述べる about selling yourself to the highest 入札者 in love: were you serious, or pulling my 脚?"

"Yes, I must have love," said the girl 静かに.

"I don't contest it. But the point is, you seem to regard love as a sort of jam, to be taken in a spoon. There's no such thing as love 独立した・無所属 of a person. It appears to be a 事柄 of 無関心／冷淡 to you who that person is, so long as he makes it 十分に 甘い for you."

"Don't let's quarrel. I didn't say it to 悩ます you. It isn't sweetness that I want."

"What then?"

Isbel was silent for a moment. She turned half-away from him, feeling the 支援する of her hair with her white, 次第に減少するing fingers.

"I don't know...Love must be stronger than that...I mean, one girl might be content with mere placid affection, and another might ask for nothing better than a 厚い sentimental syrup. It depends on character. My character is 悲劇の, I fancy."

"I hope not." He stood looking rather puzzled..."Tell me one thing, Isbel--you're not by any chance finding our 約束／交戦...monotonous, are you?"

"Oh, no."

"Sure?"

"やめる sure. But isn't it a rather 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の question?"

Marshall, gazing at her 静かに mocking smile, grew suddenly inflamed.

"I suppose you realise in your heart of hearts that you can do what you like with me, and that's why you are so contemptuous. It's a feeble thing to say, but I'd rather go on struggling for your good opinion all my life, Isbel, than be worshipped by any other woman without an 成果／努力 on my part."

"You will always have my good opinion, if that's all you want."

He 紅潮／摘発するd up, and took a step に向かって her. As she を待つd him with the same smile, the 扱う of the door turned noisily from the outside. They started guiltily away from each other.

"Then we'll see if we can get a game of billiards," 発言／述べるd Isbel in a conversational 発言する／表明する, turning her neck to ちらりと見ること at the two ladies who were entering.

Marshall assented, and they at once left the room.

一時期／支部 II THE VISIT TO RUNHILL COURT

After the breakfast on Saturday morning, Marshall brought the car 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. He strolled up and 負かす／撃墜する for some time, smoking, before the ladies made their 外見 in the portico of the hotel. Isbel wore a new travelling-ulster with a smart check; her small, 黒人／ボイコット satin hat was 完全にするd by a floating 隠す. Her 直面する was 砕くd, and she was rather ひどく scented. Mrs. Moor's short, 命令（する）ing person was dressed with plain dignity. She looked the more distinguished of the two.

Isbel walked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the new car, appraising it 批判的に, Marshall had bought it two months earlier, but 配達／演説／出産 had been 延期するd until his return from America.

"Looks rather ladylike," he apologised, "but it's a devil to go."

Aunt and niece were in the best of humours. The morning was ideal for モーターing, while an 客観的な, of course, made it so much more 利益／興味ing. It was hot, breathless, misty--a typical September day. The sun （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 負かす／撃墜する from a cloudless sky, and the sea was like milk. （人が）群がるs of holiday-製造者s thronged the parade, a piano-組織／臓器 up some 支援する street was 動揺させるing out a popular tune, everyone looked in good health and 解放する／自由な from care.

"Can we get 支援する for lunch?" 需要・要求するd the older lady.

"We'll do our best. It's about fifteen miles each way, I take it."

"Come on, then, and don't waste time."

As Isbel lightly touched Marshall's arm in に引き続いて her aunt into the 支援する seat, she gave him an intimate smile. Their somewhat dangerous conversation of the 先行する evening was forgotten, and both felt the 約束／交戦 to be a wonderful thing. Climbing in behind the wheel, the underwriter's 直面する took on a deeper colour.

They started. The girl was delighted with the 平易な running of the car; its 力／強力にする, smoothness, and silence were something impressive. She was voluptuous by nature, and enjoyed luxurious travel, just as she enjoyed every form of softness. Mrs. Moor, for her part, sat as nearly upright as the thickly-padded cushions would 許す, 星／主役にするing 厳しく at the throng, which 徐々に thinned as they approached Hove.

Their road ran through Portslade, Shoreham, and up the valley of the Adur. The sun 刻々と 増加するd in 力／強力にする, while the morning もやs insensibly dissipated. They passed from 日光 to 影をつくる／尾行する, and from 影をつくる／尾行する to 日光, fanned all the time by their own 勝利，勝つd. Isbel's first exhilaration faded: she wrinkled her brow, and grew dreamy, pensive, ばく然と anxious. Nature always had this 影響 on her. Streets, ships, （人が）群がるs, any form of human activity, enabled her to forget herself, but natural surroundings threw her 支援する on her own mental 資源s, and then the whole emptiness and want of 目的 of her life ぼんやり現れるd up in 前線 of her...Her aunt 見解（をとる）d the changing landscape 厳しく. These trees, these fields and meads, but, above all, those 明らかにする 負かす／撃墜するs of grass-covered chalk in the background, were to her sacred. Isbel 尊敬（する）・点d her mood, and made no 試みる／企てる at conversation.

Presently they （機の）カム to Bramber and Steyning. At the latter place Marshall slowed 負かす／撃墜する to 問い合わせ the way, and was 教えるd to take the left-手渡す fork about a mile その上の on. Runhill 法廷，裁判所 would be, 概略で, three miles north-west from that point, but the road was a 複雑にするd one.

The 負かす／撃墜するs were on their left. Chanctonbury （犯罪の）一味, with its crest of dark trees, 支配するd the whole country. The sun 炎d, while a 疫病／悩ます of 飛行機で行くs 群れているd 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the car, which had to はう as soon as they entered the puzzling 網状組織 of by-小道／航路s. They met few people, and the way was hard to 選ぶ up, in consequence of which it was already 近づくing twelve when at last they drew up before the 宿泊する gate at their 目的地.

Beyond the gate a winding carriage 運動 went 今後 to the house, which was out of sight; it was 国境d on either 味方する by the usual shrubbery of rhododendrons, hollies, etc. on the left, again, was a rising park, 含む／封じ込めるing some 罰金 見本／標本s of beech, while to the 権利 a real 支持を得ようと努めるd appeared, the extent of which, however could not be seen. An 古代の, moss-grown, red brick 塀で囲む bounded the 広い地所. On the other 味方する of the 狭くする 小道／航路 which passed the 宿泊する were meadow lands, fringed by a line of tall elms, which effectually shut out the 見解（をとる）. It was a 独房監禁 and charming 位置／汚点／見つけ出す. The 空気／公表する was peculiarly 甘い, clean, yet 激しい with fragrance.

As Marshall was in the 行為／法令／行動する of getting 負かす／撃墜する, a middle-老年の woman 現れるd from the 宿泊する. She was smoothing her dress and hair, and evidently had just 除去するd an apron.

He produced 裁判官's order. The woman took it in her 手渡す and proceeded to read it, passing her thumb under each line form 味方する to 味方する of the sheet, while her lips silently でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるd the words. She was a tall, big-boned, fresh-complexioned person, of the upper-servant type; handsome, in a ありふれた way, but with sarcastic 注目する，もくろむs. Her hair was 厚い and yellow.

Having 診察するd the 署名 musingly, she turned again to him.

"When did you want to see the house, sir?"

"Now, if we may."

She 星／主役にするd at one of the buttons of his coat. "That makes it rather ぎこちない, sir. I gave the house-重要な to an American gentleman a short time 支援する, and he's still over there. Will you wait?"

"I didn't know you 認める the general public."

"We don't, sir. This was another order, like yours."

"Someone Mr. 裁判官 選ぶd up on the other 味方する, no 疑問.... 井戸／弁護士席, Mrs...."

"Mrs. Priday, sir."

"井戸／弁護士席, Mrs. Priday, I don't see that it 事柄s at all; we shan't 干渉する with each other. As the house is open, I suppose we can get in?"

"Oh, yes--but did you wish me to show you over?"

"If you will."

"I must find my husband first, before I can leave the 宿泊する. He's working somewhere in the grounds; he's 長，率いる gardener here. Will the ladies step inside and wait, sir?"

"井戸／弁護士席, look here, Mrs. Priday--we're somewhat 圧力（をかける）d for time, so if you'll open the gate we'll just run up to the house and be starting. You can follow when you're ready."

"As you please, sir," replied the 管理人, with an almost imperceptible shrug. She proceeded, without any 広大な／多数の／重要な show of alacrity, to unlatch and swing open the carriage-gate, and 一方／合間 Marshall returned to the car, which a minute later passed slowly through the 入り口 to the 運動.

Travelling at low 速度(を上げる）, they 得るd 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the first bend, about three hundred yards その上の on, their first 見解（をとる） of the house. It stood on high ground, and 冷静な／正味の, dark-green lawns sloped 負かす／撃墜する from it on all four 味方するs. The 前線, which they approached, 直面するd the south-east. It was a large edifice, in the Elizabethan style, but the exterior had been so renovated and smartened--perhaps by 裁判官--that it looked almost a modern erection. The 不規律な, many-gabled roof was 有望な with new tiles, the 直面するing of red bricks on the ground storey had been pointed recently, while the two upper storeys were plastered with dazzling white stucco.

The house was long-前線d, 所有するing a 二塁打 列／漕ぐ／騒動 of lattice windows overlooking the gravel terrace at the 長，率いる of the lawn. A small, square wing, about thirty feet in 高さ, jutted from the left end of the 前線, and appeared to belong to a different order of architecture. This was the famous thirteenth-century hall, built during the 統治する of the first Edward. It's steeply-pointed roof was covered with grey 予定するs. The wide 二塁打-door was resplendent with dark green paint and 高度に polished 厚かましさ／高級将校連.

Mrs. Moor, as she continued to gaze at it, 反映するd that the 所有／入手 of so stylish and picturesque a dwelling would not 不名誉 her in the 注目する，もくろむs of her social circle.

"One might live here very comfortably, Isbel?"

Her niece gave a smile of vexation. "Since you have 絶対 決定するd to immure yourself in the heart of the wilds."

"Pray don't let us thrash that out again," said the old lady. "The 郊外s I cannot 耐える, town flats are 刑務所，拘置所s, while hotels will be impossible after you've left me. Here, at all events, I should have space and independence."

Isbel turned away without replying.

The car stopped outside the hall porch, with its green door. It was 正確に／まさに 中央の-day. The sun glared 負かす／撃墜する, but a refreshing 微風 fanned their 直面するs. The house was built on such an elevation that they could see a section of the distant country before them--Adur valley, with the 負かす／撃墜するs on both 側面に位置するs, and, 権利 負かす／撃墜する at its mouth, the sea at Shoreham.

Marshall stamped the ground with his foot. "This must be the 初めの Run Hill that we're standing on."

"Has it a history, then?" asked Isbel.

"Every place must have a history. To me, the mere fact that the 古代の Saxons knew it by the same 指名する is rather 奮起させるing."

"Because you're of Saxon 血. I'm a Celt."

"As if that had anything to do with it."

"And then, Saxons is a very general 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語. There were Saxon rustics, and there were Saxon 著作権侵害者s. If you're referring to the latter I might feel 同情的な. It must be awfully jolly to 絶滅する people you don't like."

"可能性s, anyhow."

Mrs. Moor became impatient. "Did we come here to discuss your character, Isbel, or to see the house?"

Isbel grimaced in silence, and jerked 支援する once again the 隠す which kept 逸脱するing over her shoulder.

Having locked the wheel of the car Marshall walked across to the hall door, and tried the 扱う. The door opened 滑らかに and noiselessly. The ladies discarded their 包むs, and followed him into the house.

A small ロビー brought them to the main hall. Its age, loftiness, and 薄暗い light reminded them of an 古代の chapel. It was two storeys in 高さ; everything was of 支持を得ようと努めるd. The dark-oak, angular roof was crossed by 大規模な beams, the 塀で囲むs were wainscoted, the 床に打ち倒す was of polished oak, relieved only by a few Persian rugs, of dignified colours. At the 支援する of the hall, halfway up, a 上陸, or gallery, ran across its entire breadth. It was reached by a wide staircase, with shallow steps, ひどく carpeted, which formed the 権利-手渡す 出口 of the downstairs 議会. Two doors were underneath the gallery, communicating with the 内部の of the house. A big, 古代の fireplace 占領するd the centre of one of the 味方する 塀で囲むs; against the opposite one stood a modern steam-heating apparatus. Three perpendicular windows over the ロビー-door had 補欠／交替の／交替する diamond panes of coloured and uncoloured glass; the colours were dark blue and crimson, and whatever 反対する these rays fell upon was made beautiful and sombre...The woodwork was in excellent 修理, and appeared newly polished. Al the 任命s of the hall were 有望な, spotless, and in perfect 条件. 裁判官 evidently had had the place 完全に 回復するd and redecorated. And yet the general 影響 was not やめる 満足な. Somehow, it was discordant...

Marshall gazed around him with an uncertain 空気／公表する.

"Rather over-modernised, isn't it? I mean, a place like this ought to be more a museum."

"Not at all," said Mrs. Moor. "It's a lounge."

"I know--but would anyone dream of using it as such? Could I smoke a 麻薬を吸う and read a newspaper here? What I say is, why not 率直に make a show-place of it?"

"But how? I don't know 正確に／まさに what you're complaining of."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, don't be so obtuse, aunt!" exclaimed Isbel, irritably. "He 単に means, it's all too spick-and-（期間が）わたる. When one goes 支援する a few centuries, one 推定する／予想するs a 確かな 量 of dust. I やめる agree with Marshall. And of course the furniture's hopeless."

"What's wrong with the furniture?"

"Oh, it's a curiosity-shop. All styles and periods...Either Mr. 裁判官 has frantic taste or his wife had. Probably the late lamented. I imagine him as the sort of man to be 支配するd 完全に by shopmen, and no one can 告発する／非難する shopmen of 存在 eccentric."

"You're showing off to Marshall," said Mrs. Moor curtly. "Of one thing I'm 確かな . Mr. 裁判官 must be a 高度に moral man. Order and cleanliness like this could only spring from a 完全に self-尊敬（する）・点ing nature."

"If soap and water 構成する morality," retorted Isbel.

Time was precious. They passed through the left-手渡す door beneath the gallery, and 設立する themselves in the dining-room. It was a long, low, 狭くする, dusky apartment, 延長するing lengthwise from the hall. The noon 日光 filled it with solemn brightness, but the 手渡す of the past was upon everything, and the girl's hear sank as she 熟視する／熟考するd the notion of taking her meals here, if only for a few months. She became subdued and silent.

"I fancy you're not impressed?" whispered Marshall.

"It's all so horribly weird."

"I やめる understand. You think it would get on your 神経s?"

"Oh, I can't 表明する it. It's ghostly, of course--I don't mean that...The atmosphere seems tragical to me. I should have a constant feeling that somebody or something was all the way waiting to trip me up. I'm sure it's an unlucky house."

"Then you'd better tell your aunt. I suppose you will have the final say in the 事柄."

"No, wait a bit," said Isbel.

They passed into the kitchens. They were spotless, up-to-date, and fitted with all modern 器具s. Mrs. Moor was delighted with all that she saw.

"No expense has been spared here evidently," she spoke out. "So far the house strikes me as eminently 満足な in every way, and I am very glad you introduced it to my notice, Marshall. If only the 残り／休憩（する） is 平等に convenient..."

"We're of one mind about this part of it, anyway," said Isbel. "If I'm doomed to live at Runhill this kitchen will be where I shall spend the greater part of my time."

Her aunt gave her a sharp look. "Do you mean you don't like the 残り／休憩（する） of the house?"

"I'm not infatuated."

"I couldn't stay long in that hall, for example, without reckoning how many 棺s had been carried downstairs since it was first built."

"Oh, rubbish, child! People die everywhere."

Isbel said nothing for a minute; then, "I wonder if she were old or young?"

"Who?"

"Mr. 裁判官's wife."

"Why, what makes you think she might be young?"

"I have a sort of impression that she might be. I 港／避難所't 後継するd in placing her in this house yet...Do you think he'll marry again, Marshall?"

"裁判官ing by the way he 避けるd women on board I should say not."

Mrs. Moor ちらりと見ることd at her wrist-watch.

"It's getting on toward half-past, and we've two more 床に打ち倒すs to see yet. We mustn't stand about."

They returned to the hall, and すぐに began the ascent of the main staircase. So far they had neither seen nor heard anything of the American 訪問者; everything in the house remained as still as death. Mrs. Priday, too, was a long time in putting in an 外見...The 上陸, which 構成するd a part of the hall, was lighted by its windows; the golden sunlight, the 黒人／ボイコット 影をつくる／尾行するs cast by the balustrade, the patches of 深い blue and crimson, produced a weird and solemn phantasmagoria of colour. All the 空気／公表する smelt of eld. They stopped for a minute at the 最高の，を越す of the stairs, looking 負かす／撃墜する over the rail of the gallery into the hall.

Mrs. Moor was the first to get to 商売／仕事 again. She took a 早い 調査する of their 状況／情勢. On the left, the gallery （機の）カム to a stop at the outer 塀で囲む of the hall. Two doors 直面するd them; one opposite the 長，率いる of the stairs, the other, which was ajar, その上の along to the left. On the 権利, beyond the foot of a second flight of stairs 主要な 上向きs, the 上陸 延長するd 今後 as a long, dark 回廊（地帯） having rooms on both 味方するs. The obscurity, and a sharp turn, 妨げるd the end from 存在 seen.

Isbel called attention to a plaster nymph, standing in an alcove.

"Mrs. 裁判官 must have put that there," she said, rubbing her forehead; "and I am sure she was little more than a girl."

Her aunt regarded her askance. "What do you know about it?"

"I have a feeling. We'll ask Mrs. Priday when she comes. I think Mr. 裁判官 is a very susceptible 年輩の gentleman with a penchant for young women. Remember my words."

"At least you might have the decency to recollect that you're in his house."

The words were hardly out of Mrs. Moor's mouth when they were startled by a strange sound. It （機の）カム from the open door on their left, and was 正確に／まさに like a 選び出す／独身 chord struck ひどく on the piano. They looked at one another.

"Our Transatlantic friend," 示唆するd Marshall.

Mrs. Moor frowned. "It's singular he didn't hear us come in."

Another chord sounded, and then two or three more in quick succession.

"He's going to play," said Isbel.

"Shall I go and 調査／捜査する?" asked Marshall; but Mrs. Moor held up her 手渡す.

The music had 開始するd.

The ladies, who 所有するd a wide experience of orchestral concerts, すぐに recognised the Introduction to the 開始 movement of Beethoven's A major Symphony. It did not take long to realise, however, that the American--if it were the American--was not so much 試みる／企てるing to （判決などを）下す this fragment from 巨大（な）-land, as 実験ing with it. his touch was 激しい and 肯定的な, but he 選ぶd out the 公式文書，認めるs so tardily, he took such liberties with the 速度, there were such long silences, that the impression given was that he must be 反映するing profoundly upon what he played...

Mrs. Moor looked puzzled, but Isbel, after her first shock of surprise, grew 利益／興味d. She had an intuitive feeling that the unseen performer was not playing for the 楽しみ of the music, but for some other 推論する／理由; but what this other 推論する／理由 could be, she could not conceive...Could it be that he was a professional musician, who was taking advantage of the presence of a grand piano to go over something in the work which was not やめる （疑いを）晴らす in his mind? Or was the 業績／成果 示唆するd by the house?

She knew the composition 井戸／弁護士席, but had never heard it played like that before. The 乱すing excitement of its 準備s, as if a curtain were about to be drawn up, 明らかにする／漏らすing a new marvellous world...It was wonderful...most beautiful, really...Then, after a few minutes ame the famous passge of the gigantic 上がるing 規模s, and she すぐに had a 見通し of 抱擁する stairs going up...And, after that, suddenly dead silence. The music had 中止するd 突然の...

She ちらりと見ることd 一連の会議、交渉／完成する at her friends. Marshall was lounging over the rail of the gallery, his 支援する to the others; stifling yawn after yawn; her aunt was 星／主役にするing at the half-open door, with an absent frown. The ピアニスト showed no 調印する of 再開するing; two minutes passed, and still the deathly silence remained 無傷の. Marshall stood 築く and grew restive, but her aunt raised her 手渡す for 静かな. Isbel silently fingered her hair.

While they still waited, the foor of the room from which the sounds had 問題／発行するd opened to its 十分な extent, and the musician appeared standing on the threshold, tranquilly smoking a newly-lighted cigarette.

一時期／支部 III IN THE UPSTAIRS CORRIDOR

The stranger was dressed in a summer 控訴 of grey flannel, and dangled a 幅の広い-brimmed パナマ hat in his 手渡す. Nothing 示すd that he had 観察するd their little group.

Mrs. Moor tapped her heel smartly on the 床に打ち倒す. He at once looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する, but with perfect self-所有／入手. He was a shortish, ひどく-built man, perhaps fifty years of age, having a 十分な, florid 直面する, a ドーム-like forehead, and a neck short, 厚い and red--an energetic, 知識人 type of person, probably 有能な of 長引かせるd periods of 激しい mental exertion. His 長，率いる was bald to the 栄冠を与える, the remaining fair was sandy-red and he wore a short, pointed 耐えるd of the same colour. His somewhat large, flat. Pale blue-grey 注目する，もくろむs had that peculiar look of fixity which comes from gazing at one 始める，決める of 反対するs and thinking of something 全く different.

"Are you the American gentleman?" interrogated Mrs. Moor, from a distance. He strolled に向かって them before replying.

"I do belong to the American nation." His 発言する／表明する was 厚い, but not unpleasant; it had very little accent.

"They told us you were here, but we were not 心配するing a musical 扱う／治療する."

He laughed politely. "I guess my 陳謝 will have to be that I forgot my audience, madam. I heard you all come in, but you disappeared somewhere in the house, and the circumstance went clean out of my mind."

Mrs. Moor ちらりと見ることd at the bulky 公式文書，認める-調書をとる／予約する stuffed into his 味方する-pocket, and 危険d a shrewd conjecture.

"Artists, we know, are 悪名高くも absent-minded."

"Why, I do paint, madam--but I don't put that 今後 as an excuse for discourtesy."

"Then you were lost in the past, we will say. You have few such 利益／興味ing 記念のs in your country?"

"We have some; we are putting on years. But I'm 利益／興味d in this house in a special sense. My wife's 広大な／多数の／重要な-grandfather was the former proprietor of it--I don't know just how you call it here...井戸／弁護士席, the squire."

Isbel fastened her 安定した, grey-黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs on his 直面する. "But why were you playing Beethoven in an empty house?"

The singular, softly-metallic character of her 発言する／表明する seemed to attract his attention, for he 発射 a 尋問 ちらりと見ること at her.

"I was working something out," he replied curtly, after a 簡潔な／要約する hesitation.

"Is it permissible to 問い合わせ what?"

He looked still more surprised. "You wish to know that?...Some ideas （機の）カム to me in this house which seemed to 要求する music to illustrate them--that particular music, I mean."

"Do you know Mr. 裁判官 本人自身で?"

"I do not."

Isbel went on gazing at him meditatively, and seemed inclined to 追求する the conversation, but at that moment a sound was heard in the hall below. ちらりと見ることing over the balustrade, they saw Mrs. Priday entering from the ロビー.

"I'll have to be going," 発言／述べるd the American.

No one 申し込む／申し出d to 拘留する him; the ladies smiled, while Marshall raised his hat. The artist 屈服するd 厳粛に, clapped his own had on and turned to go downstairs.

In the hall he stopped beside the 管理人 for a moment in order to slip a coin into her 手渡す. After that he went out, and the door の近くに behind him.

"What is the 指名する of that gentleman?" asked Mrs. Moor of the woman, as soon as the latter had joined them.

"Mr. Sherrup, madam."

"Oh!...井戸／弁護士席, Mrs. Priday, we've now seen the whole of the ground 床に打ち倒す, and we're waiting for you to show us over the 残り／休憩（する）, if you will be so good. And first of all--what are those two doors there?"

"The 製図／抽選-room, madam, and what used to be the old library, but Mr. 裁判官 has turned it into a billiard-room. The new library's at the end of the 回廊（地帯）. That's all the sitting-rooms on this 床に打ち倒す."

"Very good, then I think we'll first see the 製図／抽選-room."

Mrs. Priday without 延期する 勧めるd them into the apartment in which Sherrup had been playing the piano. It was すぐに over the dining-room, and had the same 見通し; its windows overlooked the 味方する and 支援する of the house. やめる evidently it was the sanctum of the late lady of the manor--no man could have lived in that room, so 十分な of little feminine fragilities and knick-knacks as it was, so bizarre, so frivolous, so tasteless, yet so pleasing. And underneath everything ぼんやり現れるd up the past, 固執するing in discovering itself, にもかかわらず the almost 熱烈な 成果／努力s to 隠す it...A 冷気／寒がらせる struck Isbel's heart, and at the same time she wished to laugh.

"Her taste!" she exclaimed "Couldn't she see it was all wrong? How old was she, Mrs. Priday?"

"Who, 行方不明になる?"

"The late Mrs. 裁判官."

"She was thirty-seven, 行方不明になる."

"Twenty years younger than her husband. I wasn't so far out, aunt...Were they happy together?"

"Why shouldn't they be happy together, 行方不明になる? Young husbands are not always the kindest."

"What was she like?"

"Small, slight, and fair, 行方不明になる; pretty and soft-spoken, with a weakish mouth, but the はっきりした tongue that ever was."

Mrs. Moor looked annoyed, but Isbel 固執するd with her questions.

"Did they get about together much?"

"Yes and no, 行方不明になる. She was one for society, while the master likes no ones' company so much as his own. He will shut himself up with a 調書をとる／予約する by the hour together. And then he's fond of long tramps in the countryside; and he belongs to an antiquarian society--they go on excursions and suchlike."

"Did she go with them?"

The 管理人 smiled. "She hated them like a 群れている of earwigs, 行方不明になる. She used to call them most terrible 指名するs."

"Poor Mrs. 裁判官!"

"How long have you been in service here?" 需要・要求するd Mrs. Moor.

"Eighteen years, madam, I married Priday eighteen years ago. He's been here all his life, and his father and grandfather, too. Many people they've seen come in, and many people they've seen go out."

"Most 利益／興味ing! Has Mr. 裁判官 been 負かす／撃墜する here yet since his return?"

"Not yet, madam. We've had letters, and that's all."

They passed through the billiard room. Isbel contrived to ぐずぐず残る behind with Marshall for a moment.

"Which is the room we have to see?"

"Upstairs. I think I told you it's called the East Room."

"I'm growing more fascinated now. It certainly has an atmosphere of its own, this house. Whether pleasant or unpleasant I can't decide yet."

He 圧力（をかける）d her arm. "I 心から hope you will like it, for I don't see how our marriage is going to come off till your aunt gets 直す／買収する，八百長をするd."

She looked 支援する at him affectionately, but said nothing. 一方／合間 Mrs. Moor had followed the 管理人 into the 回廊（地帯）, where she を待つd them impatiently. They proceeded without loss of time to visit the bedrooms on that 床に打ち倒す. Some were large, some were mere boxes, but the 任命s of all were modern, hygienic, and expensive. Whoever spent a night at Runhill 法廷，裁判所 was sure of a luxurious room. The 見解（をとる）s, too, from the windows were magnificent. にもかかわらず the same oppressive sense of antiquity pervaded everything, and once again the same disagreeable 疑問s sprang up in Isbel's mind.

"It certainly isn't hard to understand how a place like this might 影響する／感情 a man's sanity, if he lived here long enough," she whispered to Marshall. "I am sure I should begin to see things, myself, from the very first night...But he must be mad--what do you think?"

"Probably. Should you like to 会合，会う him, and 裁判官 for yourself?"

"Yes, Marshall!"

"I'll see if I can arrange it."

"Please try. I'm 確かな he's an 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の man, やめる apart from the question of hallucinations."

The others by this time were in the library, where the younger couple 急いでd to join them. Mrs. Moor at once drew Isbel into a corner of the room.

"We've seen 事実上 everything that counts now. How are we to decide?"

"I don't think I could live here, aunt, but don't settle anything in a hurry. You can't imagine what strange thought I have. At one time I feel I hate and loathe the place, and at another--I can't 表明する what I feel. There's something very uncanny about it all, and yet it isn't ghostly, in that sense...There's some living 影響（力）...I do wish we hadn't parted from Mr. Sherrup so 突然の. I feel 肯定的な he could have thrown some light on it."

"Your 神経s must be 猛烈に out of order, child, and, that 存在 the 事例／患者, I 堅固に 疑問 whether such a house as this is suitable for you. However, as you say, nothing need be decided on the 刺激（する） of the moment...now we'll see upstairs, and then go home."

It was nearly one o'clock.

The upper 上陸 had a low, sloping roof. It was lighted by a gable window 直面するing the south-west. Opposite to the 長，率いる of the stairs were two servants; rooms, while on the 権利 手渡す a passage ran through to the other end of the house, dimly lighted along its entire length by skylights. Doors opened out here and there from both 味方するs; those on the 権利 were dark 板材-rooms, the others were the remaining servants; bedrooms, 所有するing windows which 直面するd the 支援する of the house. At the far end of the building the servants' staircase （機の）カム up from the ground 床に打ち倒す.

After a cursory walk through, the party returned to the other 上陸.

"Now, is that all?" 需要・要求するd Mrs. Moor.

"Yes, madam."

Marshall pinched his chin thoughtfully. "Which is the East Room?"

"It's locked, sir."

"Locked, is it? But Mr. 裁判官 told me he was giving 指示／教授／教育s to have it opened."

"I don't know anything about that, sir. It's locked."

"That's unfortunate. At all events, show us where it is."

Mrs. Moor cast him a keen ちらりと見ること, but held her tongue.

"We shall have to go through a rather dark passage, sir--if you don't mind that. It's this way."

平行の with and overlooking the stairs was another little 回廊（地帯）, stretching to the 前線 of the house and lighted by a dormer-window at the end. Along this Mrs. Priday 行為／行うd them. When they could nearly touch the sloping roof, the 回廊（地帯） turned はっきりと to the left and became a sort of tunnel. Marshall begin to strike matches.

"By Jove, it is dark!"

"It gets はしけ 直接／まっすぐに, sir."

After twenty paces or so, there （機の）カム another 新たな展開. A couple of shallow stairs brought them up into a 広げるing of the passage which might almost be 述べるd as a room. Its rafters were the 内部の of a 広大な／多数の／重要な gable, through the high-始める，決める window of which the sun was slanting. Everything had been scrubbed clean, but there was not a stick of furniture.

"The man who designed this house must have had a queer brain," 発言／述べるd Isbel, with a smile. "Do you mean to tell me that all this leads only to the one room?"

"That's all, 行方不明になる."

They had paused for a minute to take advantage of the light, before 急落（する），激減（する）ing into the next section of night-like 回廊（地帯）. While they stood there, a look of perplexity appeared on Isbel's 直面する, as she seemed to listen to something.

"What's that?" she whispered.

"What?" asked her aunt.

"Can't you hear a sound?"

They all listened.

"What's it like, Isbel?" 問い合わせd Marshall.

"Surely you can hear it!...a find of low, vibrating hum...like a telephone wire while you're waiting for a 関係..."

But no one else could catch the noise.

"裁判官 spoke of some sound in a 回廊（地帯）," said Marshall. "He told me everyone couldn't hear it. 肉親，親類d of a 雷鳴, is it?"

"Yes...yes, perhaps...It keeps coming and going...A low buzz..."

"That must be it, then--unless, of course, it's a （犯罪の）一味ing in your ears."

Isbel uttered a short laugh of annoyance. "Oh, surely I can tell a sound when I hear one? It's 正確に／まさに as if I were listening on the telephone for an answer to a call. A 発言する／表明する might speak at any moment."

"Foolishness!" said her aunt irritably. "If it's anything at all, it's probably an outside wire of some sort...Come along!"

"I can't understand why nobody else hears it. It's so unmistakable."

"井戸／弁護士席, nobody else does, child--that's enough. Are you coming, or are you not?"

"It's really やめる impressive, though. Like an orchestra heard through a 厚い 塀で囲む."

"The question is, are we to stay here until you've 後継するd in working yourself up into a fit of enthusiasm over it?"

"I wonder if this is what Mr. Sherrup heard? Very likely it is. It certainly does give one the idea of a 準備 for something. It's exciting...oh, don't glare at me, aunt, as if I were some wild animal--I'm やめる in my 権利 senses, I 保証する you."

"That may be so; but if it's a joke I don't know why you should 直す／買収する，八百長をする on lunch-time for it. How much longer do you 提案する to keep us here, may I ask?"

Isbel at last 同意d to proceed, but there was a strange look in her 注目する，もくろむs for all the 残り／休憩（する） of the time she was upstairs.

The second section of unlighted passage led to another gable-room, and this in turn was 後継するd by a third, but shorter, tunnel. に向かって the end it was dimly illuminated by a skylight. The passage was 終結させるd by a plain oak door.

"Is this the East Room?" asked Marshall.

"Yes, sir."

He tried the 扱う, but the door was locked.

"井戸／弁護士席, that's no go, then!"

"Why is it kept locked?" asked Mrs. Moor.

"Because Mr. 裁判官 wishes it, madam."

They could not tell from Mrs. Priday's 表現 whether she were 存在 impertinent, or 単に simple. Isbel, however, hazarded another question:

"Is the room haunted?"

"Please?"

"I say, is the room haunted?"

The 管理人 smiled, as she wrapped her 手渡すs in the apron she wore. "If you mean ghosts, 行方不明になる, I've never heard of any such."

"I'm 簡単に asking of it has the 評判 of 存在 queer in any way?"

"井戸／弁護士席, for one thing, 行方不明になる, it's very old. Priday says it's far and away the oldest part of the house--all this end is. It wouldn't be natural if no stories was told about an 古代の room like this."

"What 肉親，親類d of stories?"

"Ah, my husband's the one for all that, 行方不明になる. He'll tell you all you want to know about the house--if you can get him to talk, that is. Not many can. The master never could get much out of him. The Pridays have served here for more than a hundred years, and it's to be 推定する／予想するd that my husband knows a goodish bit about the place, which he doesn't want to lose by telling to the first asker. You talk to him, 行方不明になる, and if he's in the mood he'll tell you some funny stories. I don't pretend to know much about it myself."

"Do you say that this part of the house is older than the hall?" asked Marshall.

"My husband says it's nigh fifteen centuries old, sir, only it's been patched up from time to time, and made to look more like the 残り／休憩（する） of the house."

"That's rather 利益／興味ing. I wonder if 裁判官 know it?"

No one answered him. Mrs. Moor again 協議するd her wrist-watch.

"We really must be getting 支援する--we shall lose our lunch. You'll have to see the room some other time, Marshall, if it's a 事例／患者 of necessity."

There was nothing else to do, and they retraced their steps. Returning through the 回廊（地帯）, they descended the stairs. When once again in the hall, the ladies thanked Mrs. Priday and 用意が出来ている to go outside, but Marshall stayed behind for a moment to slip a treasure-公式文書，認める in her 手渡す.

Priday himself opened the 宿泊する-gate to 許す the car to pass. He was a 堅い, wrinkled little fellow of about fifty-five, with cheeks like Kentish apples, and a pair of small, 用心深い, twinkling, sloe-黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs. Isbel 見解（をとる）d him with 広大な／多数の／重要な curiosity, but no words were 交流d.

"Then we'll run over there again next week-end, 供給するing I can get the 重要な of that room?" asked Marshall of Isbel on the same evening, at the hotel.

She looked at him closely. "Yes. And when you 令状 to Mr. 裁判官, hint to him that aunt is やめる 用意が出来ている to 企て，努力，提案 for the house. You know how to put it."

"But is that 限定された?"

"Certainly. She may not know her own mind, but I know it for her. You'll do that?"

"You'd be 用意が出来ている to live there yourself for a few months?"

"Yes--for it's such a short time that it makes no difference one way or the other."

And she 解除するd her 手渡す to her hair with such an 空気／公表する of 冷淡な abstraction that Marshall thought she was really bored by the whole 事件／事情／状勢.

一時期／支部 IV THE LEGEND OF ULF'S TOWER

The 罰金 天候 ran into Sunday. Mrs. Moor went to church in the morning, while Isbel dragged the unwilling Marshall with her to the West Pier to hear music. In honour of his return, she had to-day for the first time got 支援する into colours, and was wearing a light summer frock, with cerise hat; her pale 直面する was 砕くd as usual. She was a good 取引，協定 星／主役にするd at as they sauntered through the 二塁打-列／漕ぐ／騒動 of seated people, which had the 影響 of irritating her, for she was not feeling in a 特に social humour--she had slept abominably on the previous night.

The 禁止（する）d was playing in the pavilion, but the windows were open, and they could hear perfectly 井戸／弁護士席 outside. They sank into a couple of deck-議長，司会を務めるs which happened to be 空いている. An undistinguished valse was just slowing to a finish.

A minute later Isbel 軽く押す／注意を引くd her 護衛する; with a 重要な ちらりと見ること she directed his attention to his 隣人 on the other 味方する. It was Sherrup.

"Shall I speak?" he whispered.

"Of course."

Marshall drew reflectively at his cigarette, making no 調印する until the piece ended. Then he turned to the other good-humouredly.

"Bit warm this morning, Mr. Sherrup?"

The 厚い, red-bearded American was in the 行為／法令／行動する of wiping his over-heated brow with an ornate handkerchief. He slipped it away, and calmly passed his を引き渡す to the underwriter. The tail of his 注目する，もくろむ 残り／休憩（する）d for a 選び出す／独身 instant on Isbel's 直面する, but he did not 投機・賭ける to （人命などを）奪う，主張する the acquaintanceship.

"You've got my 指名する, I see?"

"The 管理人 told us. My own 指名する's Stokes--and this is 行方不明になる Loment."

Sherrup rose and 屈服するd.

"Staying long in Brighton?" 問い合わせd Marshall.

"No, I'm getting 支援する to London in the morning, en 大勝する to Italy."

"You won't be seeing 裁判官, then? You don't know him 本人自身で, I think you said."

"Why, no; I've never met him. My wife wished me to take that house in on my trip, so I wrote him about it, and he was good enough to mail me an order. That's all my 関係 with Mr. 裁判官."

"You know he's just 支援する from America?"

"They told me at the house."

Isbel whispered to Marshall to change seats. He obeyed, and she 設立する herself between the two men.

"Still in 追求（する），探索（する） of music, it seems, Mr. Sherrup?"

He laughed. "Oh, 井戸／弁護士席, music was invented for lonely men. "

"Your wife isn't with you, then?"

"You mustn't 非難する me for that, 行方不明になる Loment. It wasn't my fault. She just wouldn't come. 脅すd of the sea."

"Is it a professional trip for you, or a holiday?"

"Oh, I'm seeing the galleries, that's all."

"What is your particular 支店 of art?"

"I'm a portrait-painter."

"How awfully 利益／興味ing! But don't you have to 受託する （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限s from all sorts of objectionable types?"

"There are no objectionable types, 行方不明になる Loment. In an art sense, every man and woman alive is an individual problem, with special features you won't find どこかよそで."

"I never looked at it in that light. It must be so. But how 吸収するing you must find it all!"

Marshall got up.

"I'm going to 追跡（する） for cigarettes, if you'll both excuse me. Stay here, Isbel. I won't be long."

"No, don't be long." She turned again to Sherrup.

"Do you find you get most of your 使用／適用s from women or men?"

"The sexes are about 平等に vain, 行方不明になる Loment; but maybe the ladies are ahead in self-enthusiasm. I couldn't 供給（する） the 統計（学） off-手渡す."

She laughed. A light entr'行為／法令／行動する struck up, and その上の conversation was 延期するd for a few minutes. Isbel began to tap the pier 床に打ち倒すing with the tip of her sunshade nervously and absently. As the last 公式文書，認めるs sounded she threw a hurried ちらりと見ること to the 権利, to see if Marshall were returning, and then leant over, almost confidentially, toward her companion.

"Tell me--what did you really think of that house yesterday?"

"A real impressive old pile, 行方不明になる Loment."

"Nothing more?"

He gave her a guarded look. "I guess a house can't be much more than a house."

"What made you sit 負かす／撃墜する to that piano, then?"

"Oh, that!" He 除去するd his hat, and slowly passed his 手渡す over his 幅の広い, 目だつ forehead..."My little 業績／成果 has surely struck your imagination. I thought we were through with that yesterday."

"But it was a strange notion, you must 収容する／認める."

"Perhaps I'm a strange character, 行方不明になる Loment."

"Don't let's 盗品故買者. Mr. Stokes will be 支援する 直接／まっすぐに. I want to know, please--what had the house to do with it?"

Sherrup hesitated. "I had some sensations."

"I thought so. And where did you have them? Wasn't it in the gable of that dark 回廊（地帯） on the 最高の，を越す 床に打ち倒す?"

There was a short pause.

"We look to be in the same boat, 行方不明になる Loment."

"Then it was there?"

"Not there, but 近づく there. It was outside the door of that room they call the East Room these days. It used to be Ulf's Tower. Did you get as far?"

"Yes. And what was it you heard?"

"Heard?...Oh, I guess you're referring to the sound in that passage? No, it wasn't that, 行方不明になる Loment."

"Then what was it? Tell me what happened?" She spoke quickly.

"Nothing happened. We were talking of sensations, weren't we?...I'm an artist, 行方不明になる Loment, and that means a bundle of live 神経s. My mind gets troubled maybe ten or twenty times a day, without my ever guessing what for. This one was what you might call a bad 'seismic 騒動,' and there's no more to it."

"Perhaps you think my questions are 誘発するd by inquisitiveness? It isn't that. My aunt may be buying Runhill 法廷，裁判所, and, if she does, I shall have to live there; so you see my 利益／興味 is やめる 合法的."

Sherrup watched her professionally. The quivering nostrils, the nervous mouth, the peculiar 表現 of the grey-黒人／ボイコット 注目する，もくろむs, fascinated without 満足させるing him. Her character 所有するd an important 質 which he was unable to 位置を示す on her features. It was 含む／封じ込めるd only in that 静かな, pleasant, yet metallic and foreign-トンd 発言する／表明する.

"I can't tell you much," he said at length, and then there was another silence.

Isbel ちらりと見ることd around her rather guiltily. "Still, I feel you can tell me something. Can't we talk it over together, somewhere? 明白に it's out of the question here." She laughed, without 有罪の判決. "I know it sounds terribly melodramatic, still you understand my point of 見解（をとる）, don't you?"

"I shall feel honoured and delighted. But you'll sure be disappointed when you see how little I have to を引き渡す, 行方不明になる Loment...and another thing--I'm away to-morrow morning, as I told your friend."

"By what train?"

"Eleven a.m."

She pondered. Marshall would 出発／死 for town three hours earlier than that.

"Let us 直す／買収する，八百長をする up something. Can you be outside the turnstiles of this pier to-morrow morning at ten o'clock sharp? That would 許す you ample time to catch your train."

"権利. Ten sharp. I'll be there."

"I rely on you, mind."

"Oh, I keep my 任命s, 行方不明になる Loment," said the American.

Isbel was about to say something else, when turning her 注目する，もくろむs, she 観察するd Marshall approaching. During his absence his 議長，司会を務める had been appropriated by a pale, stout, flabby lady of uncertain age, with a drooping mouth, and 注目する，もくろむs which 前向きに／確かに snapped; the usurpation had passed unnoticed by the others.

Sherrup rose. "I'll やめる. You take my seat, Mr. Stokes--I'll have a turn along the 前線 till 昼食."

Next morning Isbel breakfasted 早期に with Marshall, and saw him 出発／死 for the 駅／配置する. As he ーするつもりであるd returning to Brighton for the に引き続いて week-end, the car and the major 部分 of his 所持品 were left behind.

At ten o'clock she was outside the West Pier, Sherrup, who already waited there, すぐに （機の）カム up to her, raising his hat and 除去するing the cigar from his mouth.

"Let's walk に向かって Hove," she 示唆するd. "It's いっそう少なく （人が）群がるd that way."

He assented in 乾燥した，日照りの silence.

"It was most 肉親，親類d of you to come out of your way for me," began Isbel. "After all, we are total strangers."

"Now, don't say that; I feel as if I'd known you やめる a long time...My cigar doesn't worry you any?"

"No, please..."

"All 権利. Now let's get to 商売／仕事. Time's short, 行方不明になる Loment. 井戸／弁護士席, now I'm here for, I 結論する, is to 明示する my sensations at Runhill on Saturday. There wasn't anything else, was there?"

"It won't embarrass you?"

"Oh 井戸／弁護士席, I'm not easily embarrassed...Now, I told you where it all happened. Outside the door of that East Room. Honestly, that was one of the things I （機の）カム to see. I could have just kicked myself when I 設立する that lock 急速な／放蕩な."

"First of all--you did hear the sound in that 回廊（地帯）, didn't you? My friends didn't--that's why I ask."

"Yes, I heard it. like the far-away 捨てる of a 二塁打-bass."

"Yes, yes--it was like that. I couldn't identify the sound it reminded me of, but that was it."

"It's 堅い to explain, but it might be in the nature of a flow from that East room to another part of the house."

"原因（となる）d by what?"

"I can't say. But is that what was troubling you?"

"It was so horribly uncanny. I can almost hear it still."

"Anyway, we'll やめる that, and come to my experience. It isn't a mile long. While I stood outside that door, just after trying to burgle the lock--for I had my knife out to it--a 肉親，親類d of smell （機の）カム wafting over me of a sudden...Now, I don't want you to smile, 行方不明になる Loment. There needn't be anything funny in a smell. I know, and you know, that a smell can be the powerfullest variety of sensation, when it 始める，決めるs out to be. You can't kill a man by a sight or a sound, but I wouldn't like to say you couldn't kill him with some smells, and not always disagreeable ones at that. That just shows the superior sensitiveness of the nose as an 組織／臓器. I would like for somebody to take that up as an art...井戸／弁護士席, this particular odour was of the delirious 種類. It was like the epitome of a spring day in the 支持を得ようと努めるd--all the scent of the pines, and the violets, and the rich, moist, dark brown 国／地域, and whatever else comes carried to you by the 微風s--only, all 二塁打-distilled, as if it was the spillings of a 瓶／封じ込める of a new sort of women's perfume..."

"And then?"

"Call to mind where I smelt it all, 行方不明になる Loment. In a dark, dusty, airless 回廊（地帯） of an 古代の house, which god's 空気／公表する hasn't blown through for centuries...I jumped--nearly. Then it passed away やめる suddenly again. I 人物／姿／数字 it didn't last all told more than ten seconds. But after it was gone I stood there 肉親，親類d of transfigured, like a man that has just seen a 見通し. It wasn't till it quitted that I saw its importance. It was like a waft from another world...that house is alive, 行方不明になる Loment."

"Is that the whole?"

"That's all."

"It's very, very strange. But still I don't やめる see why it should have 示唆するd that music to you?"

"Yes, now, why did it? But somehow it did. I can't explain it to myself. The suggestion thought has gone, and I can't 回復する it...The orchestra was tuning up. Something big was going to happen. Something like that. You mustn't 圧力（をかける） the resemblance too の近くに. Any 肉親，親類d of big symphonic music might have done, but I just chose that--it must have seemed more appropriate."

Isbel tried unsuccessfully to put 無関心／冷淡 into her 発言する／表明する as she asked the question:

"I'm going to make what you may consider a ery singular 調査, Mr. Sherrup. Was your 推論する／理由 for playing that music the fact that the passage of the 上がるing 規模s 示唆するd to you the idea of a mysterious gigantic staircase?"

He blew out a cloud of smoke, at the same time looking at her from the corner of his 注目する，もくろむ.

"Why should that be?"

"I don't know why it should be, or why it should not be; but was it so?"

"It was not. You appear to know something I don't, 行方不明になる Loment. What staircase?"

"Oh, nothing. It was just a foolish question...Shall we turn 支援する?"

They did so.

Isbel nervously cast in her mind for a change of conversation.

"You say that room used to go by another 指名する. How was that?"

"It was called Ulf's Tower. The story is that Ulf was the 初めの 建設業者 of the house. He lived about a hundred years after the first 上陸 of the South Saxons. Four or five houses have been put up on the same 場所／位置 since then, but the 指名する struggled through till a couple centuries ago. My wife's ancestor, Michael Bourdon, 始める，決める it all 負かす／撃墜する in his papers. The history of Runhill 法廷，裁判所 goes 支援する to the sixth century Anno Domini."

"But why should that particular room have been selected to 保存する his memory?"

"Oh, 井戸／弁護士席, because the 行方不明の rooms of the legend were supposed to be すぐに above that 味方する of the house. That's やめる （疑いを）晴らす."

"I have heard no legend. What 行方不明の rooms?"

"You surely surprise me. I guessed every man, woman, and child in the Old Country would know about the lost rooms of Runhill 法廷，裁判所. When Ulf built his house, 行方不明になる Loment, it was on haunted land. Run Hill was a waste elevation, 住むd by trolls--which, I 人物／姿／数字, were a variety of malevolent land-sprites. Ulf didn't care, though he was a pagan. He built his house. I gather he was a 堅い fellow, away above the superstitions of his time and country. And--井戸／弁護士席, one day Ulf disappears and a part of his house with him. Some of the 最高の，を越す rooms of the Tower were clean carried off by the trolls; it happened to be the east end of the house, the nearest to their happy 追跡（する）ing-grounds. That was the very last that was heard of Ulf, but all through the centuries folks have been jumping up to 発表する that they've caught sight of the lost rooms...That's the fable."

They walked along in silence.

"Then would you advise me to live in that house?" asked Isbel suddenly, with an unsteady smile.

Sherrup smoked for やめる a minute before answering.

"If you ask that, 行方不明になる Loment, you must have a 推論する／理由 for asking it. tell me what you feel."

"自白s are so ぎこちない, and I'm not sure you won't laugh."

"I won't laugh."

"井戸／弁護士席, then--when I was listening to that weird sound in that passage, it suddenly seemed to strike a very 深い string in my heart, which had never been struck before. It was a 肉親，親類d of passion... It was passion. But there was something else in it besides joy--my heart felt sick and tormented, and there was a horrible 沈むing sensation of despair. But the delight was there all the time, and was the strongest...It only lasted a very short time, but I don't think I could ever forget it..."

"Yes, I know," said Sherrup.

"Then tell me what it means, and what I'm to do."

He threw away his cigar.

"Do nothing, 行方不明になる Loment, and ask no questions. That's the advice of a man who has daughters of his own."

"Not live there, you mean?"

"No." He made an emphatic 味方する-gesture with his 手渡す. "削減（する） it 権利 out. A house like that is going to do you no good. Shall I tell you what you are, 行方不明になる Loment? You're an artist without a profession. You're like a 雷-棒 without an 出口--you want to steer （疑いを）晴らす of all 肉親，親類d of 嵐／襲撃するs. Oh, I'm not a portrait-painter for nothing. Your nervous system is 向こうずねing through all 権利...井戸／弁護士席, you asked me for it, so I've 手渡すd it out. But honestly, I wouldn't take on that house. If you feel like that at the beginning, what are you going to feel after a while? It's too risky?"

"Thank you," she said 静かに. "I think I will take your advice. I'm afraid I'm rather 高度に strung by nature, although, oddly enough, not one of my friends appears to have any 疑惑 of the fact. I pass for 存在 stolid, rather than さもなければ. You are almost the first to give me credit for exceptional feelings."

When they had arrived opposite the pier once more, Sherrup took his 出発.

So strong was the impression made upon him by Isbel's personality that in the train, before it started, he was induced to commit her elusive features to one of the pages of his precious sketch-調書をとる／予約する. When it was 完全にするd, however, he shook his 長，率いる with an 空気／公表する of 深遠な 不満. It was a good likeness, but he still couldn't get that 発言する／表明する into the picture.

一時期／支部 V ISBEL SEES HERSELF

Marshall （機の）カム 負かす／撃墜する again by train on Friday evening. 裁判官 had replied to him during the week, 通知するing that he was still considering the question of parting with his house, but hoped before long to come to a 限定された 決定／判定勝ち（する）. 一方／合間, no useful 目的 would appear to be served by a personal interview with the lady 願望（する）ing to 購入（する）, but he was willing to 請け負う to give her the first 拒絶 of the 広い地所. He enclosed the 重要な of the East Room. Marshall communicated only the 商売／仕事 part of the letter to Mrs. Moor.

The 罰金 天候 continuing, he took the ladies on Saturday for a long run through Sussex and Kent. They 負傷させる up with the theatre at night.

On Sunday morning, at the breakfast-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, Isbel 発表するd to her aunt the 意向 of herself and Marshall to モーター over to Runhill 法廷，裁判所 before lunch. Mrs. Moor, although a rigid churchgoer, manifested neither 楽しみ not displeasure.

"But you will be 支援する for lunch this time?"

"Oh, yes. Marshall 単に wants to carry out his （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限."

"I know you don't like the house, so I needn't 警告する you against 未熟に 落ちるing in love with it. I've got a strong feeling he won't part with it."

"Why not?" asked Marshall.

"Oh, I've had some experience of these heart-broken old widowers. He's far more likely to 選ぶ up another wife than to 放棄する an old, familiar home. At his time of life he's not so much a man as a bundle of habits."

"Fifty-eight's not so old."

"Too old for a new 設立, but not too old for a new wife," repeated Mrs. Moor with a shade of contempt.

Her niece reached for the marmalade dish. "I 推定する／予想する there are women who would marry him. He must be decently 井戸／弁護士席 off."

"Of course--and even やめる young girls. If it's beauty he wants he'll find a wife easier to get than a good cook. 示す my words--within twelve months a second Mrs. 裁判官 will be 任命する／導入するd in that house."

"I thought you were an admirer of his," said Isbel nonchalantly.

"I admire his thoroughness in practical 事柄s, but that doesn't blind my 注目する，もくろむs to probabilities."

"In other words, you think he's 扱う／治療するing you 不正に by keeping you on tenterhooks. Own up, aunt!"

"You're やめる mistaken, child. I'm not attacking him. I'm 簡単に finding 推論する／理由s for his not 存在 able to （不足などを）補う his mind. It's his own house, and he can do what he likes with it."...However, it was obvious that Mrs. Moor was annoyed.

The two younger people left Brighton soon after ten o'clock, and as the road was now more familiar they reached Runhill 宿泊する almost upon the 一打／打撃 of eleven. Mrs. Priday did not appear; this time it was her husband who …に出席するd the gate. He wore a 黒人／ボイコット coat, in honour of the day, and was smoking a nicotine-stained 木造の 麻薬を吸う carved in the likeness of a man's 長，率いる. Marshall showed him a corner of 裁判官's letter, with the 署名, に引き続いて it up with a small pourboire, which the 長，率いる gardener thrust indifferently into his pocket.

"Can we get into the house now?"

"Yes, sir."

"Are you at liberty?"

Priday answered in the affirmative.

"As a 事柄 of fact, it's only one room we have to see. We went over all the 残り／休憩（する） last time. The East Room. It was locked when we were here before, but I've got the 重要な since."

The gardener gazed at him with his cunning 注目する，もくろむs for a moment, and then asked 慎重に, as if feeling his way: "Now, why would the boss be having that room opened, sir?"

"Any particular 推論する／理由 why it shouldn't be opened?"

"It's been kept locked up for eight years, sir, and that's one good 推論する／理由."

"Why?" 需要・要求するd Isbel.

"Oh, there's nothing there for nobody."

"Then why waste a good lock?"...Finding that Priday did not reply, she proceeded, "I understand its real 指名する is Ulf's Tower?"

"What 指名する?"

"Ulf's Tower."

"I never heard that, 行方不明になる. In my grandfather's time, the old 'uns used to call it the elves' Tower."

"How 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の! I wonder which 見解／翻訳／版 is the 権利 one?"

"井戸／弁護士席, we can be talking about all this when we get to the house," said Marshall, "if you'll get the 重要な and let us through."

While Priday went into the 宿泊する Isbel の近くにd her 注目する，もくろむs and 圧力（をかける）d her 手渡す to her forehead.

"I'm afraid I've a 頭痛 coming on."

"Is it the sun? If so, the sooner we get inside, the better."

"It must be the hot sun."

the gardener 再現するd almost すぐに with the 重要な in his 手渡す, and at once 始める，決める about 開始 the carriage gate. Marshall got 支援する into the car--Isbel had not alighted--they passed through, the gate was の近くにd behind them, and Priday having been 招待するd to 開始する, they ran 滑らかに up the 運動, and within a minute or two were outside the house.

As they stood waiting by the door, while Priday fumbled with the lock, the throbbing of Isbel's 寺s grew so unendurable that she hardly knew how to remain 築く.

"Worse?" 問い合わせd Marshall, with some 苦悩.

"I'm afraid so. I wish he'd hurry up."

At the same moment that she spoke, the door was got open, and Marshall supported her into the 冷静な／正味の of the hall, where she sat 負かす／撃墜する. The two men remained standing beside her.

"This is better, but I 恐れる I can't go on for a minute or two."...After a pause, she 演説（する）／住所d Priday more conversationally: "So you know nothing about the East Room?"

"There's no 'so' about it," was the blunt, though not 不快な／攻撃 reply. "I never said I didn't."

"But you say there's nothing there?"

"There ain't nothing there that you want, 行方不明になる."

"What do I want?"

"You've come on a picnic, like...This house ain't going to be played with. P'非難するs it'll bite 支援する, and bite hard."

This language, which would have sounded imbecile in another place, seemed almost like a 脅し to Isbel in their 現在の 状況／情勢, surrounded as they were by the solemn, silent remains of an extreme antiquity. She discontinued her questions. Marshall, however, who 保存するd his ありふれた-sense, took up the story.

"What 正確に／まさに do you mean by that, Priday?"

"Gentleman like you, sir, can go anywhere about the house. You'll see or hear nothing, and it won't 傷つける you. Young 女性（の） 神経s is a very different 事柄. P'非難するs those who start a funny jhourney can't always come 支援する when they like...The young lady's got a 頭痛, you say. That's a good enough excuse. Let her 残り／休憩（する） here, sir, while you and me go up to see what you want to see."

"Oh, rot!...You want to come, don't you, Isbel?"

"Very much. But really, I'm 肉体的に incapable of moving. My 長，率いる gets worse instead of better."

"Then, shall I stop with you, or would you like me to get the 職業 over? I could be up and town again in ten minutes. Say what you'd like."

"Yes, please go. Take Mr. Priday with you. I think 完全にする silence and 孤独 may do me good. Talking makes it worse."

"I wish to heaven I could do something for you!...You're sure you don't mind 存在 left?"

She gave a feeble, 安心させるing smile. "Good gracious! I'm not a child."

Marshall took his 出発 reluctantly upstairs, …を伴ってd by Priday, whose 脚s, however, 強化するd by a lifetime of digging, were soon unable to keep pace with those of the young underwriter.

Isbel now kept shutting and 再開するing her 注目する，もくろむs. The repose, silence, and gloom began to 演習 a soothing 影響 on her 神経s, and she had not sat there two minutes before her 長，率いる became easier. Everything in the hall was as it had been on the occasion of their previous visit. The dark, dignified, polished woodwork was solemnly illuminated as before, by the golden, blue and crimson rays from the mediaeval windows, and there was the same deathly stillness.

Suddenly it occurred to her that she was looking at something the 存在 of which she had never yet realised. It was a part of the structure of the hall, and she must certainly have seen it before, but, if so, it had 完全に escaped her 観察. It was a second flight of uncarpeted stairs, 主要な 上向きs out of the hall, by the 味方する of the 古代の fireplace. It did not strike her that there was anything 半端物 about these stairs; they were やめる prosaic and real; the only curious circumstance was that hitherto she should have overlooked them in so miraculous a manner.

They went straight 今後 and up through an aperture in the 塀で囲む. About a dozen steps were 明白な, but the 最高の，を越す was out of sight. It すぐに flashed across her mind that by 上がるing them she would 始める，決める foot in a heretofore unexplored part of the house. In the excitement of the 発見 she forgot her 頭痛. She got up, stood for a moment in 疑問, wondering whether she should call out to Marshall, and then, deciding that her 発言する／表明する would not carry so far, and that it would be time enough to 熟知させる him with her find on his reappearance, she 解決するd in the 合間 to do a little 開拓するing on her own account. Not once did it enter her breain to identify these stairs with those of 裁判官. They appeared in a different ４半期/4分の1 of the house, and, moreover, were too solid and 有形の to conjure up the faintest 疑惑 of anything supernatural. She was not in the least alarmed; 単に intensely surprised and curious.

Deliberately, but with a わずかに agitated pulse, she 上がるd the steps one by one, occasionally turning to look 支援する 負かす／撃墜する at the hall. Something in the whole 訴訟／進行 occurred to her as mysterious, though she was unable to explain to herself just what it was. The steps were of a dark, 向こうずねing 支持を得ようと努めるd, which 似ているd teak; there were, from 底（に届く） to 最高の，を越す, seventeen of them. There was no handrail, but the 塀で囲むs enclosed the 井戸／弁護士席 of the staircase on either 味方する.

At the 長，率いる of the flight she 設立する herself standing in a little room, about fifteen feet square, empty of furniture, and lighted from above, although no skylight was 明白な. The 床に打ち倒す, 塀で囲むs, and 天井 were of the same dark, handsome 支持を得ようと努めるd as the staircase. It was a 肉親，親類d of 賭け金-議会. There was nothing to see there, and nowhere to sit 負かす／撃墜する, but there were doors 主要な out of it. There were three of them; one in the centre of each of the three 塀で囲むs, the 長，率いる of the stairs 占領するing the centre of the fourth. All were of plain, undecorated 支持を得ようと努めるd, 投資するing them with an almost 原始の 空気／公表する. All three were の近くにd.

Isbel hesitated. She wished to proceed, but those の近くにd doors seemed to 持つ／拘留する a sort of menace. She now remembered that Mrs. Priday had omitted to show these rooms with the 残り／休憩（する） of the house--or was it that she had thought they had already seen them 事前の to her arrival? Or, again, like the East Room, they might be locked; they, too, might 含む／封じ込める 望ましくない mysteries...On that point, of course, she would 満足させる herself at once...if it were really possible to go any その上の....

Could it have been something of the same feeling that leads a woman to scrutinise an envelope 演説（する）／住所d in an unfamiliar handwriting for several moments before 開始 it, which induced Isbel to pause for so long outside those doors? It was 自然に absurd to suppose that she was 現実に 脅すd--so she told herself--and yet, somehow, she could not bring herself to 可決する・採択する the sensible 計画（する） of peeping in...The fact was, there was something not やめる 権利 about them. They were unlike other doors. And not only were they unlike other doors, they were unlike each other. In that fact, perhaps, consisted their 長，指導者 strangeness. The door in the middle, which she 直面するd, looked noble, stately, and 私的な, 反して the 権利-手渡す one had--she could not 述べる it to herself--a dangerous, waiting 外見, as though the room it belonged to were 住むd and the door at any moment might be flung suddenly open. As for that on the left, most likely it opened on to a passage-way--that was the impression it gave her...Perhaps all this hypersensitiveness on her part had its origin in the 相互の position of the 塀で囲むs.

For some minutes she was incapable either of impelling herself 今後 or dragging herself away. She remained standing in nervous 当惑, biting her gloved fingertips, and smiling at her own 証拠不十分. Perhaps she せねばならない descend again to the hall and wait for Marshall. He might have returned by this time, and be wondering what had become of her...It was most 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の that he, too, hadn't noticed these stairs!...

Unable to 召集（する） 十分な courage to attack any of the doors unsupported, she at last 決定するd to return for his 援助. But she had made no allowance for whim. While her foot was still on the second stair from the 最高の，を越す, she turned straight 一連の会議、交渉／完成する, then walked with a springing 活動／戦闘 across the room to the left-手渡す door, and, defiantly flinging it wide open, stood on the threshold, 星／主役にするing in with startled 注目する，もくろむs.

The room was even smaller than that outside. Its fittings were all of the same dark 支持を得ようと努めるd. There was no furniture, but a large oval mirror hung on one of the 塀で囲むs, and on the 味方する of the room furthest from the door, was a long, rich-red curtain, which seemed to 隠す another door. Isbel took a 試験的な step 今後. She kept asking herself what these rooms could be for, to what part of the house they belonged, and why they had been left unfurnished.

Abstractedly she walked over to the mirror to adjust her hat...Either the glass was flattering her, or something had happened to make her look different; she was やめる startled by her image. It was not so much that she appeared more beautiful as that her 直面する had acquired another character. Its 表現 was 深い, 厳しい, lowering, yet everything was 軟化するd and made alluring by the pervading presence of 性の sweetness. The 直面する struck a 公式文書，認める of 深い, underlying passion, but a passion which was still asleep...It thrilled and excited her, it was even a little awful to think that this was herself, and still she knew that it was true. She really 所有するd this 悲劇の nature. She was not like other girls--other English girls. Her soul did not swim on the surface, but groped its way blindly miles underneath the water...But how did the glass come to 反映する this secret? And what was the meaning of this look of enchanting sexuality, which nearly tormented herself?...

She spent a long time gazing at the image, but without either changing the position of her 長，率いる, or moving a muscle of her countenance. Petty, womanish vanity had no 株 in her scrutiny. She did not wish to admire, she wished to understand herself. It seemed to her that no woman 所有するing such a strong, terrible sweetness and intensity of character could 避ける 受託するing an uncommon, and かもしれない fearful, 運命. A flood of the strangest emotions slowly rose to her 長，率いる...

She heard a man's 発言する／表明する calling her 指名する from a very long way off. The 発言する／表明する was muffled, as if by 介入するing 塀で囲むs, but she had no difficulty recognising it as Marshall's. She guessed that he was shouting 負かす／撃墜する from the 最高の，を越す of the house, and that, on getting no 返答, he would quicken his 降下／家系 to the hall. She would half to go and 会合，会う him. Before retracing her steps, however, it was of course 必須の to peep behind the curtain.

急いでing across to it, she pulled aside the 激しい red drapery. There was 明らかにする／漏らすd a doorway, but no door; another flight of 木造の stairs started to go 負かす／撃墜する すぐに beyond. Isbel 説得するd herself that she would still have time to 調査する a little.

Half-way 負かす／撃墜する, the hall （機の）カム in sight...She could not understand...

近づく the 底（に届く） she realised that she was coming out by the 味方する of the fireplace--in other words, that this staircase was 同一の with that by which she had 上がるd...How this could かもしれない be, however, she had no more 適切な時期 of asking herself, for at that moment she reached the hall, and at the very instant that her foot touched the 床に打ち倒す every 詳細（に述べる） of her little adventure flashed out of her mind, like the 消滅させるing of a candle.

She remembered having 開始するd the ascent of those stairs, she was perfectly conscious that the ascent of those stairs, she was perfectly conscious that she had that very minute come 負かす／撃墜する them, but of all that had happened to her in the 暫定的な she had no recollection whatever.

She turned 一連の会議、交渉／完成する to look at the staircase again. It had 消えるd!...It was then, for the first time, that she 解任するd Mr. 裁判官's story.

Instinct 知らせるd her that the whole 処理／取引 must be 隠すd from Marshall. She 要求するd time to think it over 静かに and tranquilly, in all its bearings, before taking him into her 信用／信任--if, indeed, she should ever decide to do so. He was very ありそうもない to put a charitable construction on her tale; it would almost certainly 原因（となる） 不一致 and general unpleasantness--it would be far better never to say anything about it at all. She sat 負かす／撃墜する and waited for him. Her 頭痛 had returned.

Presently Marshall, followed by Priday, entered the hall, but not from upstairs--from outside. He appeared rather distracted, and on catching sight of Isbel his 直面する 紅潮／摘発するd up.

"Where in the 指名する of wonder have you been all this time?"

"All which time? What is the time?"

"It's 井戸／弁護士席 past twelve. I've been looking for you a good twenty minutes."

"Oh!..."

"Where were you?"

She 軍隊d a smile, while thinking 速く.

"Evidently I wasn't here, since you didn't see me...As a 事柄 of fact, I went outside for a few minutes."

Priday regarded her with a 疑わしい 星／主役にする.

"Even so, you must have heard me shouting," said Marshall.

"My dear Marshall, are you trying to be unpleasant, or what? If I had heard you, I should have answered. Perhaps I dropped off to sleep--I can't say. My 長，率いる was bad, and I was sitting under some trees, with my 注目する，もくろむs の近くにd. I really don't think that you need make such a fuss about it...Did you see the room?"

"Of course we saw it. It's just a room like any other room."

"Nothing mysterious?"

"Oh, that's all bunkum!...井戸／弁護士席 are you fit, or would you like to wait a bit longer?"

She got up slowly. "We'd better go."

Marshall looked at her strangely, but said nothing more. They left the house. Marshall went across to the car, but Isbel stopped for a minute to 演説（する）／住所 Priday, who was engaged in locking the door.

"So I should have run no 広大な／多数の／重要な 危険 in that room, after all, Mr. Priday?"

He finished his 仕事 before looking up or replying.

"That may be, 行方不明になる--but I ain't taking nothing 支援する. And what's more, I ain't so sure you ain't seen too much, as it is."

"Really, this is most uncalled-for!" she exclaimed, laughing. "Why, what do you imagine I've seen?"

"You know and I don't, 行方不明になる. All I say is, I see a difference in you since forty minutes ago."

"An 改良, I hope, Mr. Priday?"

"You're amusin' yourself with me, 行方不明になる--and that's all 権利. But I ain't one to speak of what I don't know, and I sticks to it--and you 示す my words--this house ain't one for young ladies like yourself. There's plenty more old houses in the kingdom for you to see over, if you want such."

"Come along, Isbel!" called out Marshall impatiently from the car. "Don't stand ガス／無駄話ing there, with your bad 長，率いる."

As she obeyed and took her seat, the smile dropped from her 直面する, leaving it so puckered and anxious-looking that he uttered an involuntary exclamation:

"By Jove! You do look washed-out."

Isbel made no reply, but after they had repassed through the 宿泊する-gate she unobtrusively produced a small mirror of polished silver from her handbag and carefully scrutinized her features. She certainly was not looking very attractive, but さもなければ she could （悪事，秘密などを）発見する no special change in her 外見.

一時期／支部 VI JUDGE APPEARS ON THE SCENE

It was Tuesday afternoon. Marshall had returned to town. The 天候 had suddenly broken, and rain had fallen 刻々と since 早期に morning. Mrs. Moor was in her room, while Isbel, rather reluctantly, took the 適切な時期 of bringing her correspondence up to date--a 仕事 she cordially detested. Half a dozen laconic epistles, 調印（する）d and 演説（する）／住所d in her large, sprawling handwriting, already 支払う／賃金 piled on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, and now she was 令状ing to Blanche, 表明するing her 楽しみ at the imtimation that she and Roger 提案するd to spend the coming week-end at the Gondy. Blanche was her old school chum and dearest friend. It was she who had introduced her to Marshall (her husband Roger's younger brother); その結果, she regarded the 約束／交戦 as her own peculiar handiwork, though of course Isbel held different ideas on the 支配する, which she kept 厳密に to herself. Isbel, who was "Isbel" to all the 残り／休憩（する） of her circle, was "Billy" to Blanche and her husband. They lived at Hampstead, and were 公正に／かなり 井戸／弁護士席 off.

A knock sounded at the door, and a visiting-card for Mrs. Moor was 手渡すd in by the hotel hall-boy. Isbel read the 指名する in silent astonishment. Directing the boy to wait, she at once went to her aunt's room.

"Mr. 裁判官 is here," she 発表するd dryly, standing by the door.

The older lady half got up, then lay 負かす／撃墜する again.

"Where is he?"

"Downstairs, 推定では. Will you see him?"

"Really, it's most 不当な! He appears to imagine he's 特権d to do whatever he pleases. What an impossible hour to call!...井戸／弁護士席, I shan't see him, that's all."

"You'd better ascertain what he wants, hadn't you? Shall I go 負かす／撃墜する?"

"You? Certainly not, child. Just send 負かす／撃墜する word that I'm not at home, and if he has anything to say he can 令状."

Isbel smiled remonstratingly. "I think perhaps I'd better go 負かす／撃墜する."

"A pity you're not always so considerate."

"It's only ありふれた 儀礼, after all. The poor man may have come to Brighton 特に."

"Do as you please about it--only, 貯蔵所d me to nothing."

"Don't be absurd, aunt! How can I 貯蔵所d you?"

She went away. Mrs. Moor 星／主役にするd thoughtfully at the の近くにd door, rubbed her 注目する，もくろむs, and took up her 調書をとる／予約する again.

"Where is the gentleman?" 需要・要求するd Isbel of the hall-boy.

"In the lounge, madam."

She …を伴ってd him downstairs. It was not yet the tea-hour and the lounge was nearly 砂漠d. 裁判官 was sitting in a stiff 態度 on a straight-支援するd 議長，司会を務める 近づく the door. Although his 衣料品s were ふさわしい to the 天候, he looked exceedingly 井戸／弁護士席-groomed, and Isbel, contrary to her 予期, was favourably struck. He appeared かなり younger than his 報告（する）／憶測d age, was short, wiry, and clean-looking, and altogether was a 完全に good and dignified type of 豊富な 地方の Englishman. His clean-shaven 直面する was sallowish; it 所有するd 力／強力にする and 決意／決議, やめる evidently derived from long practice in 扱うing men. The 注目する，もくろむs were grey, shrewd, and 安定した, and he wore no glasses...The boy 簡潔に introduced him, and disappeared.

裁判官 rose and 屈服するd 厳粛に, waiting for her to speak first.

"Mrs. Moor unfortunately is engaged. I am her niece."

He 屈服するd again. "May I ask your 指名する?"

"I am 行方不明になる Loment."

He scrutinised her person somewhat closely. Her rather 十分な bosom was 堅固に 示唆するd beneath her loose silk afternoon jumper. Her neck was 明らかにする. A long chain of amethyst beads hung from it as far as the waist, and with this chain she toyed all the time they stood talking.

"I happened to be in Brighton on other 商売／仕事," he explained, in a pleasant, solemn 発言する／表明する, "and thought to kill two birds with one 石／投石する. I'm sorry I've been unlucky. Perhaps you'll be 肉親，親類d enough to 伝える a message?"

"Of course; I shall be most pleased to."

"You may かもしれない be aware that Mrs. Moor and I have been in indirect communication, through Mr. Stokes, regarding the sale of my 所有物／資産／財産, Runhill 法廷，裁判所?"

"自然に, I am aware. My aunt and I live together, and always have done."

"Of course, I was ignorant of that...井戸／弁護士席, 行方不明になる Loment, I am sorry to have kept her waiting so long, but at least I've been able to come to a 決定／判定勝ち（する）. After a very 十分な consideration of the 事柄 and looking at it from all 味方するs, I find it will not be--for the 現在の, at all events--やめる advisable to 配置する／処分する／したい気持ちにさせる of the 広い地所. I shall 確認する it in 令状ing when I get 支援する home, but in the 合間 no 疑問 you will intimate my 決定／判定勝ち（する） to Mrs. Moor?"

A red blotch appeared suddenly in the centre of each of Isbel's cheeks...There was やめる a long pause.

"But this 決定／判定勝ち（する） appears to me very strange," she said at length, in a scarcely audible 発言する／表明する.

"In what 尊敬（する）・点?"

She lost her 長，率いる. "I understood from Mr. Stokes that you were anxious to sell your house."

"Mr. Stokes was not authorised by me to make any such 声明," replied 裁判官, in a トン of extreme annoyance. "I have never at any time 表明するd 苦悩 to sell. It was he who 示唆するd the 商売／仕事, and I made my 不本意 （疑いを）晴らす from the very first. There is no 違反 of 約束 in any 形態／調整 or form."

There was a settee 据えるd in a retired corner of the room, and toward this she steered him, without 抗議する on his part. They seated themselves. Isbel smoothed out her skirt and kept throwing nervous ちらりと見ることs about her, as though at a loss how to 再開する the 支配する.

"Would it be rude to ask you why--I mean..." She broke off in 混乱.

"Why I don't wish to sell? Because my 未来 movements are uncertain, 行方不明になる Loment. There are 相当な 推論する／理由s against my taking up 住居 there again at the moment, but later on I may wish to do so."

"I see."

There was another ぎこちない silence, the end of which was 示すd by a bitter smile on Isbel's 直面する.

"No 疑問 you are more accustomed to 取引，協定ing with 商売／仕事 me, Mr. 裁判官?"

"Now, what makes you say that?"

"This 決定／判定勝ち（する） of yours is so blunt. It's almost like a challenge."

"A challenge?"

"I feel just as though I had received a 非難する on the 直面する."

He fidgeted in his place. "I may have 表明するd myself rather 突然の, but that was because I had no idea that the 事柄 was of any 広大な／多数の／重要な importance to you ladies. If I have unwittingly been the means of upsetting your 計画（する）s, I can only say I am very sorry."

"But you remain stubborn?"

"My dear lady, you hardly realise what you are asking. I have lived in that house for eight years, and it is associated with the happiest period of my life. You have never even seen it, and yet you are disappointed because I 拒絶する／低下する to give it up in your favour. And you must remember that you ladies, after all, are total strangers to me."

"But we're not asking for charity, Mr. 裁判官. We would take the place at your 人物／姿／数字, even if it were a trifle 不当な. If you don't mean to live there again yourself--and you seem very doubtful about it--surely there can't be any 反対する in 辞退するing to 許す other people to 占領する it? if you don't want to sell it 完全な, you might 同意 to let it for a 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 of years?"

裁判官 smiled uneasily. "It's very painful to me to have to go on 辞退するing. I must 収容する／認める I don't やめる understand your 切望 in the 事柄. Not having seen Runhill 法廷，裁判所, you don't even know that it will 控訴 your 必要物／必要条件s."

"We have seen it. Mr. Stokes took us over. It will 控訴 our 必要物／必要条件s perfectly."

"Oh...I had no idea. Mr. Stokes said nothing to me in his letter about that. However, there's no 害（を与える） done."

"My aunt and I are やめる 害のない persons."

"I regard it as an honour to the house. May I ask whether you saw the whole of it?"

She imperceptibly drew a little nearer, so that the perfume of her 着せる／賦与するs began to insinuate itself into his consciousness.

"Except 禁じるd parts."

"It's a pity I wasn't told beforehand, 行方不明になる Loment. I could have shown you over 本人自身で."

Their 注目する，もくろむs chanced to 会合，会う. Isbel smiled, and looked 負かす／撃墜する at her （競技場の）トラック一周, while 裁判官 coloured faintly.

"That would have been nice."

"At all events, you would have had the advantage of seeing the いわゆる '禁じるd parts' 同様に. I might still 持つ／拘留する that out as an 誘導 for a second visit, but I 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う you would think it not 価値（がある） while?"

She began biting her chain. After a pause, she said: "Something might be arranged, perhaps. I should love to see it again. My best friend's coming 負かす／撃墜する for the week-end, and I could bring her with me--if you feel you could 耐える the society of a couple of frivolous girls for half-a-day. You'd be やめる 安全な, Mr. 裁判官; Blanche is married, and I am to be soon."

"Your aunt would come, too?"

"I 港／避難所't the slightest 反対, if you can 説得する her."

"I have first to 会合，会う her."

"Then dine with us here one night. Let me think...Friday would do, if you can manage it?" She gave him a friendly look. "We can discuss the programme at （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. Blanche's husband is Mr. Stokes' brother; they're both coming 負かす／撃墜する."...Hesitating, and blushing a little--"Of course, their company wouldn't be （打撃，刑罰などを）与えるd on you at Runhill."

裁判官 also hesitated. "It's most 肉親，親類d of you; but how do I know that your aunt may not have 反対s to sitting 負かす／撃墜する to （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する with a stranger, who is not even 強いるing?"

"The 招待 is 地雷, Mr. 裁判官."

"Then, of course, I shouldn't know how to 辞退する, even if I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to. A charming 招待 需要・要求するs a graceful 受託. I shall be delighted to come."

"At seven...But will you have to come all the way from town?"

"No--my （警察，軍隊などの）本部 are at 価値（がある）ing for the time 存在. I have to be 近づく Runhill to look after things. I can やめる easily run over."

"Then it's a 直す／買収する，八百長をするd 約束／交戦...And 一方／合間, you still remain 毅然とした?"

Her own question seemed to agitate her, for her bosom rose and fell. 裁判官 summed her up in his mind as a spoilt and capricious young woman of fortune, who was 全く unaccustomed to 存在 baulked even in her most unnecessary whims.

"It's exceedingly unpleasant for me, 行方不明になる Loment, but I'm afraid I must reply in the affirmative. If circumstances 許す me later on to change my 決定／判定勝ち（する）..."

"It would be too late. In point of fact, the moment my aunt has your 判決 we shall leave Brighton. We're only waiting for that. But I shall leave you to tell her yourself, so as not to 干渉する with our little 楽しみ-party."

"Then your 永久の 住居 is not in Brighton?"

"Oh, no."

裁判官 契約d his brows. "It's a strange fact, but it has always been my disappointing lot to 落ちる in with really pleasant 知識s just when it is too late."

"It does seem to happen like that very often. Perhaps it's because the 楽しみ doesn't have time to wear off...Of course, if you were to leave the question of your house in （一時的）停止 we might still see something of each other--特に since you are staying so の近くに at 手渡す. But that wouldn't be やめる the 権利 thing, I 推定する／予想する?"

"Mrs. Moor would hardly 同意 to 延期する it 無期限に／不明確に."

"Then that's no good...Anyhow, don't 令状 her, Mr. 裁判官. She can very 井戸／弁護士席 wait till Friday."

He got up to go. Isbel rose, too, and held out her 手渡す. It was white and elegant in 形態／調整, but was 署名／調印する-stained from her correspondence. 裁判官 continued 持つ／拘留するing it while he went on talking.

"I've no 権利 to ask such a thing, 行方不明になる Loment, but I'm 利益／興味d, and perhaps you won't mind telling me. You said you are to be married; is it, by any chance, to my friend Mr. Stokes?"

"Yes." She coloured nervously, and withdrew her 手渡す.

"Thanks! And my I 投機・賭ける to 追加する my congratulations to those you have doubtless received from friends of longer standing? He is a very pleasant, sensible young fellow, and, from what I know of him, will certainly make an admirable husband."

"Thank you, Mr. 裁判官! My only 恐れる is that I may not make as admirable a wife."

裁判官 laughed courteously. "All I have to say to that is that I consider Mr. Stokes a very lucky individual--very lucky indeed!"

Isbel felt so strangely 混乱させるd that she could not bring out another word. They passed into the hall, where 裁判官, with leisurely dignity, put on his gloves and buttoned his coat, while the girl watched him. At last he bade her a smiling "Good-day," and went out stiffly through the swing-doors into the rain. She remained for a moment standing by the office, looking after him with a peculiar little smile.

On arriving upstairs, her aunt gave her a keen 星／主役にする.

"You've got a very 紅潮／摘発するd very, child."

"I ran upstairs."

"What a long time you've been with that man. What did he want?"

"Oh, he's frantically long-winded. The long and short of it is, I've asked him to dinner on Friday, to 会合，会う you. It seems he'd rather discuss it with you 本人自身で."

"Upon my soul! Why in the world should we dine him?...I had a presentiment you would do something silly."

"Oh, he's perfectly presentable. Besides, he'll be glad to 会合，会う Marshall again. I had to make some 限定された 協定."

Mrs. Moor growled in her throat. "井戸／弁護士席, the point is, are we to get the house, or not?"

"I fancy he still hasn't made up his mind," replied Isbel indifferently.

Her aunt made sundry inarticulate sounds, indicative of her vexation, and 用意が出来ている to rise.

一時期／支部 VII THE DINNER-PARTY

At seven o'clock on Friday evening the party of six sat 負かす／撃墜する to （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する in the public room. 裁判官 設立する himself between the two girls, while Mrs. Moor had the two brothers for neighbors; Isbel 直面するd Marshall across the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, and Blanche her own husband.

Blanche, the tall, pale, slender, 流行の／上流の blonde, looked a creature of 罰金 clay in her dinner-frock of 泡，激怒すること-blue and silver. She drew many ちらりと見ることs from the other diners in the room, and for a long time Marshall and 裁判官 entered into a sort of 競争 for her favour. Isbel was amused, rather than さもなければ. With regard to "personal 所有物／資産／財産," there was a perfect understanding between her friend and herself, and she had already, earlier in the day, intimated to Blanche what her wishes were 関心ing 裁判官.

While waiting for her to disentangle herself, she 占領するd the time by chatting with Roger on indifferent topics. There could be nothing very exciting in that; he was a nice man, but she was やめる 井戸／弁護士席 aware that for him only one woman in the world 存在するd--すなわち, his own wife. His profession was historical 研究--fortunately, he did not rely upon it for an income--but, as everyone posseses a 二重の nature, his favourite 役割 in society was that of Mephistopheles, which he undertook 終始一貫して. He was four years older than Marshall, and not unlike him in person, though built on a small 規模. He had the same 幅の広い, pugnacious, good-humoured 直面する, but it was more humorous and 同情的な, and the 注目する，もくろむs were livelier.

Isbel's new ワイン-red gown had the 影響 of 投資するing her 直面する with a strange luminous pallor, which almost took the place of beauty. At intervals 裁判官 turned to her in a puzzled way, but Blanche's fascinations were more obvious, and the pear was not yet 熟した.

It was not until the meal was half-way through and a few 瓶／封じ込めるs had been emptied, that the talk became loud and general. Mrs. Moor was fidgeting about Runhill 法廷，裁判所, and began to think that she would never have an 適切な時期 of 開始 that 商売／仕事. She could hardly start 交渉s at （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, but she told herself that at least she せねばならない try to find out how things lay. At the first なぎ in the conversation, therefore, she 演説（する）／住所d 裁判官 直接／まっすぐに by 指名する, and when he looked up, rather surprised, she introduced the 支配する of Sherrup.

裁判官 raised his brows. "I know who you mean, but we've never met. There has been some correspondence between us. He was making the trip to England, and wished to visit my place. It seems 売春婦s wife's people at one time owned the 広い地所."

"So he told us. It was 現実に in your house that we met him."

"強くたたくing your piano, incidentally," 追加するd Marshall.

裁判官 発射 him a ちらりと見ること of 調査.

"大打撃を与えるing out Mendelssohn," explained the underwriter.

"It was one of Bethoven's Symphonies, to be exact," 訂正するd Isbel, with a smile. "The Seventh. Are you musical, Mr. 裁判官?"

"Not very, I 恐れる. You, of course, are?"

"But why 'of course'? Am I so transparent a person?"

Roger 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd off a 十分な glass of Sauterne. "Some women have 業績／成就s. Billy is one of the latter sort."

"Honey with a sting in it, Roger. Those of us who have no brains you are 肉親，親類d enough to console with fascination. But perhaps I have neither."

"Or perhaps both," 示唆するd 裁判官, gallantly. "I for one, see no 推論する／理由 why they should not go together. Many of the cleverest women in history have been the most fascinating."

"But history has been written by men, and men aren't the most enlightened critics where women are 関心d. All that will have to be re-written by qualified feminine 専門家s some day."

裁判官 laughed. "But, in point of fact, men happen to be the best critics of feminine human nature. A woman's natural impulse is to look for faults in her sisters; a man's first thought is to look for noble 質s."

"It may be very chivalrous, but I don't call it 批評," 再結合させるd Isbel quickly. "You're not in the least likely ever to understand a woman's character that way."

"If faults 構成する a character--no. But my 論争 is that it's this constant dwelling on faults which obscures our 見解（をとる） of a woman's real underlying nature. In this sense men are the best 観察者／傍聴者s of your sex."

"Let me translate," put in Roger. "It's good 政策 to credit a woman with virtues, for if she hasn't got them already, she will have as soon as she 明確に understands that other people believe that she has. Does that go?"

His wife answered: "If you 賞賛する a woman's frock, she will probably like to go on wearing it. Why should it be different with a virtue? Because you 港／避難所't worn a thing for a long while, it doesn't follow, when you do wear it, that it isn't your own rightful 所有物／資産／財産."

"Then there are no 偽造の 質s?" 需要・要求するd Isbel.

"非，不，無 which cannot be easily （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd," said 裁判官. "To 延長する Mrs. Stokes' comparison: a borrowed or stolen 衣料品 can in most 事例／患者s be discovered to be so by the misfit. In life, it isn't difficult to distinguish between true and 誤った."

"Does that 適用する to everything--every 質?"

"Undoubtedly, in my opinion."

"To the relation between men and women?"

"Certainly. 本物の love--for I take it you mean that--would be the most difficult thing in the world to ふりをする."

"Really?"

"Almost an impossibility, if only men and women were not so anxious to be deceived."

"Yet coquettes have 存在するd, and still 存在する."

裁判官 解除するd his glass with a 手渡す 安定した as a 激しく揺する, and 診察するd its contents against the light meditatively.

"Don't misunderstand me, 行方不明になる Loment. I don't 主張する that an infatuated man couldn't be hoodwinked by a clever woman, if she made it her 商売／仕事. All I say is, if he is 疑わしい about her good 約束, 実験（する）s 存在する."

"What 実験（する）s?"

"A coquette, for instance, would know how to flatter his vanity and use her 注目する，もくろむs to the best 影響, but it's 極端に ありそうもない that she would 同意 to throw overboard all other society for his. That would be one 実験（する）...And then there's the question of sacrifice. Is she, not only ready, but eager, to sacrifice her own happiness for his, not in one way or on one occasion, but in all their relations and at all times?..."

"Most excellent 実験（する）s!" said Roger, with twinkling 注目する，もくろむs. "If 実行するd satisfactorily, the fair lady in question might be 安全に 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する as mortally 負傷させるd, and our friend could go 十分な steam ahead with every 保証／確信 of 結局 主要な her to the alter."

Blanche leant her beautiful arm on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and propped her 直面する with her fingers.

"But do you 主張する, Mr. 裁判官, that every romance is imperfect which doesn't' 展示（する） these extreme symptoms on both 味方するs?"

"As a 事柄 of fact, I wasn't thinking of romance, in the ありふれた 受託 of the 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語, Mrs. 'stokes. There are 深い, and かもしれない painful, 処理／取引s of the heart to which the 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 'romance' would be やめる 不十分な."

There was a general silence, while the waiter 除去するd the course. The 支配する was not 再開するd across the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, but Isbel followed it up with 裁判官, in a low 発言する／表明する.

"You seem to speak from experience, Mr. 裁判官?"

"A man of my age must 所有する a large accumulation of experience, 行方不明になる Loment, but it needn't やむを得ず be personal experience."

"In that 事例／患者 you are to be congratulated, for it can't be a happy 条件--this 深い passion you have just 述べるd."

He toyed with the 茎・取り除く of his empty glass. "Only 確かな natures have a capacity for it, perhaps, and they perhaps have an inward tormenting craving for it. It's very difficult to lay 負かす／撃墜する a 法律 as to what is good, and what is not good."

"And I think women must have it more than me."

He ちらりと見ることd at her 速く. "As the self-sacrificing sex, you mean?"

"No, I don't mean that. I mean, as the sex which worships the heart, and believes it higher than the highest morality."

"That's true."

"And the worst of it is," went on Isbel, speaking still lower, "no woman can feel really 安全な until she has experienced this feeling you speak of." She uttered a nervous laugh. "Someone else may turn up, who will 証明する to her how 誤った she has been living...But, of course, I know nothing about it. girls get all sorts of queer fancies in their 長，率いるs, and that's because they don't live in the real world."

"The wisest course is not to think about such things. By a useful 準備／条項 of nature, passion comes to comparatively few, and there's no 推論する／理由 for anyone to suppose that he or she is one of the 悲劇の 禁止（する）d. The chances are infinitely against it."

"Yes, of course--that's the only sensible way to think...I hope you're not 感情を害する／違反するd by my 違反 of decorum in discussing such 事柄s?"

"How could I be?"

"Then don't let's say any more. My aunt's watching us...Apropos, have you spoken to her about Runhill yet?"

"I've had no real 適切な時期 up to the 現在の."

"Is it really necessary to this evening?"

"かもしれない not, if it could be 避けるd."

"Will you leave it to me?"

"Willingly; but if she questions me, I must answer her."

"Of course, but don't be precipitate." A quick smile. "I don't want to return to town yet."

"You find Brighton attractive?"

"It has attractions."

裁判官's cream-ice stood in 前線 of him untouched.

"The place itself, or the 関係s you have formed here?"

"The place itself is horrid."

一方／合間 Blanche had been 交流ing words with Marshall.

"I want to get Mr. 裁判官 to show us over his house--myself and Roger, I mean. What's the best way to go to work?"

She did not explain that the idea was Isbel's, and she herself only the friendly medium.

"Ask him, of course," said Marshall. "He's やめる an 強いるing old sort."

"You go 支援する on Monday, don't you?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I thought we might 直す／買収する，八百長をする Monday. You wouldn't want to see the place again, would you?"

"I want Billy to come with us, though. I 推定する／予想する you wouldn't take it in bad part for once--running off like that without you, I mean?"

"Lord, no!--why should I? Very glad if you can make a decent day of it. I'd take lunch and make it a picnic, if I were you."

"Good man!...Then here goes for the lord of the manor!..."

裁判官, having 結論するd his talk with Isbel, had mechanically turned to his other 隣人. Blanche met his 注目する，もくろむ with a soft, 武装解除するing smile.

"I'm glad you've remembered me, Mr. 裁判官. I'm in a difficulty."

"That's woeful news."

"My husband and I are madly jealous. We're the only ones here who 港／避難所't seen your much-talked-about house. I daren't proffer a direct request, for 恐れる of 存在 snubbed."

"You 支払う／賃金 me a very bad compliment, Mrs. Stokes; I didn't' know I 所有するd such a forbidding exterior."

"Then, may we come for one day?"

"I shall regard it as a distinguished honour. Pray 直す／買収する，八百長をする your own day."

"We go 支援する on Tuesday. Monday perhaps...?"

"On Monday it shall be. I'll bring my car over for you. At what hour?"

"But really, we wouldn't dream of putting you to all that trouble."

"It will be a very 広大な／多数の／重要な 楽しみ. Unhappily, it's only a four-seater, so I 恐れる the party would have to be separated."

"Mr. Stokes--Mr. Marshall Stokes"--she laughed--"can't come, for the simple 推論する／理由 that he's 予定 支援する to work on Monday. What about you, Mrs. Moor?"

"I've seen the house already, my dear. Isbel will to with you, no 疑問."

"Will you, Billy?"

Isbel appeared to hesitate..."I don't know that I care to, thanks. I've seen it, too, you know."

"Oh, I'd go, Isbel," 勧めるd Marshall. "The summer's 事実上 through, and you won't get many more decent spins. I'd squeeze in, myself, if I hadn't to go 支援する."

"Mr. 裁判官 may 反対する to so many women."

"Surely you weren't waiting for my formal 招待, 行方不明になる Loment? I shall feel 極端に 傷つける if you 辞退する."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席--I'll come," said Isbel 静かに, bending her 長，率いる over her plate, with a very slight 接近 of colour. 裁判官 marvelled at her seeming 不本意 to her own 計画／陰謀, but her somehow felt pleased. It was flattering to be behind the scenes with her.

"Then that's all 権利," said Blanche. "What time will you come and collect us, Mr. 裁判官?"

"You shall decide. I reserve the whole of Monday."

Isbel leant over in 前線 of 裁判官 to 演説（する）／住所 her friend. "You don't realise, dear, that he's staying at 価値（がある）ing--ten miles away. We're all 存在 deplorably inconsiderate."

"Five miles per beauteous lady is not an extravagant 新規加入 to the 石油 allowance." Roger had no spared the 瓶／封じ込める. "How say you, 裁判官?"

"As you say, sir, it's not 価値（がある） considering--特に when I have the 楽しみ of your society thrown in."

Blanche's brow was puckered, as though an idea had occurred to her. "I wonder, Mr. 裁判官, if it would be possible to arrange a picnic-昼食 on the grounds--or the house itself, によれば the 天候? It would be rather jolly. The hotel people here would make us up a 妨害する."

"Not at all," said 裁判官. "I'll see to that myself. It's a 資本／首都 suggestion, for it will give us more time to look 一連の会議、交渉／完成する."

"But really, that's the woman's department, and we can't 許す you."

"I 主張する, Mrs. Stokes. I'm an obstinate man, and there's no more to be said. I'll bring the 妨害する along with me, and call for you at...ten--eleven...?"

"Call it eleven," said Roger. "I'm a late riser. We'll lunch first, and saunter through the house afterwards. Don't forget the ワイン."

The girls scolded him; he defended himself with new jokes and drank off another glass. The coffee （機の）カム on. The younger people lit cigarettes, but 裁判官 reserved his after-dinner cigar till later.

Mrs. Moor, who had been silent throughout the meal, grew more irritated as she saw the minutes 飛行機で行く by without bringing her any nearer to an 交流 of 見解（をとる）s with 裁判官. She momentarily 推定する／予想するd to see him rise from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and take his 出発, leaving her still in ignorance of his 意向s. Perhaps it wasn't 審議する／熟考する avoidance of the topic on his part, but it began to look very much like it. Isbel ちらりと見ることd at her aunt anxiously; she read her thoughts with perfect distinctness.

"You're very 静かな to-night, aunt."

"You others are doing やめる 井戸／弁護士席 without my help."

"Mr. 裁判官 has asked me to intercede for him."

Mrs. Moor 強化するd. "What is it?"

"He wants another 拡張 of time, before giving you a final 決定／判定勝ち（する）."

"Really, Mr. 裁判官..."

"It can't be helped, aunt, and we mustn't be stupid about it. How long do you want, Mr. 裁判官?"

"Shall we say a fortnight?" His manner was strangely embarrassed. "I may not need all of that. If not, I would 通知する you at once."

Mrs. Moor 注目する，もくろむd him 厳しく. "A fortnight, then. You やめる understand my 調査s for a house are continuing in the 合間?"

"That is but fair."

"A 会社／堅い 申し込む／申し出 on my part wouldn't 促進する 事柄s, I 推定する?"

"I 悔いる to say 'no'. The 財政上の question does not arise at 現在の."

Baffled by his formal トン and the distant gravity of his demeanour, she retired into silence, to nurse her displeasure. Isbel turned in her seat to ちらりと見ること at 裁判官, and uttered a 静かな little laugh.

"I'm afraid you won't be altogether in her good graces now. It's my fault."

"Since I have the misfortune to be 強いるd to displease one of you, I would rather it were she."

"I know that." Her 発言する／表明する was very low, but he caught the words, and his 直面する took on a deeper colour.

"How do you know it?"

"Because we are already friends."

Both turned away, moved by the same impulse. A minute later, however, Isbel whispered to him again:

"In 事例／患者 I ever need it, what is your 演説（する）／住所 at 価値（がある）ing?"

"The Metropole."

She thanked him, and turned finally to Roger.

"Isbel seems to find a lot to talk about with 裁判官," Marshall had just been 発言／述べるing to his sister-in-法律.

"No 原因（となる） for alarm, dear boy--she only wants his house."

"Do you tell me she's deliberately laying herself out to be pleasant...?"

"Don't you ever use 外交 in your 貿易（する）? One has to fight with what 武器s one's got. You're in on this too, Marshall. I suppose you do want to get Billy to yourself one day, don't you? 井戸／弁護士席, then--hurry up and find Mrs. Moor a house."

すぐに afterward the party rose from （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, and 裁判官 すぐに took his 出発.

一時期／支部 VIII THE PICNIC

At 中央の-day on Monday, 裁判官's Daimler pulled up outside the hall porch at Runhill 法廷，裁判所. Roger jumped out and 補助装置d the girls to alight, after which 裁判官 himself got 負かす／撃墜する. Beneath the モーターing 包むs, Blanche and Isbel wore light summer dresses, for, although it was already October, the sky was cloudless and the sun hot. All congratulated themselves on the happy 選択 of such a day for their excursion.

"Where do we go?" laughed Blanche.

裁判官 was struggling to get out the baskets. He deposited the second one on the ground and dusted his 手渡すs.

"We're going to picnic in a very charming 位置／汚点／見つけ出す, Mrs. Stokes. Leave it to me. Mr. Stokes, as the younger man, the bigger basket 落ちるs to you."

"Thanks! How far is it?"

"Come on!" said his wife. "Never mind how far--we'll all give a 手渡す. You and I will 取り組む the big one, Roger; Mr. 裁判官 can take the smaller; Billy can carry the rug."

"Won't you leave your 包むs, though?" 問い合わせd 裁判官. "It seems to me that once or twice I've half caught a glimpse of something very enticing underneath. The grass should be moderately 乾燥した，日照りの."

"You 港／避難所't forgotten the ワイン, 裁判官?" 需要・要求するd Roger. "If I work, I want 支払う／賃金. The girls' frocks leave me uninspired, more 特に as my wife's hasn't been settled for yet. I don't 動かす a step till I know what's in that basket."

"This is a picnic, not an orgy," said Blanche reprovingly.

裁判官 解除するd the smaller 妨害する. "I saw the ワイン go in, and I believe it's very good stuff."

"But you're a horrid sybarite, Roger," put in Isbel. "Why is it that strong and healthy young men are invariably the most self-indulgent?" She 除去するd her 包む and flung it carelessly in the car; Blanche followed 控訴.

"I like that. You women pass your whole lives delighting your souls with 罰金 raiment, and then you have the 冷静な／正味の impudence to rebuke us for indulgence."

"本人自身で, I regard feminine adornment not only as 正当と認められる, but as a public 義務," 発言／述べるd 裁判官. "One can hardly say as much for the 私的な 楽しみs of me."

Roger chuckled. "If you carry on in that 緊張する you'll make yourself popular. Look at the girls, drinking it all in with open mouths."

"Mr. 裁判官 is a knight," said Isbel coldly. "You are only a jester, Roger."

"But is it good to be a knight, fair lady?"

"So it seems to my poor 知能."

"'Tis a most dangerous profession. Your knight is a flatterer. But your flatterer may 井戸／弁護士席 end by becoming regarded as personal 所有物／資産／財産. I shall remain a jester, I think."

They started off, by 裁判官's direction, along the terrace which skirted the 前線 of the house. Blanche and Roger went on ahead, 耐えるing the larger 妨害する between them, while Isbel and 裁判官 fell behind, the latter carrying the small basket.

Isbel looked pensive. After a minute she said: "That last 発言／述べる of Roger's was as bitter as it was untrue. It makes out that we women are incapable of 差別するing between personal and impersonal flattery. It isn't words that we go by; it's the man himself--his character."

"I imagine so. But, still, pleasant words lead to friendship."

"いつかs, perhaps. The best 肉親，親類d of friendships more than empty compliments."

"And what do you understand by the best 肉親，親類d of friendship--between persons of opposite sex?"

She coloured faintly. "It is one of those things which are more easily known to oneself than defined."

"For a friendship like that 要求するs 広大な／多数の／重要な tact, and tact is not of the brain. It is very delicate instinct."

"Yes. And that's why I am so glad to have you for a friend Mr. 裁判官--for I feel 確かな that you 所有する this...tact, in the highest degree...However, it would make no difference. We shall soon see no more of each other?"

"Can't we arrange to the contrary?"

"How? We shall be leaving this part of the country almost 直接／まっすぐに, and you know we don't know the same people. It's 極端に ありそうもない we shall ever 会合，会う again."

"In plain language, 行方不明になる Loment--容赦 me, I must speak 率直に--my house is the price of the continuance of your friendship? That is what you mean?"

"The 声明 is yours, not 地雷. I don't 推定する to flatter myself that my humble 知識 is 価値（がある） more to you than your house. I should indeed be an egotist."

"You mustn't say that, 行方不明になる Loment. My 利益／興味s are very 複雑にするd; it isn't at all so simple as that. Please say no more at 現在の...Of one thing you can be やめる 保証する--I certainly do not wish to lose your friendship, and if it can in any way be arranged..."

"Oh, it doesn't 事柄," said Isbel..."Let me relieve you with that basket."

They had reached the east end of the house. Blanche and Roger were standing waiting at the angle, ignorant which way to proceed; they had 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する the 妨害する.

"Which way now?" 需要・要求するd Blanche.

"We'll change over," said Isbel. "The men can take the big basket and we'll bring up the 後部. I'll have the other basket, Blanche, and you can carry the rug."

Roger, with a groan, 用意が出来ている to stoop again. "Don't say it's far!"

"About two hundred yards," replied 裁判官. "The 位置／汚点／見つけ出す I have in mind is at the 底（に届く） of that field you see there."

Isbel was 星／主役にするing up at the house; she pointed a finger に向かって a gable. "Isn't that the window of the East Room, Mr. 裁判官?"

"It is; but what makes you ask?"

As she was about to reply, Blanche suddenly broke in:

"I didn't know the house had four storeys. You said only three, Billy."

"There are only three."

"Four, darling!"

"No three. Count again." The men 確認するd her 声明. Blanche did count again, and now made it only three. She 自白するd her 失敗, laughed and 敏速に 許すd the 出来事/事件 to pass from her mind. Isbel stole a ちらりと見ること at 裁判官, who was thoughtfully 一打／打撃ing his chin, while gazing at the house.

Nothing more was said till they 開始するd the 降下／家系 of the steeply sloping lawn, the lower end of which 隣接するd the field. 裁判官 and Roger went ahead.

"Did you really think you say four storeys?" asked Isbel with assumed carelessness.

"Yes, I did. Why?"

"Oh, nothing."

"What makes you so keen on that house, Billy? I know it isn't only on your aunt's account."

Isbel laughed. "You're developing into a very 怪しげな person. What other 動機 could I かもしれない have? Considering the short time I should have to live there, it isn't 価値（がある） my while to get excited on my own account. It's a quaint old place, I 収容する／認める."

"Have you got 一連の会議、交渉／完成する Mr. 裁判官 yet?"

"Not yet."

"Don't make poor old Marshall too jealous, that's all."

"Really, you say the most weird things. What do you imagine I'm doing? You might give me credit for a small modicum of self-尊敬（する）・点."

"All 権利, but men are strange animals. The flash-point is very low in some of them. Don't forget that."

They reached the 底（に届く） of the lawn, and then had to cross a low stile into the field. The 降下／家系 continued, but not so はっきりと. The field lay fallow; a fringe of elms bounded it on three 味方するs, while on the fourth was a 支持を得ようと努めるd, に向かって which they made their way. The sun 炎d, and the 飛行機で行くs were troublesome. Roger looked 支援する, to point out to the girls some swallows which had not yet 出発／死d.

"Why should you think he's that sort of man?" 需要・要求するd Isbel.

"Oh, my dear, I've caught him looking rather strangely at you once or twice. Men are men and you can't make anything else of them. He knows you're engaged, of course?"

"My dear Blanche!..."

"井戸／弁護士席, I won't say anything more. You know best. Only, do be very, very careful."

Isbel 持続するd an indignant silence until they 近づくd the lower end of the field. The men, who had 増加するd their distance, kept ちらりと見ることing over their shoulder by way of 抗議する against the girls' leisurely pace.

"Surely, I'm not asking very much of him, Blanche? If he doesn't want to live in the house himself, he might just 同様に let us have it. Aunt will 支払う／賃金 him his 十分な price."

"No 疑問 he's an excellent 商売／仕事 man," said Blanche enigmatically.

They 再結合させるd the others at the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す selected for lunch.

The rug was spread on the grass, and the 妨害するs were unpacked. While Roger busied himself with carving the pheasants and uncorking the hock, the girls neatly 始める，決める out rolls, pastries, fruit, etc., and 裁判官 made himself 一般に useful. They lunched in 十分な sunlight in the field, by the 味方する of a rather romantic little stream. This brook separated them from the steeply-上がるing 支持を得ようと努めるd beyond, and--only an インチ or so in depth--was so beautifully transparent, and flowed over its clean bed of pebbles with so musical a gurgle, that Isbel's spirits imperceptibly became tranquillised. They were in the 気圧の谷 of the two hillsides, and the house was out of sight.

"This licks friend Omar, I fancy," said Roger, vigorously attacking his half-bird. "For one flask of rotten syrup we have three 瓶／封じ込めるs of the 本物の stuff, for a loaf of bread we have game, and for 'thou' we have two. Can't you compose a 詩（を作る） for the occasion, 裁判官?"

"I 堅固に 抗議する against 人物／姿／数字ing in as a 'thou'" said Isbel, coolly. "Those times are past for ever. Henceforward men are going to 存在する for us, not we for them."

"資本／首都! You have my fullest 同意. I 港／避難所't the faintest 影をつくる／尾行する of an 反対 to 補助装置ing to change a pretty woman's wilderness into a 楽園. Choose forthright between 裁判官 and me."

"This is the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な historian, Mr. 裁判官, who spends his days in the dusty old reading-room at the British Museum."

"All the more justification for letting it go now, my dear," returned Roger. "After long 施行するd （一定の）期間s of hobnobbing with kings, heroes, and 政治家，政治屋s, nature cries out for a little human intercourse with simple Jane and pleasant Muriel."

"Which of us is simple Jane?" 需要・要求するd Isbel coldly.

"Simple Jane is the one with the より小数の ideas, and pleasant Muriel is the one with the greater number of smiles. You can fight it out between you...Now leave me alone. I'm going to be busy."

"Mr. 裁判官, are you going to let this unparalleled rudeness pass without rebuke?"

裁判官 threw out his 手渡すs. "What can I do, dear lady? He leaves nothing to catch 持つ／拘留する of. 本人自身で, I think it is a very cunning 装置 on his part to draw more smiles from both of you."

"Are you 主張するing that we are 存在 dull?" asked Blance, 保持するing her fork with its fragment of food in 中央の-空気／公表する, as she 星／主役にするd at him with wide 注目する，もくろむs.

"Not dull, certainly. Perhaps a shade more thoughtful than the occasion 令状s. I was wondering whether かもしれない I had said or done something to 感情を害する／違反する you?"

"How absurd!" exclaimed Isbel. "You of all people."

"有罪の 良心, Billy," said Roger, with his mouth 十分な. "He's done something, but isn't sure if it's been spotted. Out with it, 裁判官!"

"No, no, that doesn't arise. Since 行方不明になる Loment 保証するs me to the contrary, it would be ungallant to carry the 事柄 その上の."

"Coward!...Moi, I 感情を害する／違反する Billy on an 普通の／平均（する） once a fortnight throughout the year. A 資本／首都 creature, but わずかに 迅速な-tempered."

"You've never once upset me in your life, my good man. Whenever you get beyond a 確かな level of offensiveness, I can see only the funny 味方する...Besides, that's not the point. We were discussing Mr. 裁判官, not you. To be 感情を害する／違反するd is to be disappointed, and what 権利 have I to be disappointed at anything Mr. 裁判官 may say or do, seeing that I am 事実上 unacquainted with his character?"

Blanche looked up はっきりと. 裁判官's 直面する took on a 深い 紅潮／摘発する.

"As far as that goes," he said, after a moment's pause, "I don't know that I'm very different from what I seem."

"That must mean, you never do 予期しない things? Everything proceeds with you によれば your physiognomy? You must be a very happy man, Mr. 裁判官."

"And why should he do 予期しない things?" asked Roger. "The 予期しない is いつかs charming, but nearly always idiotic. Give me a man who can explain his 活動／戦闘s afterwards."

"Yes, I suppose that's the man's ideal. It isn't the woman's. We like men who obey the heart occasionally, instead of the 長，率いる. It's stupid, of course, and we can't defend it, but somehow that's the 肉親，親類d of men we should prefer to have for a friend."

"And why?"

"Because we women count generosity as a virtue, Roger."

Roger drank, and wiped his mouth.

"Then, is an irresponsible person やむを得ず generous?"

"No, but all I mean is, we admire people who place friendship first, self-利益／興味 second."

"It appears that the fair Billy doth know a thing or two!"

Isbel wriggled her shoulders impatiently. "I don't want gifts from friends, but I do want friends who aren't afraid of giving. Surely that distinction is obvious?"

"やめる. What you are 苦しむing from is 激烈な／緊急の romance. Such 利益／興味ing persons no longer walk this hard, 冷淡な world of ours, if they have ever done so. A man's best friend is his bank balance. You may take that as an axiom."

"I fully believe it." Isbel raised her glass to the level of her 直面する. "So here's long life to money, 所有物／資産／財産, and self!"

"And ワイン, and women, and smiles, and the blessed 日光--everything, in short, that makes life 価値（がある） living! And a bas all metaphysical discussions between living men and women! A special staff of professors has been 保持するd by the world to を取り引きする all that trash."

Having emptied his glass at a gulp, Roger pulled out a cigar, which he proceeded to 削減（する） and light with relish. 裁判官 regarded him smilingly.

"You never take things 本気で, Mr. Stokes?"

"Yes, my work. But after work I believe in play."

"And no 疑問 you deserve it. Does he deserve it, Mrs. Stokes?"

"He 作品 like a nigger, I fancy," answered Blanche, negligently. "It runs in the family. His brother Marshall's 速く axquiring a fortune, and Roger is 速く acquiring a 評判. いつかs I feel I should like it to be the other way 一連の会議、交渉／完成する."

"So Mr. Marshall Stokes is really clever?"

"They tell me he's a sort of little Napoleon, in his way. Billy's a lucky girl, whether she knows it or not."

"And Mr. Stokes is lucky, too."

"No, no--no 賭事 about it at all. A man is not a man till he gets married, and if he's unhappy afterwards, it's in all 事例／患者s 完全に his own fault. Look at Mr. Roger Stokes here. He's 完全に contented with life--it's true he's been a trifle spoilt...Mr. Stokes, your health!...You must come to all my 未来 picnics, if I am fortunate enough to have any more--if only for the sake of your high spirits."

"Then, on the whole, I've given greater satisfaction than the girls?"

"That I didn't say. Some things are outside 賞賛する, as you know--the glorious sun, for example. You're the ワイン of the party, Mr. Stokes, while the ladies are the 日光."

* * *

As the afternoon wore on, Isbel developed a 長，率いる-ache. She withdrew from the talk, and kept ちらりと見ることing at her wrist-watch; it was 近づくing two o'clock.

"You look pale, Billy," said Blanche at last.

"My 長，率いる aches a little."

Everyone manifested sympathy. They decided to pack up and go, and 一方／合間 Isbel was made to sit in the shade of the trees. When finally they were ready to start for the house, she 設立する herself with empty 手渡すs, walking beside 裁判官.

"May I speak, or would you rather be 静かな?" he asked, after a few paces.

"No; please do."

"It's about my house. Why do you want it so 不正に, 行方不明になる Loment?"

She was silent for やめる a long time.

"Perhaps it's your friendship I want, and not your house."

"Ah!...But since when..."

"I don't know. These feelings grow, don't' they?

"Yes...but why my friendship?...How have I deserved this?..."

"Then perhaps it is your house I want, after all...Really, Mr. 裁判官, I know as little about this as you." She lowered her town. "Of course, you know you are an exceptional man? You can understand it must be very flattering for a girl to be friends with such a man."

His 直面する grew dark, but he said nothing till they were 近づくing the stile, where the others stood waiting for them. Then:

"You have my 許可 to tell your aunt that she may have Runhill 法廷，裁判所 at an agreed 人物／姿／数字. I won't stand out any longer."

"And this 申し込む／申し出 is...無条件の?"

"Yes, 無条件の."

"You 明確に understand--oh, I can't say it..."

"You need not try. I 明確に understand everything, and the 申し込む／申し出 is 完全に without 条件s."

"Then I will 受託する it," said Isbel, in a nearly inaudible 発言する／表明する.

一時期／支部 IX WHAT HAPPENED IN THE SECOND ROOM

As they 軍隊／機動隊d into the 古代の, strangely coloured hall their 発言する／表明するs instinctively became lower and joking 中止するd. Blanche drew her friend aside.

"It's a lovely place, Billy!...井戸／弁護士席, did you speak to him again?"

"Yes, it's all 権利--he's going to let us have it."

"How did you manage it?"

"I didn't manage it at all; the 申し込む／申し出 （機の）カム from him."

"Really?"

"Certainly--why shouldn't it? So now we shall live here, I suppose."

"Congratulations, my dear!...I 推定する／予想する you'll have to see やめる a lot of him after this? You took that into consideration, of course?"

"Why do you dislike him so much?"

"I neither like nor dislike him. I'm only afraid you may have to 支払う／賃金 a rather high price for your house, that's all. However, it's your funeral..."

Blanche forthwith turned to 裁判官, to 表明する her astonishment at the beauty of the hall. It looked even weirder than usual, by 推論する／理由 of the circumstance that the sun's rays now 侵入するd the windows obliquely, so that one half of the place was in 影をつくる／尾行する. 裁判官 答える／応じるd to her with somewhat worried 儀礼. 一方／合間 Isbel seated herself in a wicker 議長，司会を務める, with her 支援する to the fireplace.

"Is the 頭痛 worse?" asked Roger, 静かに and kindly.

"It isn't any better, Roger." As the others （機の）カム up: "I wonder if you would all mind seeing the house without me? I hate 存在 a wet 一面に覆う／毛布."

"What do you 提案する doing, then?" asked Blanche.

"I'll stop here; my 長，率いる's going like an engine. I've seen everything before."

"Except that one room," 裁判官 reminded her. "Still, there's 絶対 nothing to see there."

"What room is that?" asked "Blanche.

"A room on the 最高の，を越す 床に打ち倒す," explained Isbel. "Supposed to be haunted--isn't it, Mr. 裁判官?"

"I don't know where that （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） comes from, I'm sure. Foolish tales may be told of it, as of any other room."

Blanche laughed. "A real live ghost, Mr. 裁判官?"

"I hope it's a classic example, but I really know nothing about it."

"How thrilling? You'll take us there?"

"Certainly, if you wish it."

Bur, first of all, they decided to 完全にする their 査察 of the apartments on the ground 床に打ち倒す. Isbel remained sitting while the others wandered about the hall. The almost incessant drone of 裁判官's 発言する／表明する, as he explained his 所有物／資産／財産, 詳細（に述べる） by 詳細（に述べる）, began to 演習 a soporific 影響 upon her, and she had a hard 仕事 to keep her 注目する，もくろむs open...

She must have dozed, for she awoke to consciousness with a start. She was alone in the hall. Her friends were still somewhere on the lower 床に打ち倒す; she could hear their 発言する／表明するs sounding from one of the rooms in the 支援する of the house. The words were indistinguishable, but 裁判官's rumbling トンs were nearly continuous, while Blanche's high-pitched 組織／臓器 供給（する）d an 時折の punctuation. She thought how singular it was that a woman's 発言する／表明する should always sound so absurdly shrill when heard from another room in 合同 with a man's.

She sat up はっきりと and 配列し直すd her skirt. Without her 存在 aware of the fact, her foot was （電話線からの）盗聴 the 床に打ち倒す 速く in nervous agitation. Before going upstairs they would have to return to the hall. They might 再現する at any moment, and until they were 安全に away in the upper part of the house she dared not 危険 turning in her 議長，司会を務める--to see what was behind her...If those stairs should already be there!

When, すぐに afterwards, the door of the dining-room was thrown open and her friends re-entered the hall in a cluster, bringing with them a clatter of conversation, Isbel smiled に向かって them, but made no 申し込む／申し出 to rise.

"Aha! She's awake," exclaimed Roger.

"Did you 推定する／予想する to find me asleep, then?"

"You were slumbering beatifically when we left you. We went out on tiptoes, like a trio of conspirators. 是認する me, 裁判官."

"井戸／弁護士席, what do you think of it all, Blanche, as far as you've seen?"

"It's a perfectly wonderful house. So picturesque and 静かな, and so 十分な of 影をつくる／尾行するs. Won't you come over the 残り／休憩（する） with us now?"

"No, thanks. I'd better keep still, I think."

裁判官 pulled out a gold half-hunter. "What shan't be a 広大な／多数の／重要な while. It's a ４半期/4分の1 to three. It ought not to take us above an hour, I fancy. You don't mind waiting that time?"

"No, no--only do go!"

Before 出発／死ing, roger lit a cigarette.

"Have one, to pass the time away, Billy?"

"Perhaps I will."

The first match went out, and she reached her 手渡す for the box.

"I've seen steadier 手渡すs than yours," 発言／述べるd Roger.

She passed 支援する the box without a word, 保持するd the lighted cigarette in her mouth, and 苦しむd her 手渡す to remain motionless on her （競技場の）トラック一周. Blanche and 裁判官 were already at the foot of the staircase, and Roger 急いでd after them. Isbel gave a noiseless sigh, smoking on nervously.

From her seat she could hear her friends 審議ing on the upper 上陸 where they should go first. 裁判官 示唆するd the first-床に打ち倒す apartments, but Blanche 主張するd on the haunted room. 明らかに she 伸び（る）d her way, for a minute later their footsteps sounded on the upper staircase, 主要な to the 最高の，を越す of the house. Their 発言する／表明するs sank to a 混乱させるd murmur, which grew lower and lower, until at last 絶対の silence 統治するd.

At the end of three minutes or so, Isbel rose suddenly, overturning the 議長，司会を務める in her vehemence. Her 注目する，もくろむs 速く fastened themselves on the 塀で囲む next to the fireplace...And then she gave a silent laugh of reaction, for she at once realised how unnecessary her impatience had been. Not only was that staircase there, 直接／まっすぐに 直面するing her, but how could it help 存在 there?--it was so manifestly solid and 有形の, it was so 必須の a part of the structure of the hall...Truly, it was most puzzling that she had not noticed it on their 入り口 a short time ago, and that 非，不，無 of the party had called attention to it, but it was out of the question to go against the 証拠 of her senses. The staircase was made of 支持を得ようと努めるd, it had been 建設するd by human 手渡すs, and it 上がるd to a different part of the same house. There was nothing mystical or unnatural about it; it was a straight-今後 piece of work, ーするつもりであるd for everyday use. And in fact, she had used it. if she hadn't perfectly 井戸／弁護士席 remembered that, she would certainly not have plotted and planned to be there that afternoon.

More minutes passed before she could bring herself to move. Covering her 注目する，もくろむs with her 手渡す, she made a violent 成果／努力 to 解任する what had taken place before; it was both 半端物 and exasperating that it should have so 完全に escaped her. She distinctly recollected her impressions while standing with her foot on the first step, but after that all was oblivion, until she had been in the 行為／法令／行動する of redescending into the hall. What could かもしれない be the 原因（となる） of this most unpleasant 失敗 of memory?...Perhaps the atmosphere of that upper part of the building was hypnotic? That, however, would only be explaining one mystery by another, for what 肉親，親類d of rooms could they be which had the 影響 of drugging the brain to 永久の forgetfulness? But perhaps she had dreamt it all, and was still dreaming? Or she might be 苦しむing from hallucination, 示唆するd by 裁判官's story?...She had never felt more sane, wide awake, or 合理的な／理性的な in her life. The explanation could not be that...

Time was creeping on. She looked 上向きs に向かって the gallery, and listened intently, with held breath. There was not a sound; the others evidently were still on the 最高の，を越す 床に打ち倒す. She stepped noiselessly across to the 底（に届く） of the staircase, and began to 上がる. Again the thrill of adventure 掴むd her which she had experienced on the former occasion. She felt that she was visiting an unknown 地域 of the house, where strange 発見s を待つd her...

Almost すぐに she started to remember. She could not 解任する everything at once, but had to piece it together, as one pieces together an old and buried event in one's career. At the 長，率いる of these stairs there should be an 賭け金-room, with three doors. Through one of these doors she had passed. In the room beyond she had seen...a 塀で囲む-mirror...and a red curtain. 押し進めるing past the curtain--what had happened next?...She dimly recollected having descended more stairs--having 設立する herself once again in the hall...It was all frightfully obscure and dark!

In the 行為／法令／行動する of 再建するing her experience she paused frequently. So 深い was her abstraction that she was already standing 静かに in the very 賭け金-room she had 解任するd, before she was fully conscious that she had reached it. She looked up with a sudden start, and gave a 選び出す／独身 早い, 包括的な ちらりと見ること around the apartment. The three doors were there--の近くにd and forbidding, as before. The coloured light of the hall had given the place to a sort of grey twilight...

It was all perfectly real to her senses, yet she had a disquieting feeling that she was wandering in a dream-house, where anything might happen. The excitement which had so far 支えるd her now began to ebb, and she drew 脅すd. She had no 意向 of 退却／保養地ing, but she liked the look of those doors いっそう少なく than ever. How she had plucked up courage to open one of them on the last occasion, she could not conceive...It had been the left-手渡す one. As it was useless to repeat that experience, she ought really now to try the middle door--if only she could bring herself to do so. The other, on the 権利, she 解任するd with a little emphatic shiver. Its 外見 脅すd her. She did not know why, but 単に to be standing in 前線 of it was formidable. She had an idea all the time that it was on the point of swinging solemnly open.

The 頭痛 had 出発／死d, but her 神経s were in a low 条件. She kept starting; her heart was 大打撃を与えるing away; 紅潮／摘発する after 紅潮／摘発する （機の）カム to her cheeks. Then a sudden panic 所有するd her. She was sure that that awful door was about to open. She imagined that something was waiting just behind it, 準備するing to glide out, to 迎撃する her from the stairs. Hardly knowing what she did, she clutched the 扱う of the middle door...It opened. She passed in quickly and breathlessly, and hurriedly の近くにd it again from within.

She stood in a small, wainscoted room, unfurnished except for a carved 木造の couch that was against the その上の 塀で囲む. The 床に打ち倒す was 明らかにする, and the 塀で囲むs were undecorated. The apartment was duskily lighted from 総計費, since not a 選び出す／独身 味方する-window 存在するd.

Notwithstanding its emptiness, there was an atmosphere of stately opulence in the little 議会, which could only be accounted for by the exquisiteness of its dark, naked 木材／素質. 単に to be in it impressed her with a sense of personal dignity; it was like entering the 私的な 閣僚 of a nobleman...She fancied that the presence of that 独房監禁 couch seemed to point to the room's 存在 まず第一に／本来 ーするつもりであるd as a place for intimate 会合s...though that would be queer, too!...

She sat 負かす／撃墜する, but in an 築く 態度 and without relaxing her muscles. She 用意が出来ている herself to spring up suddenly again, if need were. In fact, she felt far from 平易な in her mind. To be sitting alone in that mysterious room, behind a の近くにd door, which might at any minute be opened--the 状況／情勢 was not 正確に tranquillising...What was she waiting for, and why did she not retire, since she had seen all there was to see? She asked herself the question, and 設立する no 満足な 推論する／理由 for remaining, but it was as if she were in a 明言する／公表する of enchantment--she continued sitting, watching the door with nervous 苦悩. Her 極度の慎重さを要する fingers were playing time along the long, delicate scarf she wore 一連の会議、交渉／完成する her neck. She dared not 認める to herself that she was waiting for that door to open, and yet perhaps she was.

She uttered a faint cry, and half-rose from the couch. The door was 開始...Her terrified 注目する，もくろむs met those of 裁判官!

She got up altogether, and つまずくd に向かって him. 裁判官 の近くにd the door behind him quickly and 静かに; then, coming up to her, he supported her with his arm to the couch, and both sat 負かす／撃墜する. Isbel could not 星／主役にする at him enough. He seemed younger, and different. It might have been the 影響 of the 薄暗い light, but it was too remarkable not to be noticed.

"How have you got here?" she asked, as soon as she could 命令（する） her tongue.

He did not reply すぐに, but continued gazing at her with a sort of 厳しい 親切. His 直面する was different. It was いっそう少なく sallow, いっそう少なく respectable, more powerful and energetic...and always younger. He looked no more that five-and forty.

"I've come straight from the East Room," he said at last. "I mustn't stop--the others are 推定する／予想するing me 支援する. I left them in the 製図／抽選-room, while I returned to lock the East Room and bring away the 重要な. I had forgotten to do so. When I got there--a minute ago--I saw the stairs, and here I am."

"But where are we?"

"In a strange place, I 恐れる. I can't conceive how you have 設立する your way up."

"I （機の）カム up from the hall...What is that third door?"

"I've never 投機・賭けるd to enter. Perhaps some other time we will try it together. We 港／避難所't leisure now."

Isbel turned pale, and 除去するd herself a little away from him.

"That's a strange thing to say. You know it's impossible."

"How do you regard this 会合, then?" He 注目する，もくろむd her 厳粛に.

"As 偶発の...Tell me--is this really a part of the house, or are we dreaming?"

"かもしれない neither. I've been here many times in former years, and I'm still no wiser than on the first occasion. You may not be aware that in ten minutes' time neither of us will remember a 選び出す／独身 詳細（に述べる） of this 会合?"

"I know. I also have been here before, though not in this room."

"Then you have been deceiving me?"

"By 軍隊 of necessity."

"Yes, you could not have 行為／法令／行動するd 異なって. Those stairs have an irresistible attraction. I know the feeling, and how everything else has to give way."

Isbel still toyed with her scarf. "Did you guess that I was practising a stratagem on you?"

"No, it didn't occur to me, although I did not altogether understand your 苦悩 to have the house."

"Now I've sunk hopelessly in your estimation?"

"No--but you have 後継するd in depressing me. I dreamt of friendship, and I wake up to find it's nothing of the sort."

She looked at him with a strange smile.

"When you （機の）カム in just now, and 設立する me sitting here, what passed through your mind?"

"I was unaware that you were here as the result of a 直す／買収する，八百長をするd 目的. I thought it was your first visit, and I 推定するd to imagine that 運命／宿命 had brought us together. 容赦 my audacity."

"And why do you suppose that your friendship is a 事柄 of such 無関心／冷淡 to me?"

"Because you have used it as an 器具 for your designs."

"It is not a 事柄 of 無関心／冷淡 to me," she said, in a very low 発言する／表明する..."As everything is to be forgotten so soon, there's no 反対する in my 隠すing my true feelings. There is such a thing as honour. I am to marry another man, and all my love is for him. But though I can't and mustn't love you, you have already 影響（力）d my life very 堅固に, and I feel that you will go on doing so more and more. I don't wish our friendship to die away--on the contrary, I wish it to become richer and more intimate. I've deceived you in other things, but not in that."

裁判官's manner appeared curiously humble. "If I have had some 影響（力） on your life, you have 奮起させるd me to new life altogether. Before I met you, I was a lost man. I was wifeless and friendless...I don't think I could go on without your friendship. I'm willing to 支払う／賃金 higher prices than the one you've exacted."

They looked at each other in silence for a minute.

"We shall understand each other better after this," said Isbel, softly. "Even if our minds forget, something in us will remember."

"Perhaps; but give me something to remember by."

After a moment's reflection, Isbel slowly unwound the silk scarf from her neck. "Take this, then!"

He ちらりと見ることd at her before 受託するing it. "Won't its absence be 発言／述べるd?"

"It's 地雷 to 配置する／処分する／したい気持ちにさせる of, I think. I'm not giving anything with it except 尊敬（する）・点 and 親切."

裁判官 held out his 手渡す, took the scarf, and, after carefully, almost reverently 倍のing it into small compass, bestowed it in the breast-pocket of his coat.

"I shall guard it as the most precious of secrets...I have an idea that we shall 会合，会う here again."

She shook her 長，率いる doubtfully. "It's a fearful place. I'm not sure that we have either of us done 権利 to come here at all."

"Do you feel a worse woman for having spent these few minutes with me?"

"Oh, no--no!...Not worse, but, far, far better! I feel...it's impossible to 述べる..."

"Try!"

"I feel...just as if I'd had a spiritual lesson... It's foolish..."

"Let me 解釈する／通訳する for you. Isn't it your feeling that during the short time we have spent here together we have been enabled 一時的に to 減少（する） the mask of 条約, and talk to each other more humanly and truthfully? Isn't this what you feel?"

"Yes, I think it is...The 空気／公表する here seems different. It's nobler, and there's a sort of music in it...If it hadn't been for this strange 会合, we should never have known each other so 井戸／弁護士席. Perhaps not at all."

"Then we have done 権利 to come here."

Isbel got up, and 星／主役にするd walking about restlessly. 裁判官 sat where he was, with a 直面する of 石／投石する. Presently she stopped short in 前線 of him, and 需要・要求するd with 静かな suddenness:

"What can be waiting for us in that other room?"

"We must find out--but not now. I must go now."

"But 港／避難所't you formed a guess?"

"I have somehow received the impression that this room and the left-手渡す one are 単に ロビーs to that other. If we are to experience anything, it will be there. All this is only 予選."

"I think so, too," said Isbel. "But I should never find the courage to enter that room alone."

"We'll go together. The same fortune which has brought us 直面する to 直面する here this afternoon will 供給する us with an 適切な時期."

He got to his feet.

"So now we separate, ーするために 会合，会う again?" asked Isbel.

"As strangers, unfortunately."

"No." She spoke with 静かな dignity. "Hearts which have once met can never be strangers. I am sure we shall know each other."

They moved に向かって the door, and, as they did so, the same idea occurred for the first time to both.

"Surely we couldn't both have come up the same flight of stairs?" asked Isbel.

"I know of only one way up. We must have done."

"But I （機の）カム up from the hall, and I only climbed to the 高さ of one storey."

"We have to recognise, I 恐れる, that physical 所有物／資産／財産s here are different. I have 疫病／悩ますd my 長，率いる 十分に over all that. I'm not 性質の／したい気がして to worry about it any longer...We will go 負かす／撃墜する together, but I think we shall lose sight of each other on the stairs."

They passed through the door, into the 賭け金-room.

"Couldn't we put it to the 実験（する）, by my taking your arm?" queried Isbel.

"Better not play with unknown 軍隊s, I think."

He 屈服するd, and stood aside to 許す her to に先行する him 負かす／撃墜する the staircase.

Half-way 負かす／撃墜する, she turned her 長，率いる to see if he were still there に引き続いて, but he had disappeared.

一時期／支部 X BLANCHE SPEAKS OUT

The hall was as she had left it, and her friends 明らかに had not yet returned. Her 長，率いる was bewildered; she was unable at first to realise what had happened to her. She knew that a staircase had appeared to her, that she had climbed it some little time ago, and that it was only this minute that she had come 負かす／撃墜する again. But the stairs had 消えるd, and her memory 関心ing the adventure was an utter blank. 圧力（をかける）ing her 手渡す to her hot forehead, she 星／主役にするd 真面目に at the 塀で囲む, in the 成果／努力 to concentrate her will on that one 仕事 of recollection; but it was やめる useless--the experience, whatever it was, had grazed her mind as lightly as a dream...Yet it had now happened to her twice, and it had happened to Mr. Jude as 井戸／弁護士席, in years gone by...

She made up her mind to talk to that man on the 支配する. He was the only one to whom she could talk about it, and it was impossible to go on any longer hugging this awful secret in 孤独...That would be the best. He might be angry at Marshall's 違反 of 信用／信任, but perhaps it would be possible to contrive that that should not come out. She need not decide now. When she got home she would think about it all out carefully, 重さを計るing the 事件／事情／状勢 in all its bearings...

Her watch told her that it was の近くに upon half-past three. It was evident that she had been somewhere all that time...Then suddenly she realized the absence of her scarf. Uttering an exclamation of annoyance, she quickly cast her 注目する，もくろむs around for the 行方不明の article, but it was nowhere 明白な in the hall, and she had not been in any other part of the house. She 結論するd that she must have dropped it out of doors--perhaps where they had picnicked in that field. She did not value the scarf 高度に, but it was 悩ますing to lose it so stupidly. It would not take long to run there and 支援する before the others （機の）カム downstairs again.

Passing out of the hall-door, she retraced their 大勝する to the place where they had lunched, keeping a sharp watch for the 有望な, silken fabric, which せねばならない catch the 注目する，もくろむ quickly enough. She covered the whole distance, only stopping short at the little stream, but failed to see it anywhere. Then, recollecting that Blanche might かもしれない have 選ぶd it up and taken 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of it, she returned more 静かに to the house.

The little distraction had at least one good result, it enabled her for a few minutes to forget that other thing, その為に permitting her 神経s to tranquillise themselves, and in consequence she was now in a position to 会合，会う her friends again with tolerable coolness. On re-entering the hall she 設立する them waiting for her; they seemed to have just come 負かす／撃墜する.

Even before anyone spoke, Isbel was conscious of a changed atmosphere. An 空気／公表する of 強制 hung over the little party, and for a moment she had a 有罪の feeling that this 当惑 was in some way connected with herself. No one remembered to 問い合わせ after the 条件 of her 長，率いる.

Blanche 演説（する）／住所d her with a 冷淡な smile: "We seem to be playing at hide-and-捜し出す this afternoon. First Mr. 裁判官 loses himself, and then you."

"I'm exceedingly sorry. I 行方不明になるd my scarf, and went outside to look for it. You 港／避難所't 選ぶd it up by any chance?"

"No."

"It doesn't 事柄, but it's gone."

"You 港／避難所't been upstairs, have you?"

"No--oh, no. Why?"

"You needn't look so startled--I only meant you had it 一連の会議、交渉／完成する your neck when we went up. It was the last thing I saw."

"Surely not!" said Isbel, much puzzled.

"Were you in the hall all the time, up to the moment you 行方不明になるd it?"

"Yes."

Blanche shrugged her shoulders, and turned away.

"Mrs. Stokes must be mistaken, and you must have dropped it out of doors," 示唆するd 裁判官. "I'll tell Priday to 学校／設ける a 徹底的な search for it. When 設立する, I'll send it on."

"Thank you very much!"

Isbel kept stealing perplexed ちらりと見ることs at 裁判官, and each time she did so she surprised him in the 行為／法令／行動する of あわてて 回避するing his 注目する，もくろむs from her. She could not imagine why they were regarding each other with such furtive 利益／興味. As far as she knew, nothing had changed in their relations since they had last spoken together, yet now it seemed as if they had a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 to say to each other which they had somehow failed to discover at the time. She wondered how she could get to speak to him again.

"How did Mr. 裁判官 contrive to get lost, then?" she 問い合わせd of Roger, who appeared the most approachable of the trio.

"With perfect 緩和する. Blanche and I were wandering about the 前提s, like Adam and Eve turned out of Eden, for the space of half an hour."

"I can only repeat my 陳謝s," said 裁判官 rather stiffly. "I 収容する／認める it was a most unpardonable 違反 of 儀礼."

Isbel looked from one to another. "How did it come about, then?"

"The explanation is not very much to my credit, 行方不明になる Loment, but I 恐れる I have no 権利 to stand on dignity. We had come downstairs from the 最高の，を越す storey, after visiting the East Room, and were about to enter the 製図／抽選-room, when I suddenly remembered that I had omitted to lock that other room again--which is to break my own 支配する. Mrs. Stokes was 肉親，親類d enough to 許す me a couple of minutes' leave of absence to …に出席する to the 商売／仕事..."

"Which Mr. 裁判官 敏速に 延長するd to half-an-hour," said Blanche, with her 支援する still turned.

"Why, what happened?"

"A somewhat absurd 事故, 行方不明になる Loment. Whether it was the hot sun, or the ワイン, I don't know, but I fell asleep upstairs."

"How funny!" Isbel began to laugh.

Blanche swung 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. "But the funniest thing was that when we went upstairs to look for him he was nowhere to be 設立する."

"I repeat, Mrs. Stokes--because you looked in the wrong place. I was in one of the servants' rooms. I recollected having seen a window left open, and went along to shut it."

"やめる a 一時期／支部 of 事故s!" said Isbel. "However, the main thing is we're all happily 組み立てる／集結するd again, 安全な and sound, after our さまざまな adventures. Did you see anything 利益／興味ing, Roger?"

"Much. The house is a veritable マリファナ-pourri of styles and centuries. I have counted three 際立った periods, and perhaps there are more."

裁判官 entered the conversation with a 明白な 成果／努力. "This hall is one, the main 団体／死体 of the house is another, but what is the third?"

"Why, the East Room. There's old, old, very old work there, unless I'm crassly ignorant. One of the rafters of the 天井 is carved with runes. That was placed there by no Elizabethan 手渡す."

"You said nothing about this at the time?"

"I had no audience, my dear proprietor. My lady-wife was gazing around for ghosts, while you were 深い in abstract thought, and did not once 除去する your 注目する，もくろむs from the blank 塀で囲む they chanced to alight on."

"But what would be the 反対する of this carving?" 需要・要求するd Isbel hurriedly.

"Doubtless a 魔法 決まり文句／製法 雇うd by our heathen Saxon forefathers to 妨げる the goblins from riding the roof--a favourite supernatural pastime of the olden days. Were I 裁判官, I would fain 除去する the 木材／素質 and send it to our 当局 to be deciphered."

"Perhaps I will," said 裁判官.

Isbel did not listen to Roger very attentively: she was cogitating 裁判官's story. She did not believe that he had spoken the truth. A やめる different explanation of his 見えなくなる had 夜明けd on her, and with Isbel's intuitions from 夜明け to 十分な day was but a flash. On his return to the East Room, he had seen that the staircase again which he had seen so many times before. He had 上がるd it, and--her heart （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 速く--they two had met up there!...That was why they had been ちらりと見ることing at each other so strangely...She was as sure of it all as if she had heard it from his own mouth.

She turned aside in sick excitement.

"We'd better get home," 発言／述べるd Blanche coldly. "It's nearly four, and I shan't be sorry for some tea?"

裁判官 ちらりと見ることd at her rather anxiously "Would you prefer to stop somewhere en 大勝する?"

"We'll get home, I think."

As there was nothing to wait for, they at once left the hall. The girls went in 前線, but as soon as they were outside Blanche …を伴ってd her husband to the car, leaving the others on the doorstep while 裁判官 用意が出来ている to lock up.

"I'm coming over to 価値（がある）ing to-morrow, to see you," murmured Isbel, standing straight up, 直面するing the door and 裁判官.

Without changing countenance or so much as looking at her, he bent 負かす／撃墜する to 挿入する the 重要な in the 穴を開ける.

"Certainly, 行方不明になる Loment."

"I'll come over by train in the morning. Can you 会合，会う me on the 前線, as if by 事故? Do you know a train?"

"There's the 10.40 from Hove."

"That will do. Please don't say a word to anyone."

Without waiting for his 返答, she 急いでd to join her friends. The two girls 再開するd their 包むs, and got into the 支援する seat. 裁判官 took his place behind the wheel, and lastly Roger climbed in. After a little 予選 支援, they made a （疑いを）晴らす start 負かす／撃墜する the 運動.

At the 宿泊する-gate they stopped for a minute, while Mrs. Priday called her husband out, in obedience to 裁判官's request. The 長，率いる gardener was in the middle of tea, and his mouth was still busily engaged, in spite of his 成果／努力s to empty it.

"Priday," said his master, leaning out of the car に向かって him, "one of the ladies has lost a scarf somewhere on the grounds. It might be as far away as the stream by Moss's 支持を得ようと努めるd. Have a good look 一連の会議、交渉／完成する for it--to-day. It must be 設立する."

"Colour, sir?"

裁判官 mutely transferred the 調査 to Isbel.

"Vieux rose. A long silk scarf."

"Pink, Priday. See to it at once. Good afternoon!"

* * *

Blanche paid a visit to Isbel's room that evening, during the dressing hour before dinner. Isbel, fully gowned, was sitting on a sofa, reading a magazine. Blanche had on the frock which she had worn on the occasion of the dinner-party; she 辞退するd to sit 負かす／撃墜する, and altogether seemed rather unusual in her manner. Isbel, 存在 in a 高度に 極度の慎重さを要する mood, （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd the presence of feminine electricity at once; she 静かに 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する her paper beside her, feeling more 逮捕 than she cared to 収容する／認める to herself.

"What's the 事柄, Blanche?"

"Nothing. I've just looked in."

"I thought perhaps you 手配中の，お尋ね者 to say something...井戸／弁護士席, have you enjoyed your day?"

"Oh, I 推定する／予想する so. Have you?"

"Yes--but I'm 悩ますd about the scarf."

Blanche pointed her toes together and gazed 負かす／撃墜する at the carpet. "Is it 価値（がある） worrying about?"

"I hate losing things."

There was a pause.

"I know where it is--if that's any help to you," said Blanche 静かに.

"You do?...Why, where is it?"

Her friend slowly 解除するd her 注目する，もくろむs, until they stopped on Isbel's 直面する. "In 裁判官's breast-pocket."

Isbel jumped up, then sat 負かす／撃墜する again.

"What!"

"That's where it was, dear, at any 率, for I saw it there--peeping out."

"Oh, absurd!...What on earth should he be doing with my scarf?"

"I wonder you don't rather ask how it comes to be in his 所有／入手. You didn't give it to him, I 推定する?"

"I decidedly didn't. I'm not in the habit of giving articles of 着せる／賦与するing to men."

Blanche pursed her lips for a second or two..."You certainly were wearing it when we went upstairs. You never （機の）カム upstairs at all, and 裁判官 never went downstairs. Yet the next time we 会合，会う him, it has become mysteriously transferred to his pocket. He hadn't even taken ありふれた 警戒s to hide it...Somewhat puzzling, don't you think?"

Danger signals appeared suddenly on Isbel's cheeks.

"You infer...?"

"Nothing, dearest. But if you're speaking the truth--as I hope, for your own sake, you are--then that man isn't. In any 事例／患者, he isn't. A girl's scarf doesn't float upstairs and find it's way into a man's pocket of its own 甘い will."

"Most likely it wasn't my scarf at all."

"My dear child, whatever else I don't know, I do know the contents of your wardrobe. You might put Roger off with that suggestion, but not me. It was your scarf."

Isbel bit her lip, and 星／主役にするd at the carpet beneath her.

"Then all I can say is, he must be pretty far gone. He has no 権利 to it, and I don't know in the least what he's doing with it. Perhaps it's a form of mania with him."

"Yes--but you won't see the point. How did he get 持つ／拘留する of it?"

"I 推定する／予想する after he had made his escape from you he slipped 静かに 負かす／撃墜する the servants' staircase and got into the hall that way. Finding me asleep, he appropriated the scarf. I can't think of any other 解答."

"He may be a lunatic, of course," said Blanche, in her driest トン.

"Thanks! I やめる understand what you're 運動ing at all along."

Blanche said nothing. Isbel, after waiting in vain for her to speak, uttered a high, metallic laugh.

"Oh, I 収容する／認める the 証拠 is 圧倒的に damning against both of us. You might 同様に be honest about it."

"For heaven's sake don't （問題を）取り上げる that トン! You must see for yourself how it 妥協s you. Instead of losing your temper, you had much better 始める，決める about 回復するing your 所有物／資産／財産. If I've seen it, somebody else may."

"From which I assume that you don't 提案する to 熟知させる the others with the 詳細（に述べる）s of this romantic 事件／事情／状勢?"

"I'm not a こそこそ動く. You せねばならない know me better than that."

Isbel gnawed away at her finger-nails.

"I （機の）カム here to try and help you," went on Blanche. "It's not very encouraging to find myself 扱う／治療するd as an 干渉するing busybody."

"Oh, don't imagine I'm not 感謝する to you. It isn't everyone who would 請け負う such an unpalatable 義務--I やめる see that...Perhaps I should have been even more 感謝する to you for a little loyal 支援 up, but I see your point of 見解（をとる） perfectly. I've no 権利 to 推定する／予想する other people to behave as quixotically as I should have done under 類似の circumstances. Every woman must 行為／法令／行動する によれば her nature."

"It will be time enough to show sympathy when I know it's 手配中の，お尋ね者."

"And deserved. Don't spare me, I beg."

Blanche sat 負かす／撃墜する slowly on the sofa. After a minute she impulsively 掴むd her friend's 手渡す.

"Billy, 断言する there's nothing between you and that man, and I'll believe you. I don't think you could tell me a direct 嘘（をつく）. Up to the 現在の we've always 株d each other's secrets."

"I do 断言する that I 港／避難所't the faintest notion how that scarf got out of my 所有／入手, or into his. I'm as utterly mystified as you are."

"Sure?"

"やめる sure," said Isbel, colouring and smiling.

"Very 井戸／弁護士席; that's all I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to hear. As long as it's all 権利 on your 味方する, his 行為／行う is of やめる 第２位 importance. I'm more relieved than I can tell you...But you'll have to get it 支援する, by fair means or foul."

"I'll think it over to-night in bed."

Blanche gazed at her 刻々と, still 持つ／拘留するing her 手渡す.

"If I were you, I should 減少（する） the 知識 altogether. You won't derive much good from a man like that."

"You mean, give up the idea of his house?"

"There are plenty of other houses. Have you told your aunt yet about his change of 決定／判定勝ち（する）?"

"No."

"That's good. Don't...Dash a line off to 裁判官 to say it's all over. And you can について言及する about the scarf at the same time. Say you understand it's in his 所有／入手, and beg him to return it at once...You could almost do it now, before dinner."

"No, there isn't time," replied Isbel. And she 設立する no time the whole of the evening.

In bed, the same night, she 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするd for hours, tormenting her brain over the events of the day. As often as she had satisfactorily 保証するd herself of the impossibility of her having given that scarf 本人自身で to 裁判官, the whole problem would break open again, like a 不正に-包帯d 負傷させる, and she would find herself once more searching in vain in all directions for some escape from the necessity of 受託するing this awful, 考えられない hypothesis.

Her thoughts travelled 一連の会議、交渉／完成する and 一連の会議、交渉／完成する in circles, and 救済 （機の）カム to her at last only in 絶対の physical exhaustion.

一時期／支部 XI ISBEL VISITS WORTHING

すぐに after the 出発 of Blanche and Roger next morning, Isbel--attired in an old, though still serviceable, tweed walking 衣装, with stout, low-heeled shoes--発表するd her 意向 of taking a long tramp on the 負かす／撃墜するs by herself; she might, or might not, be 支援する for lunch. It was the only programme she could think of in which her aunt would be 確かな not to 申し込む／申し出 to 参加する. Mrs. Moor, of course, raised some half-hearted 反対s--that was more in the nature of a ritual between the two ladies--but in the end Isbel got her way, and before ten o'clock she was out of the hotel. Not en 大勝する to the 負かす／撃墜するs, however. At the 最高の，を越す of Preston Street she caught a bus to Hove 駅／配置する, and, on arriving there, 購入（する）d a ticket to 価値（がある）ing.

The train was a little 延滞の. Not many people were travelling, and she was able to 安全な・保証する an empty first-class compartment. Her first 活動／戦闘 was to fling 負かす／撃墜する both windows for the atmosphere was 窒息させるing の近くに; it was one of those 激しい, 不振の, 曇った, depressing mornings which are the sure forerunners of 安定した rain. As they ran into 価値（がある）ing, a few 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs already began to gather on the left-手渡す 味方する windows.

She 設立する 裁判官 waiting for her at the Parade end of South Street. He was smartly 覆う？, had his 手渡すs behind him, and was gazing idly, yet with dignity, at the outside 棚上げにするs of a 調書をとる／予約する-売買業者's shop. No one could have guessed from his manner that he was there by 任命. When she touched him lightly on the arm, his start of surprise nearly deceived herself into imagining that the 会合 was 偶発の; but then she remembered her own 警告を与える to him.

"I am the one you're waiting for, I hope?" she asked, with a smile.

He 取って代わるd his hat. "I would have come to the 駅／配置する, but your 指示／教授／教育s were 限定された."

"Then let's get on to the 前線. It's going to rain, isn't it?"

"I 恐れる so--and you have no 保護."

"I've nothing on to spoil."

They crossed the road to the Parade, and started to walk in the direction of the Burlington. There were a few people abroad, and certainly no one she knew, yet the mere fact that she was in a strange town, strolling with a strange man, had a peculiarly exciting 影響 upon her 神経s. Everyone they passed seemed to be regarding her with 疑惑.

"You didn't mind 会合 me here this morning, Mr. 裁判官?"

"Just the 逆転する, 行方不明になる Loment. I regard it as a 広大な／多数の／重要な honour."

"It's nothing very dreadful. I just 手配中の，お尋ね者 to talk things over."

"I やめる understand." But he looked rather puzzled.

She waited till some approaching women had met and passed. "First of all, Mr. 裁判官--did you find my scarf?"

"Yes; it's in my pocket, and you shall have it when we separate. I've made a small 小包 of it."

"Where was it 設立する, then?"

He hesitated. "In a very queer 残り／休憩（する）ing-place, I'm afraid. On getting home last evening I 設立する it reposing neatly 倍のd in my breast-pocket."

"I see."

"Doubtless a practical joke on someone's part--a 肉親，親類d of joke, I must 収容する／認める, I don't much care about."

"You mean Roger, I suppose? I don't think he would have done it. Couldn't you have placed it there yourself in a fit of abstraction?"

"No, that is 完全に out of the question. I think we must call it a joke."

There was an interval of silence, and then she turned to him 静かに:

"Mr. 裁判官..."

"Yes, 行方不明になる Loment?"

"When you disappeared yesterday afternoon, where were you?"

"Surely I have explained that?"

"I don't 非難する you for giving an untrue account of your movements, because, of course, you had to say something. But you'll tell me the truth now, won't you?"

"But, really!..."

"You did go up those stairs, didn't you?"

裁判官 gave her a swift sidelong ちらりと見ること. "What stairs?"

"That strange staircase 主要な out of the East Room."

"Mr. Marshall Stokes told you, then?"

"Please leave him out of it. My （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） is first-手渡す."

It now （機の）カム on to rain more はっきりと, and they were 軍隊d to take 避難 in an 隣接する 避難所, which luckily 証明するd to be 空いている. They sat 直面するing the sea. 裁判官 残り／休憩（する）d both 手渡すs on his gold-長，率いるd stick, and 星／主役にするd straight before him.

"Yet I distinctly gathered that you have never 本人自身で visited that room, 行方不明になる Loment?"

"Nor have I. Your house has more mysteries than you are aware of, Mr. 裁判官. The hall also has its staircase."

"What staircase?" He frowned. "I don't やめる know how to take this."

"Not only have I seen it with my own 注目する，もくろむs, but I have twice 始める，決める foot on it--once 存在 yesterday afternoon. I want you to believe that I am 存在 やめる serious, and not 捏造する，製作するing in the least."

"Yesterday afternoon?"

"Five minutes after you had all gone upstairs."

"Could you 述べる them--those stairs?"

"The were plain, 狭くする, 木造の stairs, going up through an 開始 in the 塀で囲む; no handrail. The 最高の，を越す was out of sight."

"This is indeed 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の! Can you tell me your experience?"

"No; for I remember nothing of it. But I went up them and （機の）カム 負かす／撃墜する again."

There was a long pause, during which 裁判官 frequently （疑いを）晴らすd his throat.

"I must believe you, 行方不明になる Loment, and yet...And this was the second occasion, you tell me? Were you by yourself the first time as 井戸／弁護士席?"

"Yes."

"I can't 疑問 your word; the same thing has happened to me more than a few times. Astonishing as your 声明 is, 行方不明になる Loment, in a sense I'm relieved by it. I may 同様に 自白する it--I have いつかs been alarmed for my 推論する／理由. The stable 法律s of Nature are the 創立／基礎 of the whole of our experience, and when once in a while we seem to see them no longer valid, it is 必然的な that we should prefer to 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う our understanding."

"Then you did go up yesterday?"

"Yes, I did go up."

"And remember nothing?"

"Nothing whatever."

"Nothing that strikes you?"

"Might not we have met in that upper part of the house?"

裁判官 looked up quickly. "What makes you think that?"

"You don't realise that it might explain my scarf's 存在 in your 所有／入手?" she asked in a very low 発言する／表明する.

"Your scarf?"

"Don't be in a hurry. Think it over for a minute, Mr. 裁判官. It's important."

"I cannot see how our 会合 there, or anywhere else, would account for your scarf's 存在 in my pocket."

"If you cannot see, I cannot help you."

"I am not a どろぼう, and why should such a gift by made?"

"But perhaps it was made."

"I cannot imagine what you mean," said 裁判官, turning pale.

Isbel cast uneasy ちらりと見ることs around her. She drew a little closer to him, re-arranging her skirt with nervous impatience.

"That's the another thing I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to talk about, Mr. 裁判官. I don't know how we really stand に向かって each other...Of course we're friends... Since yesterday, our 関係 has somehow seemed to me very undefined. It has been worrying me."

"I think I understand what you mean."

"Is it our experience in ありふれた, or is it something else? Do try and help me. It's frightfully difficult for me to speak of all this."

"But is it necessary to, 行方不明になる Loment? As you say, we are friends. Perhaps if we show ourselves too curious, we shall 単に be robbing ourselves of what we already 所有する."

"Oh, don't you see? If we don't know how we stand, we can't even be friends. How can I have a man for a friend whose feelings I have to guess at?...I believe I'm 正当化するd in asking you, I don't 要求する you to commit yourself in any way, and whatever you tell me, I shan't take advantage of it--but I think I せねばならない know just how it stands with you."

裁判官 kept の近くにing and 開始 his 手渡す agitatedly.

"We are really carrying the conversation too far, 行方不明になる Loment. You must see that you and I have no 権利 whatever to discuss feelings."

"You don't or won't understand. If you have feelings which 言及する to me, they are my 所有物／資産／財産, and I have a perfect 権利 to know what they are." Her 発言する／表明する quietened. "I must ask you to tell me...Do you regard me...in any special manner? Or...Can't you see how awkwardly I am 据えるd till I know how...we stand to each other?" she 結論するd weakly.

"We are good friends, 行方不明になる Loment, and nothing more."

"So you 固執する in setting up this icy 障壁? But how can we go on 会合 each other, if our 長，率いるs are to remain 十分な of unsatisfied fancies and 疑惑s?...I 約束 you one thing, Mr. 裁判官--if you 拒絶する／低下する to be my real friend, you shan't be my friend at all. I shall never want to see you again after this."

"I shall be sorry for that, but if everything is to finish so suddenly, at least I prefer that it shall not be 借りがあるing to an 行為／法令／行動する of egregious folly on my part. Since I don't 所有する the advantages of a younger man, I daren't imitate the rashness of one."

"But what are you afraid of? I can scarcely punish you for obeying me. Whatever you tell me, I 約束 you it shan't bring our friendship to a の近くに. Nothing will be changed, except for the better. Won't you speak now?"

"I cannot."

She paled, and began to tap the asphalt 覆うing with her foot. "You can hardly 辞退する to answer a direct question. Am I anything to you at all, Mr. 裁判官?"

"Perhaps you are a very 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定, but the point is, I can be nothing to you."

"You mean 正確に／まさに that?"

"Yes. I have a higher regard for you, 行方不明になる Loment, than for any other living woman."

"But what is 暗示するd by a very high regard?" She could scarcely breathe the words out.

"There is a special 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 for that feeling but I am not permitted to pronounce it."

"Do I understand you 正確に?" she asked, nearly inaudibly.

裁判官 made no reply.

After a long silence, Isbel gave a spasmodic, wavering sigh.

"Shall I take my scarf now? There's no one to see."

He produced a small brown paper packet from his pocket, and passed it over to her. She kept turning it in her 手渡す, with a sort of 疲れた／うんざりした 無関心／冷淡.

"What are we to do about it? You know we must find out how it （機の）カム to be in your 所有／入手. I cannot go there again, but you can."

"If you wish me to. But of what use is it, if I am to remember nothing?"

"Could you not take pencil and paper?"

"That's an idea, and I can't conceive why it has never occurred to me before. Very 井戸／弁護士席, then; I will run over."

"This afternoon. But how shall I communicate the result to you?"

"I don't wish you either to 令状 or call, Mr. 裁判官. Couldn't you manage to come over to Brighton to-morrow afternoon, and see me somewhere?"

"I must manage it. Where shall it be, and at what time?"

"My aunt always takes her 残り／休憩（する） in the afternoon, Let's say three o'clock--at the Hove, I think; there are より小数の people there to bother one. You know the Baths, 直面するing the sea?"

"Yes."

"Outside there, then. You see the importance of this to both of us, don't you?"

"My only 動機 in the 商売／仕事 is to re-保証する your mind. I draw no 予期s from the result."

Isbel gave him a keen ちらりと見ること. "Yet after what you have said, it can't be a 事柄 of 無関心／冷淡 to you."

"Candidly, 行方不明になる Loment, I don't wish for a result. I want our friendship to continue, and that will be impossible if...I 願望（する） nothing more than that we shall settle 負かす／撃墜する again into the old pleasant 明言する／公表する. I feel 確信して that you will find we have foolishly 許すd our imaginations to run away with us over this 事柄."

They had both risen to their feet, but a heavier にわか雨 at that moment coming on, they were compelled to seat themselves again. Isbel turned her 長，率いる away, and started fingering her hair.

"By the way," she 発表するd suddenly, "I 港／避難所't について言及するd your 決定／判定勝ち（する） about the house yet to my aunt, so you had better not, either."

"Just 同様に not to I'm not sure at all, after this, that Runhill will make a suitable 住居 for you."

"For all that, I may keep you to your word. However, we won't do anything in a hurry...That woman will spoil her furs, if she's not careful."

She referred to an elegantly-garbed lady who wsa 耐えるing 負かす／撃墜する on their 避難所 from the west. She was 明白に flurried by the 苦しめるing rain, as only a woman is flurried; but her 活動／戦闘 remained perfectly graceful and fascinating to watch, while she carried her furs and velvets as though they were a part of herself. Though tall and slender, it was evident even at that distance that she had long since finished with girlhood, but Isbel was unable as yet to distinguish her features. 裁判官 happened to be sitting on her other 味方する, so she failed to notice his 当惑.

"It's an 知識 of 地雷," he brought out somewhat quickly. "That is, she is staying at the same hotel. A Mrs. Richborough--a 未亡人."

"Charming!" 答える／応じるd Isbel ばく然と. "I can't see her 直面する. Is she pretty?"

"More distinguished-looking than pretty. A most 利益／興味ing woman to talk to--which is as far as my 知識 延長するs. A keen spiritualist."

"Yes--I can see now. She's got one of those white, peaky 直面するs. Is she 井戸／弁護士席-off?"

"I really can't say. She has 流行の／上流の 着せる／賦与するs and jewels. I am 単に on nodding 条件 with her."

"She seems t be coming here. I think I'll go."

"No--don't, please, 行方不明になる Loment! It will look too 示すd. I'll just introduce you and you can take your 出発 すぐに."

Isbel bent her mouth into a scornful little smile. "As you please. It's rather bad luck, but, anyway, she won't know me from Eve...Do tell me a train 支援する. I 推定する／予想する you have a time-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する."

He had, and produced it for 協議 at once. While he was hurriedly turning over the leaves, Mrs. Richborough 前進するd upon them with a quickened step and a sudden smile of 承認--but, somehow, Isbel had a 疑惑 that the 会合 was not やめる so unpremeditated. All her 提起する／ポーズをとるs were so 正確に graceful and 熟考する／考慮するd that the latter wondered if, by any chance, she could be a mannequin on holiday; her heels were perfect stilts. The 直面する, however, when she （機の）カム の近くに up, was a good thirty-six or seven, and was not even decently pretty for that age. It was long, thin, and pale, with high cheek-bones and a 直す／買収する，八百長をするd, insolent smile, which 表明するd nothing at all except pretension. But it was very beautifully made-up--so much so that it almost 要求するd another woman to see that it had been touched at all. Her whole toilette, from 着せる／賦与するs to perfume, was based on an 控訴，上告 to sex, and, men 存在 such 天然のまま animals, Isbel thought that it was やめる possible she might still 選ぶ up an 時折の 犠牲者 here or there...She ちらりと見ることd 負かす／撃墜する at her own shabby tweeds, and smiled ironically.

"May I come in out of the 天候? What a delightfully 予期しない 会合!" Mrs. Richborough, without waiting for 許可, stepped under the 避難所 and shook out her muff.

裁判官, still 持つ／拘留するing the open time-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する in his 手渡す, rose with a courteous smile and 除去するd his hat; he continued standing.

"It is indeed a pleasant surprise! But aren't you terribly wet?"

"A little...Am I intruding?" Her 発言する／表明する was 静かな, 甘い almost to lusciousness, and very leisurely. Each word was produced with a distinctness nearly theatrical, but at the 結論 of all her periods she had the strange trick of dropping to a whisper.

"Not in the least," replied 裁判官. "We're cast up here by the rain, and very thankful to see a new 直面する. This is a friend of 地雷...行方不明になる Loment--Mrs. Richborough...I'm just in the 行為／法令／行動する of looking up a train for 行方不明になる Loment, if you'll 容赦 me a minute."

Mrs. Richborough sank lightly 負かす／撃墜する next to Isbel.

"You aren't a 価値（がある）ing 居住（者）, then?"

"Oh, no. Do I look like one?"

"I hardly know how one distinguishes them by 外見. Then you come from...?"

"From Brighton. Why?"

The 未亡人 laughed. "I really can't say why I'm asking. Why does one ask these things? So Mr. 裁判官 is in Fortune's good graces this morning. Was yours 偶発の, too?"

"My what?...I 恐れる the rain won't have done your beautiful furs much good."

"Isn't it perfectly 苦しめるing? And I so hoped it was to be 罰金. You have been sensible, at any 率."

"You mean my get-up? Oh, I put these on 特に to come over here."

Mrs. Richborough ちらりと見ることd at the little 小包 on Isbel's （競技場の）トラック一周. "Surely you didn't bring lunch with you?"

"Oh, no; I'm only here on 商売／仕事."

裁判官 at last 後継するd in finding a train. It would 伝える her to Brighton in time for 昼食, but she would have to start for the 駅／配置する at once, and lose no time on the way.

Mrs. Richborough held out her 手渡す. "I hope we shall 再開する the 知識 under more propitious circumstances."

Isbel returned the slightest and coldest of 屈服するs, deliberately overlooking the 手渡す.

"No, don't trouble to come with me, Mr. 裁判官," she said, touching his fingers, with a smile. "People who run for trains aren't very good company, and I know the way やめる 井戸／弁護士席."

And she すぐに 始める，決める off through the rain in the direction of the 鉄道 駅／配置する.

一時期／支部 XII MRS. RICHBOROUGH'S ERRAND

Wednesday afternoon turned out 冷淡な and 罰金, with a watery sun. Isbel arrived at the rendezvous at a few minutes before the 任命するd time, but 裁判官 was not yet there.

She was fashionably but inconspicuously dressed in a dark serge 衣装, with skunk furs; at the 支援する of her mind was the 願望（する） to 訂正する any possible wrong impression 原因（となる）d by her unfortunately-chosen attire of yesterday. After pacing up and 負かす／撃墜する the parade in 前線 of the Baths for a good while, however, with carefully assumed nonchalance, she began to 恐れる that her forethought would be wasted; no one even distantly 似ているing 裁判官 was in sight.

Her feelings passed from 失望 to impatience, and thence to 怒り／怒る, by the gradations which familiar to everyone who has ever been kept waiting. At a ４半期/4分の1 past three she decided that it was inconsistent with her dignity as a woman to stay for his good 楽しみ any longer...yet five minutes later she had still not dragged herself away from the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す...

She was really going, when she caught sight of a familiar person approaching her--a surprising 見通し, which 原因（となる）d her to catch her breath and turn rather pale. It was Mrs. Richborough. She was mincing along the parade, without any 広大な／多数の／重要な 外見 of haste, from the direction of Brighton. Her furs were still very much in 証拠, but they were different from those she had worn yesterday, 存在 even heavier and more expensive-looking; she had on a smart 黒人／ボイコット velvet togue, ornamented with a 選び出す／独身 楽園 feather, and was wearing やめる new white gloves. Isbel 恐れるd that her presence there was 直接／まっすぐに connected with 裁判官's absence; she felt wretchedly sure that something must have happened to him. Without standing on pretence she hurried to 会合，会う the 未亡人.

They met, and lightly touched 手渡すs--Mrs. Richborough with a 訂正する smile, but Isbel too worried to think of observances.

"I suppose you come from Mr. 裁判官?" she 需要・要求するd, at once.

"I do, and I'm frightfully sorry I couldn't get here before, for I know what girls are when they're disappointed...but really--I'm so out of breath with running here...you will excuse me, won't you? The trains, as usual, are running just at the wrong time...You see how 苦しめるd I am with hurrying."

"Never mind. Why couldn't he come himself?"

"He's unwell...No--not 不正に. A 冷気／寒がらせる on the 肝臓, or something of the 肉親，親類d. Of course, we know he's not as young as he was. He 手配中の，お尋ね者 to come, but I wouldn't hear of it. rather than that he should 危険 more serious 複雑化s, I 申し込む／申し出d to 行為／法令／行動する as messenger myself...Shall we sit 負かす／撃墜する?"

"You're sure it's nothing serious?"

"Oh, my dear!...It's only a 冷淡な. He'll be all 権利 to-morrow again."

They sat 負かす／撃墜する 味方する by 味方する on one of the public seats. Mrs. Richborough made a feint of 回復するing her breath, which Isbel did not condescend to notice.

"Have you brought a 公式文書，認める from him, or is it a 言葉の message?"

"It's a letter, my dear. I'm going to find it in a minute." She opened her 手渡す-捕らえる、獲得する, and peered into it with 刺激するing leisureliness..."Do you know, I feel やめる an intrigante. Of course, it isn't a romance, but I've been amusing myself all the way here by imagining it really to be one. I've a fearfully romantic disposition."

"Oh, it's only about his house, which my aunt 提案するs to buy."

"How disillusioning!...So you 行為／法令／行動する as her 商売／仕事 経営者／支配人?"

"I help her いつかs. Is that the 公式文書，認める?"

"It's a little crumpled, but さもなければ やめる 損なわれていない."

Isbel turned the large, square envelope over in her 手渡す; it was unaddressed, but 調印（する）d with yellow wax. 接触する with Mrs. Richborough's scent-sachet in her 捕らえる、獲得する had 投資するd it with a 激しい feminine odour. She 診察するd the 調印（する）ing-wax more closely than was altogether courteous.

"Does he want me to read it now, and return an answer?"

"He is rather 推定する／予想するing one, I fancy. Don't 熟考する／考慮する me, my dear--I shan't look."

Isbel still fingered the envelope. "You're not in his 信用／信任, 自然に?"

"That's やめる a horrid question!" The 未亡人's 発言する／表明する remained soft, but her 注目する，もくろむ was hard and insolent. "I'm afraid we 港／避難所't arrived at that 行う／開催する／段階 of intimacy yet."

"I didn't know."

She hesitated no longer, but at once broke open the envelope. Her companion 慎重に bent 負かす／撃墜する to 解除する and minutely 検査／視察する the hem of her skirt; she 許すd it to 落ちる again gracefully, and then produced from her bad a little silver mirror, in which she 批判的に scrutinised her 反映するd features.

In 新規加入 to a letter, there was something wrapped in white paper, and this Isbel opened first. It 証明するd to be a hairpin. She gazed at in blank astonishment, and then hurriedly thrust it 支援する inside the envelope, before Mrs. Richborough should see. The letter itself was in 裁判官's 会社／堅い, 正確な 手渡す-令状ing, and ran as follows:

"My dear 行方不明になる Loment.

"I am not やめる the thing to-day, so please 許す my 非，不，無-出席. Mrs. R. has very kindly 申し込む／申し出d to run over to see you and bring you this letter with enclosure. The latter was 選ぶd up--you know where. The pencil-公式文書，認める I brought 支援する with me from the same place 関係のある, I am 気が進まない to 知らせる you, only to my own personal feelings, and I have taken the liberty to destroy it; but I am afraid that your hypothesis is, after all, 訂正する. If you are able to identify the article enclosed, we must regard the evident as conclusive.

"I now 提案する that we shall go over there to-morrow (Thursday) together. Mrs. R. has kindly volunteered to …を伴って us, and, if you think 井戸／弁護士席 of the proposition, perhaps you will 直す／買収する，八百長をする up things with her. She knows nothing of the 事件／事情／状勢 in question. Very probably I have no 権利 to ask you to come, and I do not do so on my own account--which I believe you understand. But I know what 苦悩 the whole 商売／仕事 is 原因（となる）ing you, and must 原因（となる） you so I thought it only fair that the 適切な時期 should be placed within your reach, should you 願望（する） to avail yourself of it. if you are unable to arrange for to-morrow, perhaps you could give Mrs. R. another date?

"It is unnecessary to impress on you the desirability of destroying this letter at the earliest moment.

"Very 心から yours.

"H.J."

Isbel read through the missive twice, then returned it thoughtfully to the envelope and placed the latter in her handbag.

"Thanks, Mrs. Richborough!"

The 未亡人, who was in the 行為／法令／行動する of adjusting her 隠す, turned about with a quick, impulsive smile.

"Everything 満足な, my dear?"

"As regards the main 商売／仕事--yes. But he says something about our all going over to Runhill 法廷，裁判所 to-morrow..."

"Do let's! I'm 前向きに／確かに dying to see that place."

"Why?"

"I dote on these 古代の family houses. I don't know why. I'm more than a little mediumistic--that may be one 推論する／理由."

"If you're so keen, you needn't wait for me, I suppose?"

Mrs. Richbourough's smile faded. "I suppose not, if I could find another woman. Unluckily, I know nobody in this part of the world. My own 始める，決める happens to be up North."

"Is there no one at the hotel?"

"I'm just a little 排除的, I 恐れる...Why shouldn't you come, my dear? What are you afraid of?"

"You don't know, of course--I've already seen that place three times. There are 限界s to one's enthusiasm...I don't think I'll come, thanks!"

"This is truly 予期しない. Most girls would be charmed at the prospect of another 楽しみ party."

"The only 楽しみ I can see in it is the 楽しみ of your society, Mrs. Richborough. Of course, that is a 広大な／多数の／重要な 誘導."

"No, don't be horride, my dear. Let me put it in a different form. Perhaps you're not keen on coming; but do it to please Mr. 裁判官. The poor man's so proud of his house, and so delighted--so almost childishly delighted at the 適切な時期 of 展示（する）ing it to his friends. For some unknown 推論する／理由, he chooses to 始める，決める a very high value on my artistic opinion, and I have 約束d to tell him honestly 正確に／まさに what I think of Runhill 法廷，裁判所...And now, because you're afraid of 存在 a little bored, you're going to dash all our 計画（する）s to the ground."

Isbel laughed. "The long and short of it is I'm not 手配中の，お尋ね者 for my own sake, but only to 行為／法令／行動する as chaperon to you."

The 未亡人, too laughed - so energetically that her long, white 直面する became やめる strange to look at.

"It sounds rather weird for an unmarried girl to chaperon an experienced 未亡人, but you know, my dear, two women can always go where one can't. After all, I have my 評判 to lose, just as much as the youngest and most innocent of you...You will come now, won't you?"

"I'm still rather at sea, Mrs. Richborough. Is all this solicitude on your account, or Mr. 裁判官's?"

"On his--because I'm so sorry for him. The poor man is so lonely. He's lost his wife, he has no friends to speak of, and he lives all by himself in a seaside hotel, where he's surrounded by a 始める，決める of 完全に new 直面するs every day. We women せねばならない do what we can for him. I know he can't be 正確に a congenial companion for a girl your age, but if you'll only 行為／法令／行動する the good Samaritan and come with us I give you my solemn word of honour I'll take as much of his conversation off your 手渡すs as I can manage."

"Oh, I don't 疑問 that in the very least."

"Then you 同意?"

"No, I 辞退する," said Isbel, drily.

"It's too bad of you!...Won't you give a 推論する／理由? I must tell him something."

"Tell him I don't care to. He'll understand. Tell him I don't care to go running about the country with total strangers. I don't like it, and my friends wouldn't like it...Thanks for coming over, Mrs. Richborough! There's nothing else you want to say, is there?" She 用意が出来ている to get up.

"One little minute more, my dear...If you don't care about …を伴ってing us, would your aunt, I wonder? You say she is 交渉するing for the house. Mr. 裁判官, of course, would bring his car for her."

"I'm afraid if he brought wild horses it wouldn't have the 願望（する）d 影響. She's a very difficult person to move."

"There's nothing like trying. If I were to walk 支援する with you to your hotel, should I find her in?"

"She would be in, but whether she would be 明白な is やめる another 事柄. I may 同様に tell you that her 利益／興味 in Runhill 法廷，裁判所 is 極端に thin at the moment, and as for Mr. 裁判官--単に to について言及する his 指名する is like 持つ／拘留するing out a red cloak to a bull...She fancies he hasn't 扱う／治療するd her with an 過度の 量 of consideration--and that's really why the 交渉s are 落ちるing on me."

"There would be no 害（を与える） in my trying, though. I think I will look in on my way to the 駅／配置する. It's the Hotel Gondy, isn't it? I fancy I once stayed there."

"You seem やめる 井戸／弁護士席 地位，任命するd," said Isbel, smiling with vexation. "Go, by all means, if you think it's at all likely to answer the 目的. Only, please don't bring my 指名する into it--I 特に request that."

The 未亡人 発射 her a malicious little ちらりと見ること.

"If it can かもしれない be 避けるd, my dear, it shall me. In any 事例／患者, she shall hear nothing of the letter--I 約束 you that."

"I begin to see!"

"I can hardly do more, can I? If we aren't to be friends, you really can't 推定する／予想する me to fib for you. Be reasonable!"

"No, u really suppose I can't...The only thing that still puzzles me is why my humble society should be so much in request. Such red-hot zeal in the 原因（となる） of sight-seeing strikes one as やめる uncanny! Surely you can't have told me the whole story?"

"I believe we shall come to 条件 now. Do you know, my dear, you're ever so much cleverer than I gave you credit for at first." She bestowed on Isbel one of those 武装解除するing smiles which she ordinarily reserved for her male 知識s. "As you're so direct with me, Im going to be 平等に open with you. Runhill 法廷，裁判所 is 悪名高くも haunted, and...I'm a spiritist...That explains everything at last, doesn't it?"

Isbel 星／主役にするd at her. "But is it 悪名高くも haunted?"

"Perhaps 'haunted' is a rather 誤って導くing 称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語. Shall we say queer? There's a 回廊（地帯） there which is やめる celebrated throughout the length and breadth of the kingdom--in psychic circles, it goes without 説. You must know it, since you've been there so many times?"

"Oh, yes--but if that's all, it's not much."

"Not to you, my dear, for you take no 利益／興味 in such 事柄s, but to anyone who is 利益／興味d in another world the smallest 手がかり（を与える） is 深く，強烈に engrossing. かもしれない you have never lost anyone who is very, very dear to you? I have."

"And that's the true 推論する／理由 why I'm to be 軍隊d to do something I don't want? Excuse my scepticism, Mrs. Richborough, but you've been 動揺させるing out different explanations at the 率 of sixty miles an hour for the last ten minutes. I'm not sure whether there are more to come."

The 未亡人 threw her a 敵意を持った ちらりと見ること. "Such as what?"

"That's what I don't know, and what I am wondering."

"You seem to 示唆する a personal 動機?"

"I 示唆する nothing at all, but it's very funny...How long have you really know Mr. 裁判官?"

"正確に／まさに a fortnight to-morrow, my dear. You see, there's no question of intimacy between us."

"What is the extent of his fortune, really? I've never heard."

Mrs. Richborough showed her long, but beautifully white teeth, in a smile. "Has he one? He has that house, of course...I 自白する I've never heard whether he's rich or poor, and, to tell the truth, it doesn't worry me in the slightest. I'm afraid I'm a dreadfully unmercenary creature; I choose my friends for their distinction of character, and not at all for their money-捕らえる、獲得するs. I've never had anything to do with money, and I hate the very について言及する of it."

"Then how do you contrive to live?" asked Isbel bluntly.

"Oh, one has an income, of course...still, one leaves all that to one's 銀行業者. The 広大な／多数の／重要な art of living happily, my dear, is to 削減（する） your coat によれば your stuff...Now, it's getting late--what about to-morrow?"

"I suppose I shall have to say 'Yes,' since you're so very persuasive."

"I felt sure you would relent 結局."

"On 条件 that the whole thing is kept 静かな."

Mrs. Richborough 安心させるd her with effusiveness.

"It had better be in the morning," said Isbel, cutting her short somewhat contemptuously.

"I was going to 示唆する it. I'm so glad you can fit in--I know how horribly tied you girls are. They call it a 解放する／自由な country, yet a girl is a perfect slave to her little circle...Now, will you come over to 価値（がある）ing by the same train as before? Come straight along to the Metropole, and ask for me. The car will be waiting, and we can start at once--just the three of us."

"How do you know that Mr. 裁判官 will be 十分に 回復するd to come?"

"Oh, he will be. There's nothing 本気で wrong with him, my dear. I shall pack him off to bed 早期に, and see that he gets a real good night's 残り／休憩（する）."

Isbel stood up. "He's evidently in good 手渡すs."

"Any woman would do that much for him. It would be abominable to leave him to the mercies of the hotel staff." Mrs. Richborough also 上がるd to ther perpendicular position--a floating 集まり of soft furs..."You don't wish me to 伝える a personal message?"

"Oh, say I'm sorry he's unwell, and that the other 事柄 is all 権利."

She 延長するd her 手渡す, which the 未亡人 急いでd to しっかり掴む 温かく. The latter even raised her 隠す and 押し進めるd her 直面する 今後, but this was too much for Isbel, who deliberately ignored the 招待. Mrs. Richborough, recognising her faux pas, made all 速度(を上げる） to cover it up:

"I hear you're to be married, my dear?"

"Oh, yes...Who told you?"

"Mr. 裁判官 hinted at it...I'm so glad!"

"Thanks! But I wish he'd leave my 私的な 事件／事情／状勢s alone."

"He's so 孤立するd, and had so little to talk about."

"He has no 権利 to discuss me. I don't like it."

"My dear, it was only the 影をつくる／尾行する of a hint--perhaps not even that. Perhaps he said nothing at all, and it was 単に my intuition...井戸／弁護士席, then, good-bye till to-morrow. By the way, if you would care to dash off a few lines to him, I have paper and a fountain pen."

Isbel 拒絶する／低下するd, thinking the 申し込む／申し出 rather strange. They separated, to go their 各々の ways.

Five minutes later, as she passed along the now nearly 砂漠d parade に向かって the hotel, she whipped a hairpin out of her hair, and, 停止（させる）ing for a moment, compared it carefully with that which 裁判官 had sent her. They were 同一の in size and 形態／調整...She returned them both to her hair.

一時期／支部 XIII THE LUNCH AT THE METROPOLE

It had been raining ひどく, but the sky was 速く （疑いを）晴らすing and there were 広大な／多数の／重要な tracts of blue everywhere as Isbel 機動力のある the steps of the Metropole Hotel at 価値（がある）ing すぐに after noon on the に引き続いて day. She had been unable to escape from her aunt in time to catch the earlier train, but to 補償する for this she was 解放する／自由な to spend the whole day as she pleased. By a lucky chance, Mrs. Moor was compelled to go up to town on 商売／仕事.

裁判官 was waiting in the porch. He しっかり掴むd her 手渡す 温かく, 妨げるing her 陳謝s.

"It was very good of you to come at all, 行方不明になる Loment. As far as we are 関心d, the time is of no importance. Mrs. Richborough will be here すぐに."

Even as he spoke, the 未亡人 appeared. Her tall and lovely form was attired as usual in the rich, soft furs and velvets which she so much 影響する／感情d. She moved charmingly, and her grace-fully swaying waist was that of a やめる young woman, but Isbel no sooner saw the angular, witchlike 直面する than her old feelings of repugnance and 不信 returned.

As it was so late, an 早期に lunch at the hotel was agreed upon, before starting. They passed into the restaurant. Here Isbel received an unpleasant shock. She recognised and was recognised by a girl 知識 belonging to her particular 始める，決める--Louie Lassells, who probably was more intimate with Blanche, Marshall, and the 残り／休憩（する） than with her own relations.

Louie was lunching with a couple of youngsters of the subaltern type; she seemed in the highest spirits, and シャンペン酒 was already on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. She 誓約（する）d Isbel in a glass from the other 味方する of the room. Presently she （機の）カム over to her, her dark, bold, handsome, gypsy-like 直面する looked very 紅潮／摘発するd and defiantly gay.

"So this is where you get to!" she began, throwing a 選び出す／独身 批判的な ちらりと見ること に向かって Mrs. Richborough and 裁判官.

"I'm not the only one, it appears," 報復するd Isbel. She laid 負かす／撃墜する her knife and fork, and looked up calmly. "You're having a high old time, 明白に."

"Rather! We're making a day of it. Sorry I can't introduce you, but we're all here incog. I'm supposed to be in Regent Street at this blessed minute."

"Bravo! I'm supposed to be in Brighton. We'd better draw up a 行為."

Louie laughed immoderately. "What shall we drink it in?" Her 注目する，もくろむ roved 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. "What are you drinking? Only Burgundy?...I say..."--she bent to whisper--"you're not having much of a time, are you? Where did you dig them up?"

Mrs. Richborough unluckily overheard.

"Surely I know your 直面する?" she 発言／述べるd graciously to Louie, who still held on to the 辛勝する／優位 of the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. "Your 指名する is just hovering on the tip of my tongue."

The girl smiled ばく然と, without even looking at her. "One sees so many people. It's going to turn out a やめる charming day, I think...井戸／弁護士席, ta-ta, Isbel! No manner of use asking you to join us, of course?"

"You see, I can't."

Louie trod lightly 支援する to her impatient squires, while Isbel watched with some amusement Mrs. Richborough's 成果／努力s to 回復する her composure.

"She seems a pleasant girl," 発言／述べるd 裁判官.

"Is she a very の近くに friend of yours?" 問い合わせd the 未亡人 of Isbel, returning, however, to her plate.

"We know each other 公正に／かなり 井戸／弁護士席."

"What an unfortunate coincidence that she should be lunching here to-day, of all days."

"Why?" asked 裁判官.

"行方不明になる Loment rather wished to keep her visit 私的な, I fancy. I'm afraid she is inclined to regard it in the light of an escapade."

"Is that really so, 行方不明になる Loment?"

"自然に I have 外見s to consider. However, it's no good crying over spilt milk if anyone 分裂（する）s, it won't be Louie."

"やめる sure?" asked Mrs. Richborough, with a smile which was almost a sneer.

"I hope I can 信用 my own friends to behave with ありふれた decency."

裁判官 looked perplexed. "I hope you're not here against your will?"

"Why should I come, if I hadn't 手配中の，お尋ね者 to? I'm a 解放する／自由な スパイ／執行官."

"Can't you しっかり掴む, Mr. 裁判官? La tante terrible! 行方不明になる Loment is experiencing the fearful joy of 存在 out of school."

"Clever, but unsound, Mrs. Richborough. I was thinking more of public opinion."

"You think you are 事実上の／代理 unwisely?" asked 裁判官, wrinkling his forehead.

"Oh, I know if there's any 疑問 about it the 裁判／判断 won't be given in my favour. Lunching in a strange town, with やめる unknown people, strikes me as 存在 正確に／まさに calculated t lead to a lot of questions 存在 asked. And we know that if a question is uncharitable, the answer to it won't be さもなければ. Even if I were to 嘆願d altruistic 動機s, I'm afraid it wouldn't be of any avail."

"Does that 暗示する you're here out of 親切?"

"Perhaps it comes to that in the end. The 楽しみ of a chaperon is always rather impersonal."

"Of a chaperon, 行方不明になる Loment?

"Didn't you know? I'm chaperoning Mrs. Richborough. She made such a strong point of it that really I hadn't the heart to 辞退する. さもなければ, I didn't mean to come."

裁判官's 表現 was one of 絶対の amazement.

"Here is some 誤解, evidently. Mrs. Richborough was 肉親，親類d enough to 申し込む／申し出 herself as chaperon to you, on learning that you were so anxious to see the house once more..."

The 未亡人 現実に coloured, beneath her paint and 砕く. "Really, I'll never equivocate again as long as I live! 行方不明になる Loment seemed so unwilling to join us that there was 前向きに／確かに nothing left to do except 控訴，上告 to her sympathy...I feel an 絶対の 犯罪の."

"Oh, it's funny, Mrs. Richborough!" said Isbel. "Don't start apologising or you'll spoil the joke."

"But surely, 行方不明になる Loment," said 裁判官, "you didn't for one minute imagine that I 願望（する）d to fetch you all the way from Brighton 単に to 行為／法令／行動する as a companion to another lady? I must have made that （疑いを）晴らす in my letter."

"Oh, it's a mix-up, and that's all about it. Mrs. Richborough was 強いるing me, and I was under the impression that I was 強いるing her. When women start conferring favours on one another there's no end to the 複雑化s. To show our 徹底的な disinterestedness, we stick at nothing."

"It must certainly have been a most 混乱させるing 状況／情勢 for both of you," 発言／述べるd 裁判官, smiling at last "However, the main point is we've got you here, by fair means or foul; and I don't think you need be in the least afraid of tittle-tattle, as we are both 高度に respectable people. If might 示唆する a 妥協, you had better 終結させる your 論争 of generosity by agreeing to chaperon each other, since in the 注目する，もくろむs of the world I am such a dangerous person.?

"Then what are we waiting for?" 需要・要求するd Isbel cheerfully. "Lunch seems to be at an end."

They stayed for coffee, however, and then, while 裁判官 went outside to 準備する the car, Mrs. Richborough led the somewhat unwilling girl upstairs to her room, where for five unpleasant minutes she was 軍隊d to 吸い込む an atmosphere almost nauseous with feminine perfume, while 証言，証人／目撃するing the 年上の woman's final 使用／適用s of paint, 砕く, and salve. 辞退するing the use of these 構成要素s for herself, at the end ot that time she broke away, and went downstairs alone.

She 設立する 裁判官 promenading before the hotel. A rather embarrassed discussion of the 天候 began.

"Thanks for the letter!" said Isbel, 静かに and suddenly.

"It was my hairpin."

"I decided as much; there's no one else it could have belonged to."

"Won't you tell me what was in that 公式文書，認める you destroyed?"

"I can't--I can't. Say no more about it."

"Whose idea really was it, that I should come over to-day--yours or hers?"

"地雷, 行方不明になる Loment. She has nothing at all to do with the 商売／仕事. I am 簡単に bringing her because you can't go with me alone."

"I'd rather it were anyone else. Who is she? Do you know anything about her?"

"Nothing, I 恐れる, except that she's やめる reputable...Don't you like her, then?"

"Not 特に--but we won't 支払う／賃金 her the honour of talking about her...What are we to do to-day?

"I thought we could make a desperate 成果／努力 to get this mystery （疑いを）晴らすd up, once for all...I 恐れる we must both recognise that things can't go on in the way they're doing. It's 不公平な to both of us."

Isbel gave him a half-脅すd ちらりと見ること. "What's to 妨げる us from finishing now? Why need we take a still deeper 急落（する），激減（する）--for that's what it 量s to...or does it? What do you think--shall we really ever get any satisfaction? I'm fearfully uncertain..."

"You place a 広大な／多数の／重要な 責任／義務 on my shoulders, 行方不明になる Loment...To be やめる truthful, I feel I have no 権利 to ask you to proceed その上の. I would not have written you as I did, except that I somehow had it 堅固に wedged in my 長，率いる that the 不確定 was 原因（となる）ing you 広大な／多数の／重要な uneasiness..."

"It's half-殺人，大当り me...We'll go...But what are we to do with that woman when we get there?"

"It hasn't occurred to me. It may be ぎこちない, I can see."

"If we don't hurry up and 計画（する） something, we shall have her 追跡するing after us all the time."

"Something may turn up, to give us our chance."

"That's most ありそうもない--nothing ever turns up when you want it to. We'd better contrive something after this style: while we are all three going over the house together, I'll accidentally become separated from you, and you must leave her while you 追跡（する） for me. We both know our 各々の 駅／配置するs."

"But if she 主張するs on …を伴ってing me...?"

"OH, she won't keep it up; she'll soon tire of tramping up and 負かす／撃墜する stairs, and along interminable 回廊（地帯）s, in her high-heeled boots--searching for a girl she's utterly callous about. Besides, she has a weak heart..."

"Did she say so?"

"No, but she has all the symptoms...Of course, you'll make a point of looking upstairs first."

裁判官 明白に was 気が進まない to assent to her 計画（する）. "I suppose we can think of nothing better. Apart altogether from putting a 審議する／熟考する deceit on a defenceless and unsuspecting woman, we have to consider the circumstance that she will be alone in a large and 暗い／優うつな house very likely 上向きs of half an hour; and you say her heart is not in good 形態／調整."

"I 推定する／予想する she'll 生き残る the ordeal, and if it's any なぐさみ to you, I fancy her own programme won't 耐える a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of looking at."

"What programme is that?"

"Oh, I don't pretend to know the 詳細（に述べる）s, Mr. 裁判官; only I'm pretty sure she's ハッチング something. さもなければ, why should she go to the trouble of ゆすり，恐喝ing me into …を伴ってing you to-day? I don't suppose you're aware of the fact that she 率直に 脅すd me with 知らせるing my aunt that I had met you 個人として at 価値（がある）ing?"

"You didn't tell me that!...Upon my soul!...単独で for the 目的 of getting you to come?

"Yes. I 辞退するd at first. I wasn't very keen on her society, to tell you the truth."

"But what can her 動機 be for such 行為／行う?"

"I have my ideas on the 支配する."

"I really must ask you..."

"I may be mistaken, but my belief is she wants to 妥協 me."

"But why?"

Isbel smiled cynically. "As a necessary 予選 to breaking off my intimacy with you, I imagine."

"You are telling me most astonishing things, 行方不明になる Loment. What 利益／興味 is it of hers to break off this intimacy?"

"Oh, that's the simplest question of all to answer. To keep the matrimonial field （疑いを）晴らす for herself, of course...Didn't you know she had 示すd you 負かす／撃墜する?"

"I cannot believe it," said 裁判官, 停止（させる）ing to 星／主役にする at her, in his bewilderment.

"If you don't know it, I 推定する／予想する everyone else does at your hotel." The words dropped from her lips with such 乾燥した，日照りの 保証／確信 that he felt she must be 所有するd of special knowledge.

He was silent for a moment.

"This is a 発覚 indeed, 行方不明になる Loment!...I don't know what to say to it all. Now you speak of it, I 自白する I have had my 疑惑s once or twice lately, but I have always 解任するd them as discreditable...But really, such a diabolical 陰謀（を企てる） against the honour of a young girl is wholly unbelievable. It savours more of melodrama."

"Oh, I won't 断言する to hat part of it, but there's something funny up, and I advise you to keep your 注目する，もくろむs opened to the fullest possible extent. I mean to."

"I hardly feel like 会合 her after this."

"You must, though--and you must go on behaving to her as nicely as ever. Remember, it's our only chance of going to the house together."

Mrs. Richborough herself at that moment appeared, descending from the hotel.

"I didn't tell you," said Isbel, "but we're returning to town next week."

"What! You're leaving Brighton? But this is very 予期しない. Has your aunt changed her 計画（する）s, or what?"

"I only knew last night. She thinks I am looking unwell."

"Bur you are not feeling unwell?"

"It's useless to 否定する that my 神経s are a bit jangled," replied Isbel carelessly.

"Then she is giving up all idea of my house?"

"I can't say, Mr. 裁判官. I shall have a word in the 事柄. We shall see. Don't say any more--here she comes."

The 未亡人 （機の）カム up to them with a 用意が出来ている smile. "I'm so frightfully sorry to have kept you both waiting. No 疑問 you've been 説 hard things about me?"

"People evidently have spoilt you, Mrs. Richborough," returned Isbel. "When I turn my 支援する on company I invariably 推定する／予想する to be 敏速に forgotten."

"What ideal modesty! People always talk. The only problem is: have they been pitying us, or 絶滅するing us? I'm not sure I wouldn't rather it were the second."

"井戸／弁護士席, you're still alive," was the 乾燥した，日照りの reply.

裁判官 opened the door of the car 厳粛に, without committing himself to a word, and the ladies got in. While he was settling himself 予選 to starting, the 未亡人 turned to Isbel.

"I understood you might have something to say to each other, my dear; that's why I 延期するd."

"That was very 肉親，親類d of you."

"I do hope we're to be friends. I like you tremendously already."

"What for? I really can't see what I've done to make myself so beloved."

"Oh, it isn't what one does, but what one is. I think you have a perfectly wonderful character, for a girl."

Isbel did not even smile. "My dear Mrs. Richborough, If you were a man I should think you were trying to make love. As it is, I don't understand you in the least."

"Surely it is permissible for women to admire one another's natures? You are so 同情的な, and so tactful, my dear. I'm sure when we know each other better we shall get on splendidly together."

"What good 質s do you bring into the pool, Mrs. Richborough?"

"式のs, my dear! I have only one; and that is a heart."

"So you are to do the feeling, while I am to do the sympathising; is that the 協定?"

The 未亡人 gave a distant, rather melancholy smile.

"No one can 否定する that you are a very clever girl, and perhaps that is one more 推論する／理由 why I like you."

The 対話 was 終結させるd by the abrupt starting of the car. Isbel ちらりと見ることd at her watch. It was half-past one.

一時期／支部 XIV IN THE SECOND CHAMBER AGAIN

At ten minutes to three, while they were all together in the library on the first 床に打ち倒す, Mrs. Richborough and 裁判官 were 検査／視察するing one of the corner 棚上げにするs, with their 支援するs turned upon her--その為に effectually 除外するing her from the conversation--Isbel 掴むd the 適切な時期 to slip 静かに from the room. Descending on tip-toe the servants' staircase opposite, she 設立する herself in the kitchens, through which she was 強いるd to pass ーするために 回復する the hall. As she went by the foot of the main staircase, she heard her 指名する 存在 called..."行方不明になる Loment! 行方不明になる Loment!"...It was 裁判官's 発言する／表明する. She had been 行方不明になるd already, and the mock search had 開始するd.

A short half-hour ago, when she had entered the hall from out of doors in company with the others, those strange stairs had not been there. Whether it was that her agitation 禁じるd the use of her 推論する／理由ing faculties, or whether that her mind had become surfeited with marvels, it hardly occurred to her to 疑問 that she should see them now. Hurried to 活動／戦闘 by the distant あられ／賞賛するing, she at once 解除するd her 注目する，もくろむs, anxiously and fearfully, to the 塀で囲む beyond the fireplace, while still 急いでing across the 床に打ち倒す...There they were!...

She arrived at the foot of the staircase as in a dream, and stood a moment with one shoe 均衡を保った on the 底（に届く） step, her gaze vainly directed に向かって the invisible 最高の，を越す. Then, without changing a muscle of her 直面する, she began to 開始する.

Half-way up, when the hall was already our of sight, her memory （機の）カム 支援する and she started piecing together the 出来事/事件s of her last visit to that 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 地域 of the house. To 許す herself time to 完全に 再建する everything, she seated herself sideways on one of the steps, 星／主役にするing fixedly downstairs, with 新たな展開d neck and 注目する，もくろむs which saw nothing...

The more she recollected of that 会合 with 裁判官, the greater became her disquietude; she kept starting nervously to rise, while the 血 ebbed and flowed in her cheeks. If in that interview they had 後継するd in keeping within the bounds of friendship, it was 明白に it had only been by the 演習 of 広大な／多数の／重要な self-支配（する）／統制する; and, in 見解（をとる） of his later 自白, who could say what would now happen? The warm sympathy of their 交流s, their almost unseemly 苦悩 to lay aside all deception with each other, their 相互の 是認 of one another's 行為／行う--upon which the world would pass an altogether different 裁判／判断--and, lastly, her gift to him of that scarf, warm from her own neck: all this, as it grew slowly together in her mind, appeared to her as something which was irreconcilable with her true character, as something shameless and dreadful; it was like awaking by degrees to the awful 一時的な insanity...Only it was not insanity; it was not even an 偶発の 表現 of excited feelings, induced by the strange circumstances in which they had 設立する themselves. It was worse than that. It sprang from the 本物の and unfeigned emotion of both their hearts...

By what miraculous chance had they met there, at the same hour, on the same day, in the same unreal room of a house which, いっそう少なく than a month ago, she had not known the 存在? 裁判官 had not 始める，決める foot in that weird room for eight years, while she had never been inside it before in her life--and now, suddenly, they 会合，会う there, and within a few minutes she has given him a 有形の 誓約（する） of her favour...

It was more than chance; it was 運命／宿命. Something--some strange 影響（力） in the house, was throwing them together...how far and for what 目的 she dared not ask herself. It was of no use to disguise things. Every step they took--inside the house, or out of it--had the direct 影響 of entangling them more and more, and there could be but one end to it all; an end which bore a 二塁打 直面する. The obverse 直面する was noble, uplifting union with a man of unique character; the 逆転する 直面する was social 大災害...

She was a betrothed girl, and honour 命令（する）d she go 支援する at once. It was untrue...she did not love 裁判官, she did love Marshall. On the last occasion she had met 裁判官 by chance, therefore she was not at fault, but if now she 固執するd in repeating the adventure she would be committing a sin of 良心. And how would it be possible for her ever to 停止する her 長，率いる again の中で her friends, if she elected to 行為／法令／行動する with such disgusting faithlessness に向かって a true-hearted man of her own age, ーするために 受託する the sudden protestations of emotional affinity of an 年輩の widower?...She buried her 直面する in her 手渡すs...

But it was out of the question to turn tail now, without first （疑いを）晴らすing things up. If she did, it would 簡単に mean the whole 拷問ing 商売／仕事 over again--the same 失敗 of memory, the same 苦悩 to find out what had happened, the same dallyings with 裁判官, the same surreptitious visits and 反対する-visits, the same humiliating 計画／陰謀ing and deception, the same lowering of her entire moral and physical トン, and in the end...（危険などに）さらす! If she were so miserably weak and 臆病な／卑劣な, so 自信のない of her own moral fibre, that she dared not 会合，会う a strange man in a 私的な place for ten minutes, ーするために finish with him once for all, then 事件／事情／状勢s had arrived at a very serious 行き詰まり, and she was deliberately turning her 支援する on the only 明らかな means of escape from an impossible 状況／情勢.

However much she dreaded it, there was really no 代案／選択肢 to her seeing 裁判官 upstairs just this once more...not as stolen joy, but ーするために put a 限定された end to their disagreeable intimacy. 正確に／まさに how this was to be 影響d she did not know, but, since he was a gentleman, he would of course make it his 商売／仕事 to 工夫する some 計画（する）...After all, this dreadful manor house was his, he was 責任がある what went on inside it; if there were mysteries there 要求するing a 解答, he had no earthly 権利 to call upon her for 援助...

She got up and mechanically shook out her 衣料品s. Slowly climbing the remaining stairs, she again stood in the familiar 賭け金-議会, with its three doors. Without any hesitation whatever she 前進するd to the middle one, and, はっきりと turning the 扱う, let herself into the apartment, where last Monday she had met 裁判官.

Nothing was different. There were the same panelled 塀で囲むs, the same polished 床に打ち倒すing, the same 独房監禁 couch at the end of the room. She cast a troubled ちらりと見ること 一連の会議、交渉／完成する, and sat 負かす／撃墜する, with heaving bosom, to wait...

Five minutes later the door was thrown open, and 裁判官 walked in. He stopped where he was, looked anxiously at Isbel and at the same time 押し進めるd the door to, behind him, but failed to の近くに. Isbel gazed in his direction with equal earnestness, but she did not 申し込む／申し出 to rise.

"I've got away, as you can see," began 裁判官. "May I sit 負かす／撃墜する?"

"Please!" She made space for him. They both sat in stiff 態度s, at some distance from each other.

There was an ぎこちない pause, which Isbel broke by 説: "I don't wish to come here again, so we must think of some way of ending it."

"I やめる understand."

"It's making my 存在 intolerable."

"It was madness on my part to 受託する that scarf. That's the root of all the mischief. I せねばならない have known that we should remember nothing of the circumstances under which it （機の）カム into my 所有／入手."

"We were both to 非難する for that. It doesn't 事柄 now. But I shan't come here again, so I wish to ask you to take steps to 妨げる a repetition."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席. I'll 令状 a 公式文書，認める before we go 負かす／撃墜する, and put it in my vest pocket, where I shall be sure to strike it...But are we not to see that other room?"

Isbel, ちらりと見ることing at him, uttered an involuntary little exclamation.

"What's the 事柄?" asked 裁判官.

"Nothing--but how extraordinarily young you look!"

"You are strangely alter, too. Not younger, not even more beautiful, I think, but...more wonderful... It's a weird, mystical room, there's no 疑問."

"Have you still no idea where we are?"

"非，不，無."

She pointed に向かって the 塀で囲むs "Al this is workmen's work."

"We daren't think さもなければ. But the place is intensely dreamlike...and yet I can't remember having ever enjoyed a more poignant sense of actuality."

"Was it 事故, or 運命／宿命, that brought us here together last time? It has been puzzling me. It looks as if something--perhaps the house itself--were throwing us together, without our wills 存在 in any way 協議するd...Is such a thing possible, do you think?"

"We cannot think it. of what possible advantage can it be to an unseen 力／強力にする that I should be 軍隊d to play the part of a persecutor, and you that of a 犠牲者?"

"Aren't we both voctims? To me we seem like moths ぱたぱたするing 一連の会議、交渉／完成する a lamp. I 推定する／予想する a moth has no memory, either--only instinct and a capacity for 苦しむing...I see no end to it; we shall return here again and again, until our wings are burnt indeed!"

Her 発言する／表明する caught a little. 裁判官 moved closer to her, and placed a 手渡す on her sleeve, but lightly and without familiarity.

"We are not moths, but creatures endowed with 推論する／理由, and we can blow our lamp out without waiting for the 悲劇. If necessary, I will shut the place up, and go abroad for a time. It won't be long before you have forgotten all about the 事件／事情／状勢."

Isbel gave him a singular, half-wistful smile. "Have you 十分な strength of character to do this?"

"Yes; if I were once 保証するd that your happiness is 伴う／関わるd. To 安全な・保証する that, I would willingly 燃やす the whole house to the ground."

"I know it."

"And I know that you know it; and that is my reward."

There was a break in the conversation, but she made no movement to 解放する／撤去させる her arm. After a moment she said very 静かに:

"It's just because you ask いっそう少なく than other men that I can afford to give you more. You understand that?"

"So let it be," replied 裁判官.

"Are you content?"

"I have 自白するd my feelings, and you have not 孤立した your friendship. That 直す／買収する，八百長をするs our relations, and I have no 願望（する） to transgress the bounds laid 負かす／撃墜する."

"Because your temper is 自然に noble," said Isbel. "All the other men I have met have been plebeians, but you are made of different 構成要素, and that is why you 行為／法令／行動する so 異なって...When I go downstairs again, I shall go downstairs indeed!..."

* * *

The were so 吸収するd in their talk that neither of them 観察するd that the door had become 押し進めるd half-open, and that a 人物／姿／数字 stood on the threshold, watching them in silence.

It was Mrs. Richborough!

It did not appear how long she had been standing there, but suddenly Isbel looked up. She uttered a little 叫び声をあげる, wrenched her arm 解放する／自由な, and started to her feet. 裁判官 followed the direction of her horrified 星／主役にする, and swore under his breath; he also got up.

"I'm sorry if I've 脅すd you," said Mrs. Richborough 静かに, without smiling. "I won't stay--but where are we, and what does it all mean?"

There was a 緊張した silence.

"I'm afraid 行方不明になる Loment feels わずかに upset at finding herself here," 申し込む／申し出d 裁判官 at last, in a 公正に／かなり 会社／堅い 発言する／表明する. "I have been trying to 安心させる her. We met here by 事故."

"But what part of the house is this? I thought the East Room was at the 最高の，を越す, すぐに under the roof?"

"So I believe."

"Then where are we?"

"Higher still, it appears. You know as much as I do about it, Mrs. Richborough...You followed me after all, then?"

"Yes. Your manner struck me as peculiar, and I was 怪しげな. I kept you in sight as far as the East Room, but there you shut the door after you, and I didn't 投機・賭ける to intrude at first. Your direction was so very decided that I felt 肯定的な it was a got-up thing. I listened outside for 発言する／表明するs for some minutes, but, as everything was やめる 静かな, at last I did 召喚する courage to enter. You weren't there, but I caught sight of another flight of stairs 主要な 上向きs, so very 自然に I made use of them. And here I am."

裁判官 heard her to the end attentively, and then, turning half away, began to whistle beneath his breath, between his teeth. Isbel, looking very 苦しめるd, sat 負かす／撃墜する again.

"Has either of you ever been here before?" asked Mrs. Richborough, ちらりと見ることing first at one and then at the other.

"I have, a good many times, in former years," answered 裁判官.

"Then surely you have some idea where we are?"

"I 港／避難所't." His トン was 乾燥した，日照りの and decided.

Mrs. Richborough 開始する，打ち上げるd a queer look at him, and began to gaze around her restlessly.

"What's in that other room?"

"Which one?"

"On the 権利, as you come up the stairs. The other one can't be anything much."

"What makes you say that?" questioned Isbel, surprised out of her silence.

"Intuition...But what is in that 権利-手渡す room?"

"I've never been inside it," replied 裁判官.

"Why ever not? Most likely it's the 重要な to the whole place. Someone せねばならない go in. May I go?"

"I don't care to ask you, Mrs. Richborough. It's 全く unexplored, and you might やめる conceivably 会合，会う with an unpleasant experience."

"I don't 見解（をとる） these things from the ありふれた 見地. For me, there's nothing whatever terrifying in the supernatural...Have I your 許可 to go?"

"Of course--but perhaps we せねばならない …を伴って you?"

"Oh, no--there's not the slightest necessity. Besides, you have your talk to finish. I'm perfectly conscious of having interrupted you."

Isbel clutched the couch on either 味方する of her with her 手渡すs, and looked up. "Have you nothing to say about...your surprise...at finding us together like this?"

Mrs. Richborough gave a strange, but not unpleasant smile.

"No, I have nothing to say about that."

"But, of course, you...put the worst construction..."

"No..." She passed her 手渡す across her 注目する，もくろむs. "A change of some sort has come over me. It is this terribly unreal place, I think. Your 会合 is not what I 推定する／予想するd to find. You must be struggling against your hearts, both of you...No, I have nothing to say."

"And yet you （機の）カム to look for us?"

"Yes, I did; but it is all different. As I （機の）カム upstairs I hated you both, and 公約するd 復讐--I 自白する it. but now I can't even remember how I （機の）カム to be like that. All that 明言する／公表する of mind suddenly seems so trivial and unimportant."

She was about to move に向かって the door.

"Mrs. Richborough!..." said Isbel 突然の.

"What is it?"

"Why were you so anxious to bring me here to-day?"

"You must know that without my telling you. Here all things are so transparent to all of us."

"You meant to tell Mr. Stokes, didn't you?"

The older woman looked 負かす／撃墜する at her calmly. "Yes, I meant to 回復する you to your 義務. But now I no longer pretend to know where your 義務 lies. Let me go now, my dear. All that is 古代の history; everything has changed."

Isbel said nothing more, but 許すd her to leave the room. The door の近くにd behind her.

裁判官 再開するd his seat.

"We need not 恐れる this 開発," he said slowly. "She will remember nothing."

"So much the worse, for she will go 支援する to her 陰謀（を企てる）s and 計画／陰謀s. You 港／避難所't thought of that?"

The suggestion startled him. "You think so?"

"How can it be さもなければ? Oh, if her 現在の mood lasted, I should never, never wish to speak ill of her. But we know it will disappear with her memory. What is to be done?"

He 保存するd silence for a few moments.

"After all, there is no 原因（となる） for alarm. She will 需要・要求する her price, and we shall 支払う／賃金 it."

"No, no; she will 受託する nothing short of the whole--I know her. In that she will be disappointed, and so she will do whatever mischief she can. Oh, I'm やめる sure of it."

"What do you mean by 'the whole?"

"She ーするつもりであるs to marry you."

"And failing that?..."

"Failing that, she will dishonour me--or perhaps she means to dishonour me in any 事例／患者. You heard with your ears what she said."

"Bit if I 同意d to marry her I should, of course, make her silence a 条件." The words （機の）カム in a very low 発言する／表明する, as he bent his 長，率いる に向かって the 床に打ち倒す.

"What do you mean?" she 需要・要求するd, はっきりと. "How could you marry her? You don't love her."

"No."

"Then it would be wicked of you!...What put that awful thought in your 長，率いる? I can't understand."

"Yet it would solve other difficulties, too."

"What difficulties? What difficulties can a wrong marriage solve? It would be 犯罪の."

"Some such 決定的な step must be taken to end the 状況／情勢. Our friendship won't continue to pass unnoticed."

"You wish to 終結させる it, then?"

"For your sake; not 地雷."

"And to 達成する that result you 受託する a living death?...But perhaps you do really love her?"

"No."

Isbel laid her 手渡す on his arm. "約束 me never to think of this again. It is 絶対の madness. We will find some other way out of our troubles. 約束 me."

"You may be sure of one thing," replied 裁判官, looking at her 刻々と; "I shall not 放棄する my moral 権利 to 充てる my life to your service, except as the very last 資源. Beyond that I cannot go."

Suddenly Isbel raised her 長，率いる and seemed to listen to some sound outside the room.

"What was that?" she asked quickly.

"It sounded 極端に like a stiff window-shutter 存在 jerked open; it's probably Mrs. Richborough in the next room."

He had scarcely spoken when another noise, more 際立った and far more peculiar, struck their ears.

"It's music!" said Isbel, shaking from 長，率いる to foot, and 試みる／企てるing unsuccessfully to rise.

"Yes...A bass viol--but some way off. I can't conceive what it can be. Would you wait here while I go and 調査／捜査する?"

"No, you mustn't--I won't have it! I won't be left..."

裁判官 sat 負かす／撃墜する again, and they went on listening in silence. The low, rich, 激しい 捨てるing sound certainly did 似ている that of a 深い-トンd stringed 器具, heard from a distance, but to Isbel's imagination, it 似ているd something else 同様に. She thought she recognised it as the must of that dark upstairs 回廊（地帯）, which she had heard on her first visit to the house. But this time it was ever so much nearer, fuller, and more defined; the electric buzzing had 解決するd itself into perfectly 際立った vibrations...A tune was 存在 played, so there was no 疑問 about the nature of the noise. It was a simple, 早期に-English rustic 空気／公表する--甘い, 熱烈な and haunting. The sonorous and melancholy character of the 器具 追加するd a wild, long-drawn-out charm to it which was altogether beyond the 範囲 of the understanding and seemed to belong to other days, when feelings were more poignant and delicate, いっそう少なく showy, splendid, and odourless...After the 主題 had been repeated once, from beginning to end, the 業績／成果 中止するd, and was 後継するd by 絶対の stillness.

They looked at each other.

"How beautiful!...but how perfectly awful!" said Isbel.

"Do you wish to go downstairs at once?"

Some seconds passed before she answered.

"No, I'll stay. How could we leave it without finding out?...We'll go in there in a minute. I don't wish to while she's there. Let's finish what we were 説...You mustn't commit that 罪，犯罪."

"Your honour comes before everything."

"You don't belong to her." She drew a long breath before 訴訟／進行..."You belong to me."

"I do not belong to you."

"Yes--you know it is so."

"I beg you to 反映する upon what you're 説. You are not yourself at 現在の. Don't use language you will be sure to 悔いる afterwards."

Isbel ignored his interruption.

"I have lied too much to my own heart, and it's time I were honest. They talk of 約束 and 忠義, but how can one be loyal to others if one is not first loyal to one's own nature? There cannot be a greater sin than to pretend that our feelings are what in reality they are not."

"This is no place for such 審議s. I beg you 真面目に to say no more here and now. Reserve it until later."

"No, I must speak. If I don't speak out now, when shall I get another chance?...My 約束／交戦 has been a 恐ろしい mistake...It must have always been in the 支援する of my mind, but now I see it all 明確に for the first time..." She crouched nearly 二塁打, and covered her 直面する with her two 手渡すs.

裁判官, much agitated, got up.

"I can't listen to this. It's impossible for me to discuss such a 支配する. It 残り／休憩（する）s 完全に between you and your own heart."

"I made the terrible 失敗 of imagining that 身元 of tastes and friends means love. I took things too much for 認めるd...His nature had no depth...He has never 苦しむd. It isn't in him."

"You must think it over in quietness. Say no more now."

She sat up suddenly, and 星／主役にするd at him.

"You throw me to him, then?--you who profess to have such ideal love for me!"

裁判官 was silent.

"So you don't love me?"

"In the end you will understand that I love you 深く，強烈に and truly."

She slowly rose to her feet. "Then what do you advise me to do?"

"Do nothing at all, but wait."

"You have no questions for me?"

"What questions?"

"I love no one but you," said Isbel. She caught his 手渡す, and 鎮圧するd it hard in hers; then 突然の turned her 支援する on him...裁判官 stood like one transfixed.

At the same moment Mrs. Richborough （機の）カム into the room. Her natural pallor was 強めるd, while her 直面する was 始める，決める and drawn, as though she had received a shock.

"Oh, what's the 事柄?" exclaimed Isbel, taking a step in her direction.

The older woman swayed, as if about to 落ちる. 裁判官 急いでd 今後 to support her.

"I'm afraid I've just seen a sight which I can only regard as a 警告. As you look out of the window there is a man, with his 支援する turned. He looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する, and then I saw his 直面する. I can't 述べる it...I think I'll go downstairs, if you don't mind."

The others looked at one another.

"Shall I take you 負かす／撃墜する?" asked 裁判官.

"If you would 補助装置 me to the 長，率いる of the stairs, I shall be all 権利."

He asked no questions, but at once supported her from the room. Isbel followed. On arriving at the 最高の，を越す of the staircase, he lent the dazed woman his arm 負かす／撃墜する the first few steps, then watched her out of sight before 再結合させるing his companion.

Again they gazed at each other.

"You heard what she said," 発言／述べるd 裁判官 静かに. "Under the circumstances I don't feel 正当化するd in asking you to …を伴って me into that room."

"Are you going?"

"Yes, I'm going."

"Then I shall go, too."

一時期／支部 XV THE MUSIC OF SPRING

They walked over to the 権利-手渡す door, which 裁判官, after turning the 扱う, at once kicked wide open with his foot...A sudden and unanticipated flood of brilliant 日光, streaming through the room form an open window on the その上の 味方する, momentarily blinded them, so that they staggered 支援する with the shock.

裁判官 was the first to 回復する himself.

"It's all 権利, we can go in. The room's empty."

Isbel 急いでd to the window. It was breast-high. There was no glass in it, but it 所有するd a stout 木造の shutter, 開始 outwards, which at 現在の was swung to its 十分な extent squarely against the outside 塀で囲む. The aperture of the window was so 狭くする that there was barely space for their two 長，率いるs together, and she 設立する her smooth cheek grazing his 厳しい one.

From out of doors （機の）カム not only the sunlight but the song of birds, the loud sighing of the 勝利，勝つd in its passage through the trees, and an indescribable fresh, 甘い smell, as of meadow grass, turned-up earth, and dew-drenched flowers. It seemed more like spring than autumn.

"Where are we, then?" was Isbel's first 調査, uttered in a トン of bewilderment. "How do we come to be to high up from the ground?"

"I don't recognise any of it. It's all new to me."

From the foot of the house 塀で囲む, forty feet below, the 解放する／自由な country started. 裁判官 星／主役にするd in vain for familiar 目印s--the more he gazed, the more puzzled he became. Not only had his own grounds disappeared, but neither in the foreground nor in the distance was there a 選び出す／独身 調印する of human occupancy or 労働. Look where he would, fields, hedgerows, roads, 小道／航路s, houses, had 消えるd 完全に out of the landscape.

A 明らかにする hillside of grass and chalk, perhaps a couple of hundred feet high, fell away はっきりと from the house, to 終結させる in a miniature valley along which a brook, glittering in the sunlight, 負傷させる its way. Beyond it there was a corresponding hill up, but not so 法外な or high; and here the 支持を得ようと努めるd began; an undulating but 無傷の forest appeared to 延長する 権利 to the horizon, many miles distant. The intensely blue sky was adorned with cirrus-clouds, while the dazzling sun was high above their 長，率いるs, about half a point to the 権利. Apart, altogether, from the strangeness of the scenery, anything いっそう少なく like a late October afternoon would be hard to imagine; the forests were brilliantly green, many of the smaller, 孤立するd trees in the valley were 栄冠を与えるd with white blossom, while the 空気／公表する itself held that indefinable spirit of wild sweetness which is inseparable from a spring morning.

"Just look at that man!" said Isbel, suddenly.

He was sitting on the slope of the hill, 直接／まっすぐに opposite their window and not a 石／投石する's throw from them, but half hidden by the crest of the small hollow which he had selected for his perch, which explained why they had not 以前 noticed him. He sat motionless, 直面するing the valley, with his 支援する to the house; what he was doing there they could not imagine. It was his 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の attire which had evoked Isbel's exclamation. Only his 長，率いる, the uppper half of his 支援する, and one out-stretched 脚 were 明白な; but the 脚 was encased in a 下落する-green trouser, tightly cross-gartered with yellow ひもで縛るs, the 衣料品 on his 支援する 似ているd, as far as could be seen, a purple smock, and the hair of his hatless 長，率いる fell in a 厚い, 有望な yellow mane as far as his shoulders.

Notwithstanding Isbel's amazement, she began to laugh.

"No wonder poor Mrs. Richborough was startled! Is it a man, or a tulip?"

"He looks like an 古代の Saxon come to life," replied 裁判官, also laughing, but more moderately.

"Ulf, perhaps."

"Very likely," he agreed, without understanding her.

"Cry out and ask him if his 指名する's Ulf."

"But who was Ulf?"

"Don't you know? Why he's the man who built your house. The trolls ran away with him, poor fellow! and probably he's been sitting here ever since, yearning to get 支援する home again...Do call out."

"You really want me to call?"

"If you don't I shall, and that will be immodest."

裁判官 shouted at the 最高の，を越す of his 発言する／表明する. The man neither 答える／応じるd nor turned his 長，率いる.

"Again!" 命令（する）d Isbel, laughing. "Louder--much louder! As if someone were running off with 所有物／資産／財産 of yours..."

This time 裁判官 roared, and then Isbel 追加するd her strange clanging cry twice or thrice, laughing between whiles; but still they were unable to attract his attention.

一時的に abandoning the 成果／努力, she turned her 長，率いる and ちらりと見ることd sideways at 裁判官, with an almost joyous 表現. "We can't be in October. That hawthorn's blooming...and look at those beeches over there, with their pale-green, transparent leaves...Hark!..."

They kept 静かな for a minute...A distant cuckoo was calling. The cry was 定期的に repeated, at very short intervals.

裁判官 rubbed his 注目する，もくろむs, in actual 疑問 whether he were awake or dreaming. "It's spring, sure enough--but how can it be?"

"Oh, if we could only get 負かす／撃墜する into it all!"

Both instinctively 手段d the 塀で囲む beneath them with their 注目する，もくろむs, but the distance to the ground was too 広大な／多数の／重要な, the footholds were too 不安定な.

She leant その上の out, 吸い込むing the 甘い, fragrant 空気／公表する in 深い breaths, and sighing it out again..."Beautiful!--beautiful!..."

Then once more she became fascinated by the man.

"It can't be true. Such men don't 存在する--at least, nowadays. It's an 光学の illusion. If it were a real person he would answer us."

裁判官 あられ／賞賛するd him again, but without result. A moment later, however, the man stooped to 選ぶ something up, and when he 回復するd his sitting posture they caught a glimpse of a fiddle-形態／調整d 器具 in his 手渡す, somewhat larger than a modern viola. Wasting no time in 予選s, he swung his 屈服する across it, and at once started to repeat the 空気／公表する they had heard already from the other room.

Isbel, 製図／抽選 支援する a little, 残り／休憩（する）d her 肘 on the window-sill and her 直面する on her 肘, in order better to concentrate her thoughts on the music. 裁判官 retired altogether into the room, to make space for her. The トン of the 器具, notwithstanding its small size, was 中途の in depth between that of a violoncello and that of a contra-bass, and the low, slow 捨てる of its strings had a peculiarly 乱すing 影響 upon her feelings. The 主題 had a strange, archaic flavour, as though it had come 負かす／撃墜する through the centuries, yet it was so appropriate that Isbel could almost fancy it to be the 発言する／表明する of the landscape. It was hauntingly beautiful, and 十分な of queer surprises; each long, sonorous 公式文書，認める 含む／封じ込めるd a world of music in itself, but it was the powerful, yet delicate and 熱烈な thought slowly 存在 developed as the 空気／公表する proceeded which stirred her so exceedingly.

While she stood listening, feelings which she had not had for ten years suddenly returned to her, and she realised, as in a flash, how far 負かす／撃墜する the hill of life she had already travelled. That コンビナート／複合体 明言する／公表する of 青年, composed of wildness, melancholy, audacity, inspiration, and hope, was momentarily 回復するd to her, but only as a memory, as if for the 目的 of mocking her...As the music finished, 涙／ほころびs stood in her 注目する，もくろむs, and her heart was choking, yet she was not unhappy...

裁判官 approached her from behind..."Isbel!"...

"It was like the 発言する／表明する of spring," she said, without turning 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. "You are 拷問d, but you don't know what is happening to you."

"Music must have been like that at one time."

"Did you feel it, too?"

"It must be very, very old."...They hardly knew what they were 説 to each other.

The musician had sunk 支援する into a reclining position, so that only the 栄冠を与える of his 長，率いる was 明白な. Isbel at last looked 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. She caught sight of 裁判官's 直面する, with its 契約d muscles and 苦痛d 表現, but 即時に left that to ちらりと見ること at an envelope which he held in his 手渡す.

"What have you there?"

He 手渡すd it to her. "I 設立する it lying on the 床に打ち倒す."

The envelope was 演説（する）／住所d to Mrs. Richborough, at the Metropole, but its contents had been abstracted. On the 支援する had been scribbled very 概略で in 署名／調印する the first few 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s of the tune they had just heard.

"It has probably got blown 負かす／撃墜する," 示唆するd 裁判官. "She must have left it for the 署名／調印する to 乾燥した，日照りの, and forgotten it, in her alarm."

Isbel looked at it for some moments, and then slipped it in her 手渡す-捕らえる、獲得する. "That woman will take 公式文書，認めるs on the Day of 裁判／判断. But why shouldn't she? That music could have meant nothing to her."

"What does it mean to us?"

They stood の近くに by the window, but not looking out. Isbel's 直面する bore a singular smile.

"It means something, I think."

"What?"

"Do you feel nothing?"

"I feel 広大な／多数の／重要な happiness, which I am 努力する／競うing not to account for."

"It means what spring means," said Isbel.

She suddenly threw both 武器 around his neck, clutching him tightly, but at the same time turning away in such a manner that it was the 支援する of her hair only which 小衝突d his cheek...When she 解放する／撤去させるd herself violently a few seconds later, her 直面する was hot, and she was in 涙／ほころびs...

裁判官 breathed hard, and looked dark under the 注目する，もくろむs, but he made no 試みる／企てる to draw nearer.

"What's wrong, Isbel?"

"You are cruel!..."

"I cruel...?"

"Oh, go away from me--altogether!..."

She turned her 支援する on him, and bent her 長，率いる.

"Will you listen to me?...I have no 権利..."

"I know. You've told me a thousand times already...You put 法律 first, love second."

"I 需要・要求する a very small 保証／確信 from you, but that 保証／確信 I must have. Are you 解放する／自由な now?"

"I won't say--I 辞退する to answer. I'll have everything, or nothing from you." She wheeled 一連の会議、交渉／完成する furiously. "If I'm not 価値（がある） that, I'm 価値（がある） nothing at all..."

The scent of violets and primroses seemed to come in with the 微風 through the open window, while Isbel's 発言する／表明する, like soft 厚かましさ／高級将校連, thrilled the ear with its strange 範囲 of トンs. She stood there, 直面するing him--a warm, 熱烈な girl, in 甘い 着せる／賦与するs--as though she were a second self, his own soul 反映するd from a 魔法 mirror. の中で the whole world of human 存在s, they two alone 所有するd the 入ること／参加（者） into each other's innermost nature...That delicately-modelled woman's mouth, which had just uttered such words of 軽蔑（する）--if he pleased, in another instant it should break into the loveliest smiles...

As they 直面するd one another in silence, the music out-of-doors recommenced without 警告. It was the same everlasting tune. Isbel twitched impatiently, and 突然の turned her 支援する on 裁判官 again...But thjough the 主題 was the same, the 死刑執行 was markedly different that she had to listen, にもかかわらず her agitation. The playing was faster, higher, はしけ, and staccato. The ぐずぐず残る, haunting sweetness was transformed into a delicate and 勝利を得た dance; the very 日光 which flooded the room seemed suddenly to become more joyous and ethereal...Without understanding, or wishing to understand, how the change had been 影響d, she felt her brow （疑いを）晴らすing, her heart lightening...

裁判官 waited until the last 公式文書，認める had died 負かす／撃墜する, and then said, in a low 発言する／表明する:

"I find I'm not as strong as I thought I was...so I'm yours, to do what you like with. Tell me to jump out of the window, and I'll do it. You're the only person in the world for me."

一時期／支部 XVI THE MUSICIAN DEPARTS

Isbel 開始するd unbuttoning her left-手渡す glove, with わずかに trembling fingers.

"Something is to go out our the window, but not you," She 除去するd the diamond （犯罪の）一味 from her third finger, and 注目する，もくろむd it pensively, before 手渡すing it to him..."Throw it out! Let strange find strange. I never should have worn it."

"Better to return it to the giver."

"As long as I carry it about with me, I 港／避難所't cast off the past. Do as I say. That episode is finished."

裁判官, without その上の demur, took the （犯罪の）一味 to the window and dropped it out.

"That's done!" said Isbel, 製図／抽選 a 深い breath. "We shall have no more 苦悩 from that ４半期/4分の1."

Raising her ungloved 手渡す, he bent over and kissed it submissively. She 申し込む／申し出d no 抵抗, but の近くにd her 注目する，もくろむs, as if to think the better, 再開するing them only when he had 放棄するd her fingers.

"Had your wife been still alive, would you have done as much for my sake, I wonder?"

"Don't 疑問 it. I would have sacrificed everything. But let the poor girl 残り／休憩（する） in peace. Fortunately, my 忠義 wasn't put to the 実験（する） during her lifetime."

"That 魔法 word '忠義'! How can we be loyal to those to whom we don't 自然に belong? You mean, fortunately you were enabled to 行為／法令／行動する a living 嘘（をつく） with her, without either of you 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うing the fact...You know you never loved her."

"What has been, has been. Whatever we felt に向かって each other, after all, she ws my dear companion. You can't grudge her that."

Isbel laughed lightly. "I grudge her nothing. If you 保証するd me you loved her, even I should 受託する your word...But you didn't. Love doesn't come twice in a lifetime...However, to 避ける 競争, it seems I must 目的（とする） at higher things than 存在 a mere dear companion."

"You must be aware that, in that sense, companionship is impossible between us," said 裁判官, in a low 発言する／表明する.

"Tell me why?"

"Because I am a man, and you are a beautiful girl, and all our ways and thoughts are strange and foreign to each other. Because my place is not standing 直面する-to-直面する with you, 交流ing 理解できない ideas, but at your feet, smothering the hem of your skirt with kisses..." He stopped 突然の.

Her 注目する，もくろむs danced. "But why waste precious kisses on inanimate cloth?"

"You're やめる 正当化するd in laughing--I know my language sounds 誇張するd...容赦 me, I'm excited!"

"And I--am I 冷静な／正味の, do you think?...Now finish it all--and kiss me quickly!..."

裁判官 looked at her slowly. "You 認める me this favour without my asking it?"

"Do you want it in 令状ing, to make やめる sure?...Oh, what are we here for? Why have we been brought to this place, except for this very one 目的? For half an hour I've done nothing else but count the minutes disappearing, one by one..."

"Isbel!" He approached her, almost as if disbelieving.

"Did you imagine that women's feelings had been left out of my anatomy?" laughed Isbel, 圧力（をかける）ing both cheeks with her fingers in an (a)自動的な／(n)自動拳銃 試みる／企てる to 冷静な／正味の them.

But as they were on the point of 会合, the music sounded again through the open window. Its 捨てる ws so strangely insistent that they remained where they were until the interruption should come to an end; a moment afterwards, however, Isbel walked 静かに to the window to see what could be seen, 再開するing her former 態度 of leaning one arm on the sill.

The tune was as before, but once more its 解釈／通訳 was 変化させるd. The gaiety had gone out of it, and it now 所有するd a swift, smooth strength which curiously 示唆するd an 後継の tide. Neither of the other 見解／翻訳／版s had been half as beautiful; it was like a quick, 悲劇の, irresistible 要約 of all which had gone before. Nothing had changed in the landscape. The sun shone, the trees waved, the brook glittered at the foot of the chalk hill, the musician remained half-隠すd, half-明白な, as his 団体／死体 swayed in unison with the rhythm of the 主題. The entering 微風 brought with it the smell of growing life, while, as an undertone to the music, many a soft cry of nature reached Isbel's ear. But as she continued to listen it seemed to her as if the world were at last moving, after a long, enchanted dream--as if a 現在の had begun to run, and things could no longer be what they had been hitherto...

Her heart 深くするd. She felt suddenly that she had up to now been playing with life, but that reality had at length clutched her in its 支配する しっかり掴む, and now she must show what stuff she was made of. She was like a bather for whom a river 証明するs too strong, and who is 存在 walked 石油精製 step by step, struggling in vain for footholds, until her waist is covered, and she must either swim or 辞職する herself to be carried away to death...Her old happiness was past 回復. It 残り／休憩（する）d with herself whether she were to be borne along backwards, looking after it despairingly, or whether she should throw herself audaciously into this new element, confiding in her strength and courage to bring her to safety...She realised that this was the moment she had been waiting for all her life...

The music stopped. Isbel 直面するd 一連の会議、交渉／完成する に向かって 裁判官, but did not 動かす from the window.

"These interruptions have a strangely agitating 影響," he said, with a 静かな smile. "明らかに he means neither to take notice of us nor leave us in peace. I see you are rather 深く，強烈に moved."

"And you are not?"

"When you are 現在の, music can be no more than a decoration of life. You are the centre of the piece, and the 乱すing factor. If he plays again, I shall 示唆する that we return to the other room. We have seen everything here there is to see."

"You wish to 再開する where we left off, but I don't think we can...Henry, can't you understand that all this has a meaning? Don't you see that it's carrying us higher and higher? If you have forgotten your own words, I 港／避難所't."

"What words?"

"We were talking of 実験（する）s. You said that one 実験（する） of love is the craving to sacrifice oneself. At the time, I didn't understand you, but it was fearfully true. When a woman loves a man, there are no half-対策 with her--she wishes to give him everything. Of course, 'sacrifice' isn't the 権利 word to 表明する it. A gift like that gives nothing up..."

裁判官 trembled わずかに, in spite of his 支配（する）／統制する. "Why do you say all this? I want neither sacrifices nor gifts from you, and you know it."

"But if I 申し込む／申し出 it?"

There was a short silence.

"Let me understand you," said 裁判官, "for perhaps we are at cross 目的s. What is it you are 申し込む／申し出ing me?"

"Myself," was the low-spoken reply.

打ち勝つ by her own daring, without waiting for his 返答, she turned her 支援する on him again, and 星／主役にするd out of the window.

With a dull shock, she perceived that the musician had risen at last to his 十分な 高さ. His tall, 幅の広い, gaily-attired 人物／姿／数字 was 明白な from 最高の，を越す to toe, but his 直面する was still turned away. He held his 器具 by the neck with one 手渡す, and seemed to be 熟視する／熟考するing a 降下／家系 to the foot of the hill. Isbel すぐに ちらりと見ることd 一連の会議、交渉／完成する to 裁判官.

"Henry, he's up now."

He joined her at the window.

"I thought he was going to sit there for ever," said Isbel. "He seemed a part of the landscape. Will he turn 一連の会議、交渉／完成する now, do you think?"

"It's an 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 商売／仕事," muttered 裁判官. "He's real enough, but what man goes about in that sort of 衣装?"

"Or plays that sort of music?...I've a feeling that if he's going we'd better make haste. After he's gone, things will be different. I don't know whether we せねばならない attract his attention, or not."

裁判官 continued 星／主役にするing at the man in silence. Although she sun shone and the sky remained （疑いを）晴らす, with but few clouds, the tree-最高の，を越すs were sighing and swaying in greater agitation than before, and little, 渦巻くing 勝利，勝つd-flurries kept coming and going in the 空気／公表する, freshening the room, and swinging the outside shutter to and fro with a 厳しい, musical creak.

"Is there no way of getting 負かす／撃墜する?" 需要・要求するd Isbel, the next minute. "It's awful to be shut up here in this box of a room while all that's going on...If we walked on and on through those 支持を得ようと努めるd, where should we come to?"

He sighed. "You're 権利. Our place is 負かす／撃墜する there, in God's fresh 空気／公表する...But it's most remarkable he doesn't once look 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. Can it be that he's sublimely unconscious of the 存在 of a house behind him?"

"No, he knows 井戸／弁護士席 enough...But I mean to see his 直面する--if not now, another time...Look! he's off..."

The musician had begun to walk 負かす／撃墜する the 法外な hillside with short steps, digging his heels into the turf for 安全. They watched him, fascinated, until he reached the 底（に届く）, when, instead of 訴訟／進行 straight ahead up the opposite hill, he moved to the left along the bank of the stream. Though his 活動／戦闘 was やめる leisurely, he never once paused or turned hid 長，率いる, so doubtless he was making for a 目的地. In a few minutes he would be out of sight, 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the bend of the valley.

"It's too late now, but why didn't you call out to him again?" 需要・要求するd Isbel. "I purposely 差し控えるd from asking you to, as I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to see what you would do."

"You attach such importance to it?"

"He brought us together. It was his music I heard the first time I （機の）カム to Runhill, and it's plain to see he's had a 手渡す in everything. It's natural one should want to see one's benefactor."

裁判官 led the way into the room, and once more they 直面する each other; she cast her 注目する，もくろむs 負かす／撃墜する, her 武器 落ちるing limply on either 味方する.

"I was 脅すd on your account, Isbel."

"But that is not what I want."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to feel what I feel. I want you to feel that as long as you are with me nothing can 傷つける either of us. 恐れる （一定の）期間s 冷淡な 血. But I think you can't be 熱烈な...or else you wouldn't 軽蔑（する） my gift so."

"You think I do?"

"I know you do, for さもなければ you would have 受託するd it."

"I have 受託するd it, and you're blind and foolish not to have seen it at once."

Isbel's 注目する，もくろむs leapt to his 直面する with a flash. "You 受託する my 十分な love?"

"Yes, your 十分な love," said 裁判官, setting his jaw hard. "There's no other 肉親，親類d 価値（がある） the price we're 支払う／賃金ing. Be it so!...Bit I 受託する it in 深い humility, for the gift is far too rich, and I have done nothing to deserve it...I shall dedicate the 残り／休憩（する） of my life to your service."

She approached him unsteadily.

"You must know that such a gift can't be paid for by service. There can only be one return for passion, and that's passion. If you 港／避難所't that to give, I want nothing."

"That you shall have in 十分な 手段," replied 裁判官.

He moved 今後 to embrace her.

At the same moment, やめる suddenly, the sun went in, the 勝利，勝つd 中止するd, and every outside sound stopped, as if 削減（する） off by a 審査する. The brightness of the room changed to twilight, while the 空気／公表する became perceptibly colder, and, at the same time stale-smelling. 裁判官's upraised arm fell slowly to his 味方する, as he mechanically shrank 支援する. Both turned their 長，率いるs inquiringly に向かって the window. Then Isbel walked over to it, almost with 不本意, to look out.

"Henry, come here quickly!..."

He was already beside her. The landscape they were looking at was no longer the same. すぐに beneath them were the familiar grounds of Runhill 法廷，裁判所; the chalk hill, 減らすd in 高さ, had become the sloping lawn, with its 延長／続編 of the field they had 横断するd on the day of the picnic; in the background were other fields innumerable, with roads, 小道／航路s, and cottages. The 無傷の forest of fresh green trees was transformed into scattered tracts of woodland, the 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるing colour of whose leaves was russet. The sun had disappeared; the country was wrapped in a misty dusk. The musician was nowhere to be discovered.

They gazed at each other in びっくり仰天, during which time their excitement 速く 沈下するd.

"Are we dreaming now, or were we dreaming before?" asked Isbel 真面目に, laying her 手渡す on his arm.

"We can't 疑問 this, at all events."

"Wasn't that real, then? Have we been the fools of our senses?"

"I 恐れる it looks 極端に like it."

"What, has it all been 誤った?"

裁判官 shook his 長，率いる grimly, but did not answer at once..."Anyway, it has happened in time. There's no 害（を与える） done but what we can cover up and forget. We must be thankful for small mercies."

She turned fiery-red. "Has it really come to that?"

"At least, as you, too, have been 伴う／関わるd, you will acquit me of 審議する／熟考する wrong-doing. I 恐れる it's hopeless trying to 再建する our 明言する／公表する of mind, or to understand what has taken place. Some unpleasant 機関 has been at work."

They went 支援する into the room.

"So you don't love me?" 需要・要求するd Isbel 静かに.

"Yes, I love you."

"You know that, if our senses are 回復するd, my （犯罪の）一味 is not 回復するd?"

"Unfortunately, I know it only too 井戸／弁護士席."

"So it means that your old generosity has come 支援する?"

They stood for a long time, looking away from each other. Then, with death in her heart, Isbel started to put on her glove.

"We had better go downstairs again."

He 屈服するd with 厳しい gravity, and at once moved to the door, which he held open to 許す her to pass out. She walked straight across to the stairs, without once turning her 長，率いる to see if he were に引き続いて.

The hall, when she reached it, was in dusk. Her watch told her it that it was 近づくing five o'clock. She looked dully around her, remembering nothing of what had occurred to her during the past hour and a half, but somehow, confusedly wondering why 裁判官 had failed to descend that staircase with her--though, as a 事柄 of fact, she did not even know whether he had been up there.

一時期／支部 XVII IN THE TWILIGHT

The staircase had 消えるd, the house wsa in silence, evening was の近くにing in, and her companions were absent. Isbel's heart throbbed ひどく, she felt sick and weak, yet she thought she せねばならない go upstairs to look for them. She knew that 裁判官 would not have 出発／死d without her. She considered that it would be best if she were to go straight upstairs to the East Room.

The prospect of visiting that remote part of the house so late in the day did not 奮起させる her with any enthusiasm, but anything was より望ましい to waiting about in that awful hall. It was most singular why they should be so long. She made her way upstairs slowly, stopping at every sixth step to listen for sounds; but all was 静かな as a tomb. As she groped her passage along the nightlike 回廊（地帯） at the 最高の，を越す of the house, it occurred to her for the first time that she had never yet seen the East Room, though all her 知識s seemed to have done so. She smiled rather contemptuously. 井戸／弁護士席, it would 完全にする her experience of the place!

The door stood wide open. It was 薄暗い twilight within, and the apartment did not strike her as very noteworthy. It was small and square, with a 選び出す／独身 window on the far 味方する; very 貧しく furnished. But as she stood at the door, looking in, her 注目する，もくろむs すぐに fell upon something which 完全に took away all her 利益／興味 in the room itself. Mrs. Richborough was lying 延長するd on the 床に打ち倒す, with 裁判官 ひさまづくing beside her!

She 急ぐd 今後 quickly. "Whatever's the 事柄, Mr. 裁判官? Is she ill?"

He looked up from bathing her forehead and lips with the contents of a pocket-flask.

"It's a swoon, and rather a bad one. I couldn't leave her, to come 負かす／撃墜する to you."

"How did it happen?"

"I don't know. She was lying like this when I （機の）カム 負かす／撃墜する."

Isbel turned あわてて from the unconscious woman to look at 裁判官. "Then you have been up?"

"Yes. And you?"

"Yes; but I remember nothing--nor, of course, you, either?"

"Nothing." He went on dabbing Mrs. Richborough's forehead.

"Is that doing her any good? Hadn't we better try and get her downstairs?"

"Her pulse is stronger, and I think she is coming 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. It's hopeless to think of a doctor in these parts. If we can get her in the car, we'll soon run her 負かす／撃墜する to 価値（がある）ing. She must have had a fright of some sort."

"But how （機の）カム she to find her way up here?"

"I suppose she looked everywhere for me...I've been 星／主役にするing at something on the 床に打ち倒す over there for some while, but 港／避難所't been able to get up to 調査／捜査する. It looks like a （犯罪の）一味, or a brooch. She may have dropped it in 落ちるing."

Isbel, に引き続いて the direction of his finger, （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd the article, and 選ぶd it up. It 証明するd to be a lady's diamond （犯罪の）一味.

"It is a （犯罪の）一味--and a rather nice one. It's very much like 地雷."

As she spoke the words, she instinctively felt for her 約束／交戦 （犯罪の）一味 beneath her glove...It was not there!...She whipped off the glove, in 狼狽. Her third finger was ringless.

The 回復するd （犯罪の）一味 fitted it perfectly.

"It is 地雷!" she went on, with a desperate 成果／努力 to keep 静める, but unable to keep a slight 勃発する of her 発言する／表明する.

"What! You surely must be mistaken."

"It's my 約束／交戦 （犯罪の）一味 and せねばならない have been on my finger."

They 星／主役にするd at each other.

"You are sure?"

"Yes, I am やめる sure."

"Then what is it doing her, 行方不明になる Loment? I can't understand it. You 港／避難所't been in this room before?"

"I have never been in this room before in my life. And I wore this （犯罪の）一味 at lunch to-day."

She 保持するd it on her finger and 取って代わるd her glove over it. At the same time, Mrs. Richborough's 直面する and neck stirred uneasily, and her eyelids flickered. 裁判官 remained on his 膝s.

"How are we to understand it, do you suppose?" 需要・要求するd Isbel, after a long pause, in the 増加するing 不明瞭.

"I will not 示唆する what I don't think, 行方不明になる Loment, and I may not 示唆する what I do think."

"Oh, I know what you mean--and it's 恐ろしい! It can't be..." Her 直面する suddenly crimsoned; she felt as if she were on 解雇する／砲火／射撃. "But perhaps I don't know what you mean. What do you mean?"

"I cannot say. But I can give you a piece of counsel. You （機の）カム here to-day to end a mystery, and you have started a still worse one. Things can't go on like this; so I 堅固に advise that you make this your last visit to my house. This is the second time something has happened without your knowledge or 同意."

"It's the 不確定 which is so horrible...Oh, can't something be done? Have you no 率先 at all, Mr. 裁判官? You call yourself a man."

"It is high time to retrace our steps. We have already gone too far. I think my best 計画（する） will be to shut the house u altogether. I think I will do that."

He 適用するd himself to moistening Mrs. Richborough's lips with the brandy. Her 四肢s began to move restlessly; it was evident that she was on the 瀬戸際 of 回復するing consciousness. After a moment or two he again looked up.

"I have only to 表明する my sincere repentance at having 招待するd you here this afternoon, 行方不明になる Loment. Of course, I should not have done so, and I am very sorry for it. My only excuse is that I knew no more than yourself."

She made no reply.

Mrs. Richborough at last opened her 注目する，もくろむs. 裁判官, bending lower, 強いるd her to take a sip of the brandy, and the powerful 興奮剤 had a nearly instant 影響 upon her heart. She struggled into a sitting posture, supported by his arm, and smiled wanly.

"Where am I? What has happened?"

"It's I--Mr. 裁判官--and this is 行方不明になる Loment. You have fainted."

"How idiotic!"

He 軍隊d her to swallow another mouthful of the spirit, and the colour started to return to her cheeks.

"You'll be all 権利 in a minute or two. We'll get you downstairs to the car, make you comfortable, and run you home in いっそう少なく than no time. Feeling better already, aren't you?"

"But so absurdly 不安定な!...I remember now. I had a sudden fright. It was horrid, and I was all alone."

"We'll hear about it later; never mind now."

With Isbel's 援助 he 後継するd in raising her to her feet. She was 設立するd in the 議長，司会を務める, while the girl 始める，決める her attire to 権利s. She started looking 一連の会議、交渉／完成する on the 床に打ち倒す uneasily.

"There should be a （犯罪の）一味 on the ground somewhere. Can you see it?"

"It has been 選ぶd up," said Isbel すぐに.

"Oh!"

"It belongs to me. Can you tell me how it comes to be in this room, Mrs. Richborough?"

"It fell 負かす／撃墜する from the 塀で囲む. I did not know it was yours."

裁判官 and Isbel 交流d ちらりと見ることs.

"How do you mean 'it fell 負かす／撃墜する from the 塀で囲む'?"

"It does sound stupid, but so it happened. That's what 脅すd me. It seemed to 宙返り／暴落する on to the middle of the 床に打ち倒す, from nowhere at all."

"But you said from the 塀で囲む. Which 塀で囲む?"

Mrs. Richborough turned weakly in her 議長，司会を務める, and pointed behind her. "That 塀で囲む. Where the stairs were 以前. It rolled on to the 床に打ち倒す, and I was just going to 選ぶ it up when I must have fainted."

"But what stairs are you alluding to?" asked 裁判官.

She smiled, の近くにd her 注目する，もくろむs, and was silent for a moment.

"How can I explain? It sounds incredible, but I saw a flight of stairs in the middle of that 塀で囲む, 上がるing out of sight. I 現実に went up them--or could I have dreamt it all? I'm afraid my mind is all upside-負かす／撃墜する this afternoon."

Isbel coughed dryly, and ちらりと見ることd at her watch. 裁判官 again 圧力（をかける）d his flask on the 未亡人.

"I won't, thanks. My heart is scarcely in a 明言する／公表する to stand over-stimulation. If you could help me, I think I could make my way downstairs. That would be best for everybody."

裁判官 申し込む／申し出d her his arm. On getting outside, he shut and locked the door of the room, putting the 重要な in his pocket.

"You had better lead the way, 行方不明になる Loment. Take my たいまつ."

Slowly and with たびたび（訪れる） pauses, they passed through the 回廊（地帯） and descended the stairs to the hall. 裁判官 was about to proceed outside, but Mrs. Richborough asked to be 許すd to sit 負かす／撃墜する, to 回復する her strength.

"Tell me," she said, after a minute, "Where did you both get to? I can't understand what happened."

"Perhaps we have been where you have been, Mrs. Richborough," replied Isbel coldly.

"Oh!...Do you mean that? Are you pretending you saw those 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の stairs, too?"

"Unless they were a figment of your brain, why should not we have seen them? As a 事柄 of fact--I don't speak for Mr. 裁判官--I did see them, and went up them."

"I, too," said 裁判官.

"Then we are either all mad together, or something very strange has taken place. かもしれない you can tell me where thy led to?"

"No; my memory is a blank, till I （機の）カム 負かす／撃墜する again."

"And you, Mr. 裁判官?"

"I also remember nothing."

Mrs. Richborough suddenly lost colour, and her breathing grew difficult. She 回復するd herself by a violent 成果／努力.

"You must both have gone up before me, and come 負かす／撃墜する after me. How was that? And how did your （犯罪の）一味 come to 落ちる 負かす／撃墜する out of the 塀で囲む? A （犯罪の）一味 doesn't escape from one's finger of its own （許可，名誉などを）与える."

"I cannot answer the conundrum." Isbel's 直面する was like granite.

"If I were an engaged girl I should not like such a thing to happen to me. Have you no idea how it could have happened?"

"No."

"It's very, very strange." Mrs. Richborough essayed a laugh. "If it did not sound 絶対 insane, one might almost suppose you had been playing pitch-and-投げ上げる／ボディチェックする with it."

Isbel went white to the lips, but she said nothing.

"You take it very calmly," proceeded the 未亡人. "Let us hope that Mr. Stokes, when he hears..."

"Please 持つ／拘留する your tongue, Mrs. Richborough! It has nothing whatever to do with you. I've not even told you that it is his （犯罪の）一味. You are taking a very 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 for 認めるd."

"You only wore one （犯罪の）一味 at lunch, my dear, and that was on the third finger of your left 手渡す."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席--then it is my 約束／交戦 （犯罪の）一味. What of it? Must I ask your 許可 before accidentally losing it?"

"I 保証する you I 港／避難所't the slightest wish to 干渉する in your 事件／事情／状勢s; still いつかs the advice of an older woman..."

"Oh, advice!...井戸／弁護士席, what do you advise?"

"I think it is only good sense to try and find out something more about it. Let us assume that the explanation is supernatural..."--she looked up with a malicious half-smile--"or can you account for it in some other way?"

"I have already told you that I can't account for it. If you have any useful suggestion to make, please be quick about it."

"I 示唆する that we all come over here again in the morning and 追求する the 調査. I cannot see what else there is to do."

"Why should you trouble to come again because I have mysteriously lost and 設立する a （犯罪の）一味?"

"Because I wish to," 答える／応じるd Mrs. Richborough, coolly.

"And if I 辞退する?"

"I shall assume that you consider my society 望ましくない."

"And...?"

"And 行為／法令／行動する accordingly."

Isbel opened her 捕らえる、獲得する to take out her handkerchief. In doing so, she 遭遇（する）d の中で it's miscellaneous contents a strange envelope. The light in the hall, though 急速な／放蕩な fading, was still 十分に strong to read by, and she drew the letter out to see what it was.

It was 演説（する）／住所d to Mrs. Richborough.

She turned it about in a puzzled manner. "This appears to be your 所有物／資産／財産. How it comes to be reposing in my 捕らえる、獲得する I have no idea."

The 未亡人 took it almost rudely.

"It certainly is 地雷. There's no letter inside--you 港／避難所't that inside your 捕らえる、獲得する, I suppose?" She searched hurriedly in her own. "It's all 権利--I have it myself. I'm sorry. But what in the world are you doing with the envelope?"

"There's nothing written on it, by any chance?" 示唆するd 裁判官 thoughtfully.

Mrs. Richborough turned it over to see the 支援する.

"Yes, there is. What led you to 問い合わせ?"

"If it's nothing personal, do you mind my looking?"

"I can't make 長，率いる or tail of it. It's music." She 手渡すd it up to 裁判官, who gazed at it for some moments with a 肉親，親類d of uneasy rumination. Isbel looked over his shoulder.

"I only got that letter by this morning's 地位，任命する, so those 公式文書，認めるs must have been 追加するd since. Who did it?"

Isbel gave an icy smile. "We needn't 星／主役にする at each other so suspiciously. Its 十分に obvious what has happened. You wrote it yourself upstairs, Mrs. Richborough, and I 選ぶd it up and brought it 負かす／撃墜する with me."

"You really think that?"

"I'm 納得させるd of it."

"Then all I can say is we're living in the land of dreams!"...Continuing to gaze at the 支援する of the envelope, she started to whistle softly through the 概略で-written 公式文書，認めるs of music. The others listened intently. The tune was unrecognisable, yet there was something strangely perplexing in it. It broke off 突然の in the middle; there was no more written 負かす／撃墜する. They stole 尋問 ちらりと見ることs at each other.

The gloom of the hall 深くするd...Suddenly, the fragment of 空気／公表する which Mrs. Richborough had just whistled was repeated by a distant stringed 器具, which seemed to 所有する very much the vibrating timbre and 深い 登録（する） of a 二塁打 bass. It continued to carry the 主題 to its proper ending. The sound appeared to come from a very long way off, for though やめる （疑いを）晴らす it was extraordinarily faint; it gave them the impression of 存在 high over their 長，率いるs, but, for all that, seemed to belong to the house...it lasted for littler longer than a minute, then everything went 支援する to silence.

裁判官 stood looking as though he were still unable to しっかり掴む what had happened, Isbel's white 直面する bore a peculiar smile, but Mrs. Richborough was 強いるd to take 深い and 早い breaths to 妨げる herself from swooning again. She sat 築く in her 議長，司会を務める, 持つ／拘留するing on to the 武器.

"What was that?" 需要・要求するd 裁判官 at last.

"It 再開するs everything," replied Isbel.

"What do you mean?"

"It looks as if they do not mean to leave us alone. We are not to be 許すd to go 支援する, so we must go on. So be it! I am content."

"I don't understand you."

"I think you do, but it doesn't 事柄."

"I must ask you to speak more 明確に, 行方不明になる Loment."

"It is not what I say, or what I do, but what is 存在 decided for us. Mrs. Richborough was やめる 権利--we must come here again to-morrow."

"Please take me outside," murmured the 未亡人 weakly. 裁判官 at once moved to her 援助, but the girl stepped in between.

"Wait a minute!..." She 直面するd 裁判官. "Do you think things can stop here? Have you no manhood at all? What do you imagine it all means?"

"I must 辞退する to take the 責任／義務 of 招待するing you to this house again, 行方不明になる Loment." He 試みる／企てるd to speak with firmness but his 発言する／表明する trembled. "If we go on--as you call it--nothing but unpleasantness を待つs us; that is manifest. In the 合間, we ought to hurry home as 急速な／放蕩な as possible. She is 本気で unwell."

Mrs. Richborough really looked 恐ろしい. He あわてて produced his flask again, which this time she did not 辞退する. After swallowing a 部分 of the contents she felt better.

"I shall be やめる 井戸／弁護士席 in the morning, Mr. 裁判官," she managed to say the next minute. "Perhaps there will be no 広大な／多数の／重要な 楽しみ in coming here again, but we have all a 義務 to 成し遂げる. 行方不明になる Loment's whole 未来 happiness may be 伴う／関わるd."

He 注目する，もくろむd her 厳しく. "What makes you say that?"

"I am neither more intelligent than you, Mr. 裁判官, not more enlightened; there is not the slightest necessity for me to explain my words. I 主張する upon our all coming here to-morrow morning."

"You 主張する?"

"That's what I said. I will not 同意 to leave things in their 現在の 不確定. I also am 巻き込むd in a 確かな degree. If you really 辞退する, I shall have to consider where my その上の 義務 lies."

"That is plain enough language, I think, Mr. 裁判官," said Isbel, dryly. "You had better 受託する. It is the smaller of two evils."

裁判官 looked at her, but made no reply. He 申し込む／申し出d his arm to Mrs. Richborough, and she at last got up from her 議長，司会を務める.

They quitted the hall. The two women took their places in the car. After locking the house door, 裁判官 approached Isbel to ascertain her wishes with regard to 存在 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する. At her request he 協議するd his time-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する to discover if there were a convenient train from Shoreham. He 設立する one which would not 伴う／関わる an 不当な 拘留，拘置 at the 駅／配置する, and it was arranged that she should alight there.

He was then about to leave her, to take his own seat, when she pulled 静かに at his sleeve.

"What are you feeling?" she asked in a low 発言する／表明する.

"You must know."

"Tell me one thing--you 港／避難所't altered に向かって me?"

"No, I 港／避難所't altered."

"You have been so 冷淡な. You don't wish to break off our...friendship?"

裁判官 worked his jaw, pouched his mouth, and looked away.

"No, I don't wish it; but perhaps it will be necessary."

"You are made of 石／投石する, I think. But I'm coming here to-morrow."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席--if it can be arranged. I 堅固に 疑問 whether she will be fit."

"And if she isn't?"

"That is a question which answers itself, 行方不明になる Loment."

"I'm coming over to 価値（がある）ing by the same train, in any 事例／患者. 推定する／予想する me...You don't altogether despise me, do you?"

"Hush!"...He nodded 意味ありげに に向かって Mrs. Richborough. "How could I?"

"Oh, she doesn't hear. Her 注目する，もくろむs are の近くにd. Then you will wait for me to-morrow?"

"Yes."

"With or without her, we must go...There's nothing else you wish to say to me now?"

"Nothing."

"You are sure?"

"やめる sure."

Isbel sighed, as she sank 支援する on the cushioned seat. Two minutes later they started 負かす／撃墜する the 運動.

一時期／支部 XVIII A CATASTROPHE

After a 哀れな, feverish night of 投げ上げる／ボディチェックするing and turning, Isbel at last fell asleep in the 早期に house of the morning. She awoke again at eight, and at once got up. She felt dull and stupid, was incapable if 生き返らせる her movements, her 注目する，もくろむs gave her a sense of 存在 sunk half-way in her 長，率いる. So 不振の was her 血 that whatever she chanced to look at seemed to 所有する the 力／強力にする of 拘留するing her gaze for an 不明確な／無期限の period, though all the time she was not really seeing it. To 栄冠を与える all, she had a gnawing toothache. She was 深く，強烈に depressed.

She dared not think of 裁判官, yet all her 準備s were made with the 選び出す／独身 見解（をとる） of 旅行ing to 価値（がある）ing that morning すぐに after breakfast. What was to come of her visit, she did not know. Perhaps nothing at all; perhaps it might be the beginning of a new life.

After dressing, and before going downstairs, she stood awhile at the window. It was a still grey, dismal morning, which 脅すd to turn to for or 罰金 rain. It was neither 冷淡な nor warm. She 熟視する／熟考するd the 約束／交戦-（犯罪の）一味 on her finger, playing with it, as she smiled queerly. It was a pretty toy, and all her friends were very pleased with her for wearing it, but...supposing she was not 運命にあるd to wear it any longer? Who could tell what this day was 任命するd to bring 前へ／外へ, whether for good or for evil? What a quaint surprise for her little circle if it were to 証明する that, after all, she had rich, red 血 in her veins, and not rose-water!

Oh, she did not know what she felt! It could not be passion. She was conscious of no thrill, but, on the contrary, was 完全に 冷淡な, dull, and despondent. But neither was she playing a part. Something called to her, and that silent 発言する／表明する was irresistible. It was something in that house... It was like the call of a 麻薬; she was a 麻薬-maniac...But why 裁判官? And why that （犯罪の）一味 yesterday? Could it be passion?...A passion which kept 炎上ing up, and slumbering again?...

Each に引き続いて day she 設立する it harder to keep away from him. It was not his person, it was not his intellect, it was not his character; it could not be compatibility...Then what was it? What was this subtle attraction which was 証明するing so ますます 圧倒的な? Was it that, underneath person, intellect, character, there was something else--something which never （機の）カム to the surface, but 公表する／暴露するd itself only to the something else in her? And was all love of this nature, or was it exceptional, prodigious?...

Whom to ask? Who loved nowadays? Betrothals and marriages she saw all around her, but if it wasn't money, it was 性の 賞賛--she could see nothing else. Might not that secret, 理解できない impulse which drew her to him be more worthy of the 指名する of love than these despicable physical infatuations of worldly men and women?...

* * *

At ten o'clock she left the hotel, procured a taxi on the 前線, and within a ４半期/4分の1 of an hour was standing inside the 調書をとる／予約するing-hall at Hove 駅／配置する.

It was not yet half-past eleven as she 機動力のある the steps of the Mertropole. She swept through the door, and approached the office window, assuming an 空気／公表する of hauteur which was 否定するd by the trembling of her 手渡すs, as she fumbled in her 捕らえる、獲得する for her card-事例／患者. Producing a card, she passed it over the 反対する to the lady clerk.

"Will you please have that sent up to Mrs. Richborough?"

The clerk looked at the card, and at her. She said nothing, but went to 領事 with someone else, who was out of sight; Isbel could hear them whispering together. Presently the girl （機の）カム 支援する, and requested her to …を伴って her to another room, 隣接するing the office. Isbel did so. She was begged to sit 負かす／撃墜する, and then left to her own society, the door 存在 の近くにd upon her. It was all very solemn and mysterious.

A minute afterwards a 井戸／弁護士席-dressed man of middle age entered the room. He had a florid German-looking 直面する, and a bald forehead; he was wearing braided trousers, with an irreproachable frock-coat. Isbel took him to be the hotel manage.

"You are 行方不明になる Loment, madam?" he asked with suave gravity, gazing at the card in his 手渡す.

She replied in the affirmative.

"You are 問い合わせing for Mrs. Richborough?"

Isbel had risen to her feet.

"Yes; I wish to see her."

"You are a 親族, madam?"

"Oh, no. Why?"

"It is my 残念な 義務 to 知らせる you that Mrs. Richborough was taken suddenly ill in her room last night, and died almost すぐに afterwards. A 医療の man fortunately was in 出席."

"Oh, good heavens!..." Isbel しっかり掴むd the 議長，司会を務める-支援する to 安定した herself.

"The 正確な time was 9.15. It was very sudden, and very sad...自然に, we are anxious that this should not be known の中で the other guests. I feel sure that I can rely upon your discretion, madam."

"Oh, what a 悲劇!...But surely Mr. 裁判官 know of it?"

"Yes, Mr. 裁判官 does know."

"Could I speak to him a minute, please? Will you send my 指名する up?"

"I 悔いる that it is impossible, madam. Mr. 裁判官 left us this morning."

"Left you?...Do you mean he has gone away--altogether?"

"Yes, madam; he has returned to London."

"But--has he taken his things with him? Isn't he coming 支援する?"

"No, he is not coming 支援する...One moment, madam..." He 協議するd the card in his 手渡す. "I believe he has left a letter for you in 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of the office. If you will 容赦 me, I will go and 問い合わせ."

Isbel could not even find words to thank him. She sat 負かす／撃墜する, feeling as if the roof had fallen upon her. She understood that a 大災害 had happened, but she was unable to realise its final significance.

It was the clerk who brought the letter in, a moment or two later. She 手渡すd it to Isbel with a pleasant smile, and 即時に retired.

She broke the 調印（する） with clumsy haste. The letter ran as follows:

"My dear 行方不明になる Loment.

"I am sorry to 知らせる you that Mrs. Richborough died suddenly last night of heart 失敗. The doctor who …に出席するd her earlier in the evening had ordered her to bed, and she went there, but a little while late, によれば her maid's 証拠, she 主張するd upon rising ーするために 令状 an 緊急の letter, which letter she その上の 主張するd upon 地位，任命するing in the hotel box with her own 手渡す. The 付加 緊張する upon her lowered vitality which this entailed evidently 証明するd too much for her, for half an hour afterwards she ws discovered lying in a dying 条件 in her room. There will of course be an 検死.

"Under the sad circumstances, I feel that any 会合 between us would be 妥当でない--doubtless you will agree with me. I have accordingly made my 手はず／準備 to return at once to town, and by the time you receive this letter--assuming that you have made your 約束d visit to 価値（がある）ing--I shall be already on my way 支援する there.

"I think it will be wise if we 許す a かなりの time to elapse before 試みる／企てるing to see one another again. We have both, I am afraid, 行為／法令／行動するd rather more impulsively than is altogether 一貫した with worldly prudence, and, to put it at the lowest, an interval for reflection and a 冷静な／正味の 重さを計るing of the whole 状況／情勢 will certainly not 害（を与える） either of us. You will understand, of course, that I 非難する myself far more than you for the unfortunate happenings of the past few days.

"I am leaving my town 演説（する）／住所 with the hotel people should you 願望（する） to 令状 me a line in reply. I do not ask it.

"I do not say adieu, for I 心から hope that at some 未来 time we shall see a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 of each other.

"Believe me to be, my dear 行方不明になる Loment, your earnest friend and 支持者.

"Henry 裁判官"

After flashing through the letter from beginning to end, to 抽出する its message, Isbel 許すd it to slip from her 手渡す, while she sat 支援する with の近くに 注目する，もくろむs...Then she 選ぶd it up again, and twice re-read it, word by word. During the perusal her bosom rose and sank the 血 開始するing to her 直面する, and once or twice she laughed...

鎮圧するing the sheets into her handbag, she の近くにd it with an angry snap.

So that was over!...

The 経営者／支配人 護衛するd her to the outer door. At the foot of the hotel steps she （機の）カム to a 行き詰まり, not knowing in the least what to do, or where to go. She caught sight of an elegantly dressed lady, in expensive furs, who was in the 行為／法令／行動する of entering a の近くにd car not five yards away from where she was standing. The chauffeur wsa taking his final 指示／教授／教育s, 準備の to assuming his seat. The lady's 支援する was に向かって her, but somehow her 人物／姿／数字 struck a familiar chord.

"...But first of all, Runhill 法廷，裁判所," said the unknown, as she stooped to get in.

Isbel felt bemused. It was not the 目的地 指名するd which 狼狽d her faculties, and made her feel as though she were in a dream--though this 目的地 was 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の enough, in all 良心--but the intonation with which the words were uttered. That 甘い, 沈むing whisper belonged only to one person of her 知識, and she could not conceive a second 発言する／表明する like it in the world. It was Mrs. Richborough's...

As the car drove off she 得るd a 選び出す／独身 早い glimpse of the lady's 直面する. Mrs. Richborough was dead, and therefore it could not be she; but, then, it must be her twin sister. The resemblance was 絶対 uncanny...井戸／弁護士席, it was not difficult to understand why a sister should be there at such a distressful time--but what in the world was she doing at Runhill? What possible 利益／興味 could she have in that house? Evidently some mystery was 進行中で...Could it be that 裁判官 had arranged a 会合 with her there ーするために talk over the 事件／事情／状勢s of her late sister? But what 事件／事情／状勢s could there be to discuss between them? And why select that out-of-the-way 位置／汚点／見つけ出す for the interview? What did it all mean?...

She turned to the smart-looking young hotel door-porter, who still stood gazing after the car. "Who is that lady?"

"Lady Brooke, 行方不明になる."

"Is she in any way 関係のある to the late Mrs. Richborough, do you know?"

"I've never seen them together, 行方不明になる, and I should say it's very ありそうもない. Lady Brooke is a very 排除的 lady."

"She did tell the chauffeur Runhill 法廷，裁判所, didn't she?"

"No, 行方不明になる--Arundel," was the surprised answer.

Isbel was 大いに perplexed, but thought it wise to ask no more questions about her. She 問い合わせd for, and was directed to the nearest 雇うing garage in the neighbourhood of the hotel.

It had entered her mind that she, too, must go to Runhill, though what she 推定する／予想するd to 遂行する by so doing, she had no idea...that the door-porter must have received 確かな 指示／教授／教育s--or, perhaps he had mistaken the person she had referred to. She knew that it was either Mrs. Richborough or her twin-sister. And she knew that that woman had said "Runhill 法廷，裁判所." It was 絶対 necessary and important that she should follow her there, to see what was on foot...And, of course, Mr. 裁判官 must be waiting for her there...and it was all lies! lies! lies!

She was lucky in getting a landaulette at once. Money was of no account to her, she agreed to the 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 需要・要求するd without demur, and within five minutes was on her way.

The car was 不正に sprung, and 揺さぶるd her abominably; the cushions stank of oil; her tooth started to ache again. Although it was not 現実に raining, the day was 暗い／優うつな and forbidding, and everything seemed saturated with damp. Water dripped from the trees. The roads were greasy and they kept skidding. Not a 選び出す／独身 gleam of light sky 約束d better things. Isbel squeezed herself in a corner, and の近くにd her 注目する，もくろむs.

After passing Steyning, she roused herself. The chauffeur seemed an utter idiot--his work was in this part of the country, and yet he was forever pulling up to ask her for directions. She told him as 井戸／弁護士席 as she could...Would this terrible 旅行 never come to an end?...

At last they reached the 小道／航路 which ran past the 宿泊する. Here the road forked. One 小道／航路 went by the 宿泊する; the other, which she did not know, appeared to skirt the western 境界 of the 広い地所, going 予定 north somewhere. The chauffeur stopped the car once more at this fork, and Isbel was about to direct him to proceed straight 今後 when suddenly her 注目する，もくろむs 残り／休憩（する）d on a fashionably-dressed woman in furs, who ws walking quickly but delicately up the second 小道／航路, away from them. She was about twenty yards ahead, and was alone...it was she...So he had lied, that porter!...But, oh heavens! what an appalling resemblance to Mrs. Richborough. She could 選ぶ up that step out of a thousand others...Then she wasn't dead. The whole thing was a 共謀, directed against her, Isbel. 裁判官 had fallen a 犠牲者 to that woman at last, and they were 静かに putting her out of the way, as an inconvenient person. The hotel 経営者／支配人 had been 賄賂d. There was really nothing left to explain...

"You needn't come any その上の. I'm getting out." Isbel ふさわしい the 活動／戦闘 to the word.

The man looked 不満な. "Am I to wait?"

"No, you can go home. Do I 支払う／賃金 you, or the garage?"

存在 a casual hirer she had to 支払う／賃金 him. She hurriedly gave him 公式文書，認めるs to cover the 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金, and, without waiting for the change, or 利益／興味ing herself in his その上の movements, at once turned her 支援する on him and started quickly up the 小道／航路, 一連の会議、交渉／完成する the bend of which the unknown woman had by this time 消えるd.

She reached the bend herself. The disagreeable noise of the 出発／死ing car grew fainter and fainter as the distance 増加するd between them, until finally she heard no sounds but those of nature. Everything around her was moist, dripping, and sullen...Mrs. Richborough--for she had now no 疑問 that it was she--was still a かなりの distance in 前線. They were both walking 速く, so there was no question of catching her up. Isbel did not やめる understand where she was going to, but probably there was another way into the grounds from this 味方する, which would obviate the necessity of passing through the 宿泊する-gate...But, if so, how had that woman come to know of it? And, by the way, where had her car disappeared to?...Isbel asked herself many questions during that period, but she was unable to answer any one of them.

The whole 権利-手渡す 味方する of the 小道／航路 was 国境d by an 古代の, red-brick 塀で囲む which bounded the 広い地所. Beyond it was a park, looking grey and disconsolate enough on such a day as this; the wet grass was 膝-high, and every faintest breath of 勝利，勝つd brought water off the brown-leaved trees. The park sloped downhill from the 小道／航路 at first, but presently it became level. A dark grey shadowy 集まり on the 今後 権利 was probably the house itself; very likely it was not so far away as it looked, but the light was so bad...Suddenly half-way along a straight stretch of 小道／航路, her quarry 消えるd...

Isbel was careful to keep her 注目する，もくろむ on the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す where she had last 観察するd her. No 疑問 there would be an 入り口 there into the grounds.

Upon coming up to it she 設立する her 予期 was realised. A small アイロンをかける wicket-gate opened into the park. It had been swung to, but was unlatched. A gravel walk, barely wide enough for two people 味方する by 味方する, led through the grass and under trees に向かって what could now distinctly be seen to be the house. It was わずかに 上りの／困難な. Isbel passed in without hesitation.

After walking quickly for about five minutes, she again saw the woman. She was as far ahead as ever. She had reached the foot of the 法外な sloping lawn under the house, and now turned はっきりと to the left, which would evidently bring her to the north-east 味方する of the building--though how she could be so 確かな of her direction on this, her first visit to the grounds, was more than Isbel could say. The house itself was by this time やめる の近くに. Standing high above her, in the grey もや, it looked a 抱擁する, weird erection, the more 特に as it was a mere silhouette. The part which 直面するd her must be the 支援する--the French windows of the dining-room, the bedrooms of the 最高の，を越す storey, etc...But the time that Isbel had 伸び（る）d of the same 位置／汚点／見つけ出す, beneath the lawn, the woman had again disappeared. She also turned to the left.

The path curved, and in another minute or two she was in 十分な 見解（をとる） of the north-east 前線. The lawn, which was still steeper on this 味方する, towered above her in that 薄暗い visibility like a veritable mountain slope, and 栄冠を与えるing it was the 広大な／多数の／重要な house, 広大な, shadowy, and grim. She could just make out the gable underneath which was the window of the East Room.

While she paused to gaze up, she became aware that the woman was standing の近くに beside her. Then her 疑問s were 除去する. It was Mrs. Richborough!...there was something disquieting and peculiar in her 外見, however...Perhaps it was the way she was standing. Her 手渡すs were 解放する／自由な, and they crossed, not over her breast but over the lower part of her 団体／死体, with straightened 肘s. She was also very 築く and still. Her 直面する appeared white and smiling, under the decorative 隠す she wore--but perhaps it was illusion, the light wsa so poor. Isbel felt a strange uneasiness.

"They told me at the hotel that--something happened to you."

"Oh, yes--I am dead," （機の）カム the whispering 発言する／表明する. "I died last night."

And then Isbel realised that her 注目する，もくろむs ere の近くにd, that this 存在 standing opposite to her, with the dress and 耐えるing of a 流行の／上流の woman, did not see the world as other people!...

Her tongue was paralysed, and she shook from 長，率いる to foot.

The apparition 消えるd.

一時期／支部 XIX THE FLASH OF DAY

The もや （機の）カム on 厚い. It was so wetting that her 着せる／賦与するs and 直面する streamed with moisture, though she was too 苦しめるd to think of 捜し出すing 避難所. The upper lawn appeared as a dark 影をつくる／尾行する against the paler grey of the sky, while the house itself was out of sight.

As she stood trying to 打ち勝つ her agitation, something began to 影響する／感情 her ears. It was not 正確に／まさに a sound, but was more like a 激しい pulsing. Her 長，率いる throbbed with it, till she thought she should go mad. Then it 中止するd 突然の.

Five minutes later, the 人物／姿／数字 of a man ぼんやり現れるd up out of the もや and approached her. It wsa 裁判官. Isbel 圧力（をかける）d her fur tightly to her throat and turned away.

"So it is you!"

When he replied, there wsa a 抑えるd exuberance in his 発言する／表明する which すぐに 逮捕（する）d her attention by its unusualness.

"Yes, it is I."

"Then you told me an untruth? You have not gone to London?"

"I called here on my way 支援する."

"井戸／弁護士席, I got your letter. Perhaps you are wondering why I have followed you here, after having received my 解雇／（訴訟の）却下. I don't want anything from you, and I don't know myself why I （機の）カム. Mrs. Richborough led me here. I know now that she's dead, but I have seen her and spoken to her, for all that."

裁判官 seemed not to 発言／述べる her 声明, for he asked another question:

"Did you hear my playing?"

"Your playing?"

"Yes."...He 注目する，もくろむd her curiously. "Your manner is very 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の. Surely you recognise where you are? Are you awake or asleep?"

"I'm やめる awake and I fully realise where I am, Mr. 裁判官. I'm trespassing in your grounds--but it won't be for long. I'm going home now."

"港／避難所't you been to the house?"

"Your house? Hardly, I think."

He drew a step closer, and for the first time she 観察するd that he was not wearing a hat.

"Tell me where you think you are?"

"I have already told you. It is your manner which is very singular, Mr. 裁判官. Are you やめる 井戸／弁護士席?".

"Listen! I am talking with you here, and I am where we wished to be yesterday. Does it not seem so to you, too?"

"I don't understand you. Where did we wish to be yesterday?"

He gave her another searching look. "So you really are seeing 異なって. And you have not been up that staircase to-day?"

"I 港／避難所't 始める，決める foot inside your house, I tell you. Have you lost your senses?"

"No; but I have been up that staircase to-day, and I have not yet come 負かす／撃墜する again."

"Oh, my God!" said Isbel 静かに.

"I was wretched, and could not keep away from the house. It 含む／封じ込めるd all my memories. The stairs were there; I climbed them. Passing straight into that other room, I got through the window, and 後継するd in reaching the ground without 事故, though it was not 平易な..."

She 星／主役にするd at him with 脅すd 注目する，もくろむs. "And where are you now?"

"I am standing beside you in the open country, in 十分な 日光--and it is spring, not autumn."

"You cannot believe it. You must see for yourself that it isn't so. Feel me--I'm wet with the 罰金 rain."

But he （機の）カム no nearer.

"The man is asleep, and the sight of his 器具 put an idea into my 長，率いる. I could not see you, but I felt you were somewhere in the neighbourhood--so I played to you..."

"What man?"

"The man we saw from the window yesterday."

There was an embarrassed silence.

"But this is awful!" said Isbel..."You must be 試みる／企てるing to mystify me, Mr. 裁判官. If not..."

"No, I am speaking the truth, Isbel; and I am やめる 合理的な／理性的な."

The 血 （機の）カム to her 直面する. "You have not yet acquired the 権利 to call me by that 指名する, Mr, 裁判官."

"You don't understand--but 事柄s can be 始める，決める 権利."

"Where are you now going?"

He had started to move off, but stopped at her question.

"I shall play again."

"But this is sheer insanity."

"You did not think so last evening, when we heard that music in the hall."

She said nothing.

"Let me go," proceeded 裁判官 静かに. "I ask you only to reserve your 裁判／判断 for five minutes, and in the 合間 to wait here. Should I fail to open your 注目する，もくろむs by then, I give you 十分な 許可 to think of me what you will. Please wait."

Isbel 星／主役にするd after him with a puzzled frown, as he made his way up and across the long, wet grass. He had hardly taken ten steps before his form 合併するd into the grey of the もや and was swallowed up. She heard nothing but the dripping of the sodden trees.

While waiting, with a 急速な／放蕩な-（警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing heart, for the 結果 of this strange 商売／仕事, she experienced the same sensations in her ears as before. It was an inaudible throbbing, too 示すd to be 無視（する）d, but so unassociated that she was unable even to decide if its 原因（となる） were 内部の or 外部の. After continuing for a minute or two, it left off as suddenly as it had started. Nearly at the same time she was surprised to see the day 速く brightening. The sky grew はしけ, and the もやs thinner; she could look その上の away each moment. In いっそう少なく than five minutes after 裁判官's 出発 the sun itself had come through. The blue sky appeared, the ground vapours 分散させるd, and the whole country became 明白な. The 移行 ws so abrupt that she scarcely knew how to take it; almost in a flash, to the radiance and heat of an 早期に summer day. A 勝利，勝つd sprang up, and long before she had 融通するd herself to the change there was not a wisp of cloud in the sky. She 緩和するd her fur 包む.

She was standing in the same 態度--looking up に向かって the house. Suddenly a shock passed through her system. She had just realised the house was gone. It had 消えるd, 絶対 and 完全に. And not only the house, but its grounds 同様に, 含むing the very lawn on which her foot had been 残り／休憩（する）ing...She discovered herself to be on the 味方する of a 法外な, grassy hill, through the turf of which the naked chalk showed. She was some way 負かす／撃墜する from the 最高の，を越す, but there was not the least room for 疑問 that there was no building there; its 明らかにする 山の尾根 joined the sky from end to end...Here was a 奇蹟 indeed!...

Upon turning 速く to see what was behind her, she was bewildered to 会合，会う the 同一の panorama which she and 裁判官 had 見解（をとる）d yesterday from that window. The hillside she stood on was where the strangely-dressed man had been; she recognised at once by its general configuration and relation to the landscape. The sharp, smooth slope descended to the same little valley, along which flowed the same little brook; beyond it was that other hill, with the 無傷の forest stretching to the horizon...after 星／主役にするing for a few moments, she clapped her 手渡す to her 注目する，もくろむs, and cried out. She could not understand it, and she 恐れるd she was on the point of losing her 推論する／理由. But when she looked again she saw the same things, 負かす／撃墜する to the smallest 詳細（に述べる）, and all was so brightly-coloured, so solid, so real in 外見, that she could not hesitate any longer to 受託する the scene as 存在 現実に existent...And it was so beautiful! The forest trees were 着せる／賦与するd in fresh green leaves, the smaller trees in the valley underneath were smothered with white blossom, song-birds trilled and twittered, a 支持を得ようと努めるd pigeon was cooing softly, two distant cuckoos seemed to be answering each other, high 総計費 a lark ぱたぱたするd and sang. The caressing 勝利，勝つd brought to her the rich, moist fragrance of the whole countryside...Yes, yes--it was spring!...

She remembered everything. Every particular of her three visits to those other rooms at Runhill returned to her with startling distinctness, so that she was amazed how she could ever have forgotten. Moreover, her whole relation to Henry, both in 私的な and in public, was suddenly made （疑いを）晴らす. She saw how worldly prudence on his 味方する, angry pride on hers, had nearly 後継するd in 難破させるing their happiness, and how this 明言する／公表する of 事件／事情／状勢s had arisen, not from any fault of character on either part, not from any insufficiency of love, but from pure ignorance of the fact. They had not known that they belonged to each other...

Her heart sang as she saw him approaching her from higher up. He was only a short distance away. Still その上の 支援する, behind him, she caught a glimpse of the gaily-dressed musician. He was lying on his 味方する, 長，率いる 上りの／困難な, 支援する に向かって her, 明らかに asleep; hiss fiddle-形態／調整d 器具 was beside him. Isbel gave him a silent welcome, but at that moment Henry was the more wonderful 見通し of the two. She had no real 注目する，もくろむs for anything but him.

They 急いでd to each other with outstretched 手渡すs.

"You heard me this time?" laughed Henry, enfolding her and looking 負かす／撃墜する into her 注目する，もくろむs.

"My ears throbbed--was that really you?...Oh, Henry, what a terribly 狭くする escape we've had! How could we have been so 絶対 insane? Surely we must have know that that （犯罪の）一味 was not thrown away for nothing?..."

"Some 肉親，親類d 運命／宿命 is watching over us, evidently. Whether we deserve it by our stupidity is やめる another 事柄...However, you see now I'm not so mad as you thought I was?"

"It's heaven, I think. But is it true?...Where has the house gone to?"

"We're in the house."

Even while they were speaking, the brightness of the day began perceptibly to fade, almost as though a solar （太陽，月の）食／失墜 were creeping on. The sun became obscured by 煙霧, the blue of the sky grew paler and paler, thin もやs 開始するd again to はう about the lower 地域s. The 勝利，勝つd dropped, and a sort of hush （機の）カム over the scene. The birds sang more fitfully.

"It's getting darker," whispered Isbel, with a slight shiver, uneasily 製図／抽選 her fur closer to her.

"No, no. 解任する the 可能性. It can't change now." His strong-featured 直面する smiled 負かす／撃墜する at her protectingly.

"Let's hope not...How do you mean--'we're in the house'?"

"I entered it from the grounds, and I 港／避難所't passed out again into the grounds, therefore I'm still in it--and you're with me. I don't profess to understand, but it is so, and it can't be さもなければ."

The もや sensibly thickened. Isbel could scarcely distinguished the trees on the opposite 味方する of the valley. The sun disappeared, the sky was a whitish grey, while the 空気／公表する felt 冷淡な and damp.

"Henry, I'm going!" she said, 静かに detaching herself from his embrace..."Everything's 落ちるing 支援する..."

His 直面する fell in alarm. "What's the 事柄? What's happening to you?..."

"We're returning t the old 明言する／公表する. The sun's gone in, and it's growing misty and 冷淡な...Oh, can't you see it?"

"No, I can't. There's no difference at all--the day is as glorious as ever it was...発揮する your will!..."

"My mind is getting all mixed up, too. I seem to be losing my 支配する of things...Do you know, I can hardly remember yesterday?"

"My poor, poor girl! Make an 成果／努力. 軍隊 yourself to see that it isn't so."

"Unfortunately, one cannot 征服する／打ち勝つ facts. Oh, I'm going 支援する 権利 enough. It's been a short-lived dream this time--but it doesn't signify."

裁判官 bit his nails in agitation. "What's to be done? Something must be done. I must think of something..."

"I verily believe you are more 関心d than I," she replied smiling. "You had better wake that man. Is he still lying there? I can no longer see."

"Wake him?"

"Is he too terrible to be waked?"

"His 直面する is buried in his arm."

"Perhaps he will help us. He has done so before. But he quick! It will soon be too late."

"I'll go at once. May it turn out 井戸／弁護士席! There's something very unusual in his 外見."

By the time both the crest of the hill and the valley beneath were blotted out. She was unable to see for more than a few feet around her, while the もや 似ているd a 罰金, 運動ing rain, which did its work 非，不，無 the いっそう少なく effectually because it was impalpable.

She 調印するd to 裁判官 to stop, and, after 星／主役にするing at him for a few moments, with knitted brows, said:

"I'm afraid I've lost the thread of my ideas. Of whom are we speaking?"

"Of that man. The musician."

"What man? What musician?"

"Isbel!..."

"Mr. 裁判官," she said 静かに, "my 長，率いる is very 混乱させるd, and I have to 罪を認める to not remembering what or whom we were talking about; but one thing I do recollect. I requested you a short time ago to 演説（する）／住所 me with the same 儀礼 which you would use に向かって any other lady of your 知識."

裁判官 turned pale, and 屈服するd.

"You left me a few minutes ago," she went on, "and it seems you've come 支援する. Is there any advantage to be 伸び（る）d by our 追求するing this conversation?"

"I have no explanation to 申し込む／申し出 which you would at 現在の be able to understand. I will absent myself once more. Please be good enough to wait here a few moments longer. I have 完全にする 信用／信任 that everything will be made （疑いを）晴らす to you."

His features bore an 表現 of earnestness and humility which 後継するd only in still その上の irritating her.

"No, I'm going home. Your 行為／行う ever since yesterday, Mr. 裁判官, is 完全に beyond my comprehension, but I will put the most charitable construction upon it that I can, and give you a word of advice. Continue your 旅行 to London with as little 延期する as possible, and lose not time in 捜し出すing your 医療の 助言者."

裁判官 屈服するd again.

"I think we shall not see one another again," proceeded Isbel. "I will take this 適切な時期 of 説 good-bye. It has been a very...broken friendship."

Without waiting for any その上の speech from him, she started slowly to 開始する the lawn, having no 限定された 計画（する）s for getting 支援する to Brighton, but feeling that she would 伸び（る） her bearings better from the house in the first place. She did not rust herself to retrace the 大勝する by which she had come. The 厚い, white, rolling vapours shut her in, as in a 刑務所，拘置所...裁判官, standing there in brilliant 日光 and an atmosphere which showed everything as （疑いを）晴らす-削減（する） and painted, saw her one moment, and failed to see her the next. She had disappeared before his 注目する，もくろむs. He made a gesture of 狼狽, and began in hot haste to 緊急発進する up the hillside obliquely, in the direction of the sleeping musician.

* * *

Isbel heard a long, low, 捨てるing sound, like the slow 製図／抽選 of a 屈服する across the low string of a 深い-トンd viol. It was 後継するd by silence.

She was by this time の近くに up to the house, and she looked に向かって it, but was unable to understand where she had come to. It was a different building. 同様に as could be distinguished through the もや, it was 建設するd 完全に of unpainted 木材／素質, from 最高の，を越す to 底（に届く）; the roof was flat, without gables, and there appeared to be four storeys. Then the 霧 shut out the 見通し again.

A strange warmth was running through her 団体／死体. All her other sensations seemed to be 合併するd in the recollection that she was a woman...Fever was abroad in the 空気／公表する, and her 血 grew hotter and hotter...

That musical noise returned, but now the 公式文書，認める was low, 猛烈な／残忍な, 熱烈な, 正確に／まさに 似ているing a 深い, 軍隊d human cry of love-苦痛...

Everything happened in a 選び出す／独身 second. Between twin periods of 霧 and gloom, （機の）カム one flash of summer sunlight. It entered upon her with the abrupt unexpectedness of a 一打／打撃, and before she realised where she was, or what had happened to her, it had 出発／死d again leaving her stunned and terrified. 一方／合間, this is what she seemed to see. She was standing in 日光 again, on that 明らかにする hill, gazing at the distant forest, across the valley. The sky was cloudless. She was nearly at the 最高の，を越す of the hill, and the house had 消えるd...She recollected everything, but could settle to nothing. Her mood was one of unutterable excitement and 無謀な audacity; she appeared to herself to be laughing and sobbing under her breath...

Henry and that other man were 直面するing each other on the hillside, a little way below her. The man was tall and stout, and, in his 有望な-coloured, archaic 衣料品s, 削減（する） an 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 人物／姿／数字. He held his 器具 against his chest, and was in the 行為／法令／行動する of 製図／抽選 his 屈服する across it--the 公式文書，認める she had heard had not yet come to an end. His 支援する was turned に向かって her, so that she could not see his 直面する, but Henry, who was standing 築く and motionless beyond, was looking 権利 into it, and, from his 表現, it was as though he were beholding some appalling 見通し!...She 叫び声をあげるd and ran に向かって him, calling him by 指名する. Before she had taken three steps, however, the musician jerked his whole 軍隊 savagely into his 屈服する-arm, and she was brought up with a violent shock. Such sharp brutality of passion she had never heard 表明するd by any sound...The sunlight grew suddenly hotter and darker, the landscape appeared to の近くに 速く in upon her, some 大災害 was 差し迫った; her 血 was boiling and 氷点の...

At that moment it seemed to her that yonder strange man was the centre around which everything in the landscape was moving, and that she herself was no more than his dream!...

And then Henry's 直面する was crossed by an 表現 of sickness; he changed colour; she caught a faint groan, and 直接／まっすぐに afterwards he sank helplessly to the ground, where he continued lying やめる still...she stood paralysed, 星／主役にするing in horror...

The sunlight 消えるd instantaneously. Everything was grey and 冷淡な again, the sky was leaden; she saw nothing but 運動ing rain-もやs...She rubbed her 注目する，もくろむs with her knuckes, wondering what had occurred, how she （機の）カム to be standing there, as in a dream, why she felt so sick and troubled?...

Then she 静かに fainted where she stood.

一時期／支部 XX MARSHALL'S JOURNEY

On arriving at Lloyd's at ten o'clock on the same morning, Marshall 設立する の中で his letters a typewritten envelope of uncommercial size and 形態／調整. Out of curiosity, he opened it the first. The communication enclosed was typed on small, feminine notepaper, and was neither 演説（する）／住所d nor 調印するd. It was, in fact, 匿名の／不明の. Before reading it, he turned again to the envelope, to 検査／視察する the postmark. It was stamped 価値（がある）ing. The only person he could think of as staying at 価値（がある）ing was 裁判官.

He read the に引き続いて words:

"If Mr. Stokes is 利益／興味d to know how 行方不明になる L--spends her time during his 一時的な absences, it might be 同様に for him to 問い合わせ at Runhill 法廷，裁判所. There is every 推論する／理由 to believe that she will be there to-morrow (Friday) morning before lunch, for the third time this week, and he may consider the 事柄 of 十分な importance to 正当化する his presence there on the same occasion. Should it not be before lunch, it may be after. It is believed that there are rooms in the house which are not 平易な to discover."

Marshall carefully 倍のd the letter, and deposited it in his pocket-cast. Then he sat 支援する, and began to slowly pass his を引き渡す his 注目する，もくろむs and forehead.

His first impulse was to ignore the whole 商売／仕事, destroy the 公式文書，認める, and say nothing about it to Isbel or anyone else. To start 実験（する）ing the 正確 of a 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金, of which, 自然に, he did not believe a 選び出す／独身 word, would be 同等（の） to admitting that there might be a 可能性 of truth in it, and that would be a 恐ろしい 侮辱 to Isbel...

But then there was the question of 名誉き損. Some ill-性質の／したい気がして person--probably a woman--was evidently bent on mischief, and it was doubtful how far she would go if no 反対する-活動／戦闘 was taken. The thing 明白に was to find out, in the first place, who wrote the letter. The police were out of the question, and 私的な 調査 スパイ／執行官s were not much better; he did not ーするつもりである to have her 指名する bandied about by these professional gentlemen. She herself was the only one who might be ale to throw light on the 商売／仕事. He would show her the letter that same evening when he went 負かす／撃墜する to Brighton, and they would talk it over together. A person who was 用意が出来ている to go to that 犯罪の length did not spring out of empty space--Isbel would have a tolerable idea who it was, and why she, or he, had done it...

Of course, spite was at the 底（に届く） of it. But what he could not やめる see through was the explicit character of the 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金. Where was the sense of 引用するing time and place, when the writer must be aware that any 活動／戦闘 taken on the 声明 would expose the whole damned 嘘（をつく）? Probably it was a bit of low cunning. It was thought that he would not take 活動／戦闘, an that the 毒（薬） would continue to rankle in his mind...That seemed all 権利 as far as he could see. And in that 事例／患者 he was not at all sure that it might not be good 政策 to make the move he was not 推定する／予想するd to make. Of course, before going to Runhill, to see what game was on foot, he would look Isbel up at Brighton, and very likely take her with him.

He made hurried 手はず／準備 with his 副 to carry on during his absence, and すぐに afterwards left for Victoria.

It was not long after noon when he arrived at the Gondy Hotel. Mrs. Moor gave an exclamation of surprise when she saw him.

"Good gracious, Marshall!--what can this mean?"

He told a story of having met a man..."Where's Isbel?" he 追加するd quickly.

Isbel, it seemed, had been out for two hours, and Mrs. Moor had no idea where she was.

In a very 分解するd manner, Marshall muttered something about returning later in the day. He took his 出発 突然の--almost rudely. She could not think what had come over him. Probably it was some 商売／仕事 worry.

一方／合間 Marshall, with a 直面する which grew sterner each minute, sought his car in the hotel garage. While it was 存在 got out, he produced and lit a cigar. He wished t 保証する himself that his feelings were tranquil, and that the visit to Runhill he was about to make was a やめる ordinary, 事柄-of-fact 処理／取引, of no special consequence, and undertaken 単に as a piece of necessary 決まりきった仕事 work...Perhaps he really did not see, perhaps he did not wish to see, that it can never be an ordinary 処理／取引 to 実験（する） a woman's honour...

He got in, turned up the collar of his rainproof coat, pulled 負かす／撃墜する his 鎮圧するd-in hat, and started off. It was a ４半期/4分の1 to one. He 押し進めるd the car along 急速な／放蕩な to Shoreham, but, once past the houses, he let her go altogether...In just over the half hour he reached Runhill 宿泊する.

Priday appeared.

Marshall got 負かす／撃墜する..."Good afternoon! Is there anyone up at the house?" He had returned the cigar-stump t his mouth when he had spoken.

"The boss is there, sir."

"Mr. 裁判官?"

"Ah."

"Anyone with him?" The keen glint of his 注目する，もくろむ, as he threw a 味方する-ちらりと見ること, belied his indifferent トン.

"No, sir, he's by himself. He ain't been there much above half an hour."

Marshall remained silent for a minute.

"I'll walk up to him, I think."

"Shall I open the gate?"

"No, I said I'd walk up. The car's やめる all 権利 where it is. Thank you, Priday."

He threw away his stump, passed through the 味方する gate, and started slowly up the 運動, with bent 長，率いる. Priday, after gazing after him for a short time, disappeared again inside the 宿泊する. The dismal, wetting もや made it no sort of day to be out in.

As he approached the house, Marshall saw a small car standing outside the main 入り口. It was evidently 裁判官's. When he （機の）カム up to it, he leant over the 味方する, to make a somewhat ashamed, but 非，不，無 the いっそう少なく careful scrutiny of the seats and 床に打ち倒す. He hardly dared to 自白する himself what he 恐れるd to see there. It was with 深く心に感じた 救済 that he failed to （悪事，秘密などを）発見する anything of a 妥協ing character. He crossed to the house. The hall door was 打ち明けるd; he opened it, and went straight in.

The hall was grey, sombre, and silent. He wondered which would be the likeliest part of the house to start looking for 裁判官...Nine chances out of ten, he would be upstairs in his favourite lurking-位置／汚点／見つけ出す--the East Room. It might be good sense to go there first...What did that damned correspondence mean by there 存在 rooms hard to find?...Oh, hell! Isbel couldn't be there. Priday said no one was there except 裁判官...why the devil wsa he wasting precious timen mooning in the hall, when he ought by now to be up at the 最高の，を越す of the house?...

He made for the main staircase and raced up, three steps at a time. Without pausing on the 上陸, he すぐに attacked the upper flight, and in いっそう少なく than a minute was groping his way through the 黒人／ボイコット 不明瞭 of the upstairs 回廊（地帯）.

He saw at once that the door of the East Room was standing open. Upon getting closer he saw something else. A man was lying, 密談する／（身体を）寄せ集めるd and motionless, on the 床に打ち倒す, 近づく one of the 塀で囲むs. It 要求するd no flash of inspiration to guess that it was 裁判官--but what had happened to him? Was he asleep, fainting, or drunk?...He leapt over to him, and pulled his 直面する 一連の会議、交渉／完成する...then let go again in horror. The man was dead!...

There was no 疑問 of the fact, and there was little 疑問 of the 原因（となる） of death. The discoloured 直面する told its own story--apoplexy!...To make やめる sure, he 実験（する）d the heart. After crouching for at least five minutes, with his 手渡す on 裁判官's naked chest, he saw that it was hopeless to go on--there was not the faintest whisper of a heart-（警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域.

He did whatever he thought was すぐに necessary, then walked away and downstairs, to fetch 援助.

The 予期しない 悲劇 had put his own 事件／事情／状勢 完全に out of his 長，率いる. He had forgotten Isbel's 関係 with the house, and, for the moment, almost her very 存在. He was too preoccupied with his 即座の 計画（する）s for 活動／戦闘 to see anything around him; さもなければ, upon reaching the 長，率いる of the main staircase, he would have at once perceived, straight ahead of him, Isbel herself, sitting in a 議長，司会を務める 近づく the other end of the hall. As it was, it was not until he was の近くに upon her that he jumped 支援する with a start...Her 直面する was white, her 注目する，もくろむs were の近くにd, her 着せる／賦与するing appeared to be wet and stained with mud, while her whole 態度 was one of lassitude and exhaustion.

"Isbel! What does this mean?..." He （機の）カム on again until he nearly stood over her. She opened her 注目する，もくろむs slowly and looked up with 疲れた／うんざりした 無関心／冷淡, manifesting no surprise at his presence, nor, indeed, any emotion whatever.

"How did you get here?" was all she asked.

"Never mind me. How did you come to be in this house?"

"I fainted outside, and （機の）カム in to sit 負かす／撃墜する, before going home."

"Outside? But what were you doing outside? What are you doing in this part of the world at all?"

It was several seconds before she answered.

"Don't be hard on me, Marshall, I can't explain now...I have a 自白 to make--but not now."

He whipped the 匿名の／不明の letter out of his pocket-事例／患者, and 手渡すd it to her. "Will you read that?"

She did so, while he watched her closely; his heart sank, as he saw that she showed neither astonishment nor indignation. She read it through twice, やめる apathetically, and then passed it 支援する without a word.

"井戸／弁護士席?..." 需要・要求するd Marshall.

"I know who wrote that. Is that what you want?"

"Never mind who wrote it. Is it true?"

"Perhaps it isn't true; but it was written in good 約束. I meant to come here this morning with Mr. 裁判官, but he disappointed me."

"I see...May I ask why...?"--but he was unable to finish.

"Why, I wished to be here with him?..." She smiled 激しく. "Please don't 圧力（をかける） me to give explanation which you won't receive."

There was dead silence.

"Then you 港／避難所't seen him to-day?" asked Marshall.

"I can't say--I don't know. I don't know whom I've seen, and whom I 港／避難所't seen. I have fainted. I don't know anything."

"So perhaps you don't know where he is at this moment?"

"That I'll 断言する to, Marshall. I've only just this minute entered the house for the first time."

"Then I'll tell you. He's upstairs in the East Room"...He looked at her, to see if she were as ignorant of the 悲劇 as her words and manner professed, but she did not even appear 利益／興味d.

"Dead," he 追加するd, suddenly and 残酷に.

Isbel half-rose from her eat, and turned such a greenish colour that he thought she was about to swoon again, but he did not go to her 援助. She 回復するd herself by an 成果／努力.

"Have you killed him?" she 需要・要求するd 静かに.

"I have not. I don't believe in 私的な 暗殺s. He has had some sort of fit--and now I'm off to tell Priday and fetch a doctor...We had better 再開する this very 利益／興味ing conversation later. And if I may 投機・賭ける to 申し込む／申し出 a suggestion--there will probably be an 検死, and, if you have no special 願望（する） to appear の中で the 証言，証人／目撃するs, it would be 同様に for you to lose no time in getting （疑いを）晴らす of the 前提s. Does anyone know you're here, barring 裁判官 himself?"

"No."

"Then how did you get in?"

"By another gate."

"井戸／弁護士席, take my advice, and go out the same way. Can you find your way on to the main Steyning road?"

"I 推定する／予想する so."

"Then walk on, and I'll 選ぶ you up in the car その上の on. I've got to fetch a doctor, so you'll be there as son as I shall...Go now--don't waste time."

Isbel remained sitting.

"Marshall!..."

"What is it?"

"How long has he been dead?"

"Priday says he's only been in the house half an hour. That was fifteen minutes ago, perhaps. He can't have been dead long. Why?"

"Because I feel as if something has snapped inside me since I feel 負かす／撃墜する in that faint. It must have been at the same time...Do you think it strange that I don't 表明する a wish to go up and see him?"

"I'm exceedingly sorry, Isbel, but I can't enter into your wishes of feelings. Of course, there's not the slightest need for you to go up, and I 堅固に advise you not to..."

She directed a pitiful smile に向かって him. "I know there's no going 支援する to the old 明言する／公表する. Please don't imagine that I even wish to. I 単に want to tell you that perhaps my feelings に向かって him were not altogether what you think they were. I..."

"But you （機の）カム here to 会合，会う him?"

Isbel dived into her handbag impulsively. "Marshall, you've shown me a letter; now I'll show you one...Read that."

He took it rather unwillingly, and skimmed it through.

"Who is this Mrs. Richborough he speaks about?"

"The person who wrote to you."

"It seems a 致命的な 商売／仕事 all 一連の会議、交渉／完成する. And is this letter of 裁判官's a blind, or did it really 延長する no その上の?"

"I wish you to believe that Mr. 裁判官 was a man of honour...That's all. Now I'll go...I won't 侮辱 you by 表明するing my 悲しみ for the position I've put you in...You have always been good to me, and I'm afraid I've repaid you in the meanest possible way...Good-bye, for the time 存在!"

She got up, and started to つまずく に向かって the door.

"Do you feel yourself able to walk as far as I 提案するd?" Marshall asked in a singular トン.

She stopped to look 支援する over her shoulder. "It seems to me that I have no 代案／選択肢."

"That's やめる true. I can't come with you, for I have this awful 商売／仕事 to …に出席する to. How long will it take you to get （疑いを）晴らす of the grounds by the way you're going?"

"I don't know--ten minutes..."

"I'll sit here for ten minutes by my watch, and then make my way to the 宿泊する. Walk on に向かって Steyning, and, if I 港／避難所't 選ぶd you up by the time you have reached there, wait モミ me at the 駅／配置する. Is that （疑いを）晴らす?"

"Yes, Marshall."

"Incidentally, how did you get here?"

"By 雇うd car form 価値（がある）ing, but I 解任するd the driver short of the house."

"All 権利, then--you'd better （疑いを）晴らす off."

He sat 負かす／撃墜する in the 議長，司会を務める which she had vacated, and pulled out his watch. Isbel hesitated a moment, as if she wished to say something more, then a flash of 怒り／怒る at her own 証拠不十分 seemed to come across her, for she suddenly straightened herself, and walked 直接／まっすぐに to the door.

Ten minutes later Marshall rose, left the house, and started 負かす／撃墜する the 運動 に向かって the 宿泊する.

* * *

It was 近づくing four o'clock when he and Isbel returned to the Gondy together. Isbel went straight to her room. Marshall sought Mrs. Moor, and, without （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing around the bush, 知らせるd her that the 約束／交戦 was broken off, by 相互の 協定. He referred her to Isbel for all explanations. She was 大いに upset, but had too much good sense to 試みる／企てる to 戦闘 his 決定／判定勝ち（する） there and then, without learning more about the 事件／事情／状勢. She wished him godspeed, and begged him, with 涙／ほころびs in her 注目する，もくろむs, at least to leave the road open for 未来 交渉s. However, he 拒絶する／低下するd to make any 肉親，親類d of 約束, or to discuss things with her at all...He spent the night at the hotel, but dined out, and retired to his room 早期に. On the に引き続いて morning he packed his 所持品, settled his 法案, and started 支援する to town in the car, without having 試みる／企てるd 以前 to see Mrs. Moor for the 目的 of 説 別れの（言葉，会）.

* * *

The 検死 was held on Tuesday. Marshall was called upon to give 証拠 as to the finding of the 団体／死体, but everything was 純粋に formal. The 医療の 証言，証人／目撃する certified that death was 予定 to cerebral hemorrhage, and the 陪審／陪審員団 returned their 判決 accordingly. Isbel did not …に出席する.

The two ladies returned to Kensington, as arranged, in the middle of the week. Isbel 辞退するd to discuss 事柄s with her aunt, or to see any of her friends. Blanche behaved with 広大な／多数の／重要な tact; she neither wrote to her, nor called, but she was continually sending flowers and 肉親，親類d messages by way of Mrs. Moor, and Isbel was not ungrateful...a few weeks afterwards, aunt and niece went to the Riveira.

* * *

Blanche thought the occasion propitious to 再開する a correspondence with her friend, and Isbel aquiesced, though without any particular 楽しみ. The first letters were very 訂正する, but, as time passed, Marshall's 指名する began to appear on Blanche's 味方する with greater frequency. In the beginning Isbel thought that it was an unintentional 失敗ing against good taste. It was not long before she realised that the thin end of the wedge had become too securely 大打撃を与えるd in to be easily dislodged. She passed over the allusions in silence.

Then the time （機の）カム for them to return home. It was March. "...I want to know how we're to stand, Billy," she wrote her friend. "We see a good 取引，協定 of Marshall in these days. If you happen to run up against him in my house, may I take it that you will behave に向かって him with ありふれた politeness?..."

Isbel wrote 支援する: "...If Marshall is able to 耐える my society, I shall certainly be able to 耐える his..."

On the evening of the same day that Blanch received this letter, she showed these lines to Marshall himself. He coloured violently.

"井戸／弁護士席--how am I to answer?" she 需要・要求するd.

"Tell her I'm not やめる a savage."

"Is that all?"

"Don't you think we'd better take one step at a time?" asked Marshall.

Blanche smiled, and suddenly しっかり掴むd his wrist.

THE END

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