We were sitting in the library. Several hectic days lay behind us. In the room below, John and Mary were together once more, while Alfred Inglethorp and Miss Howard were in custody. Now at last, I had Poirot to myself, and could relieve my still burning curiosity.
读书笔记
是否公开
3
-
波洛没有马上给我回答,但后来他终于开了口:
读书笔记
是否公开
3
-
Poirot did not answer me for a moment, but at last he said:
读书笔记
是否公开
4
-
“我并没有骗你,我的朋友,至多是我容许你骗了你自己。”
读书笔记
是否公开
4
-
"I did not deceive you, mon ami. At most, I permitted you to deceive yourself."
"Well, it is difficult to explain. You see, my friend, you have a nature so honest, and a countenance so transparent, that--enfin, to conceal your feelings is impossible! If I had told you my ideas, the very first time you saw Mr. Alfred Inglethorp that astute gentleman would have--in your so expressive idiom--’smelt a rat’! And then, bon jour to our chances of catching him!"
读书笔记
是否公开
7
-
“我认为我有比你对我的称赞更多的外交手腕。”
读书笔记
是否公开
7
-
"I think that I have more diplomacy than you give me credit for."
"My friend," besought Poirot, "I implore you, do not enrage yourself! Your help has been of the most invaluable. It is but the extremely beautiful nature that you have, which made me pause."
读书笔记
是否公开
9
-
“嗯,”我咕哝着,稍为平静了一点。“可我仍认为,你可以给我一点暗示呀。”
读书笔记
是否公开
9
-
"Well," I grumbled, a little mollified. "I still think you might have given me a hint."
"But I did, my friend. Several hints. You would not take them. Think now, did I ever say to you that I believed John Cavendish guilty? Did I not, on the contrary, tell you that he would almost certainly be acquitted?"
"And did I not immediately afterwards speak of the difficulty of bringing the murderer to justice? Was it not plain to you that I was speaking of two entirely different persons?"
"Then again," continued Poirot, "at the beginning, did I not repeat to you several times that I didn’t want Mr. Inglethorp arrested _now_? That should have conveyed something to you."
读书笔记
是否公开
15
-
“你的意思是说早在那个时候你就怀疑他了?”
读书笔记
是否公开
15
-
"Do you mean to say you suspected him as long ago as that?"
"Yes. To begin with, whoever else might benefit by Mrs. Inglethorp’s death, her husband would benefit the most. There was no getting away from that. When I went up to Styles with you that first day, I had no idea as to how the crime had been committed, but from what I knew of Mr. Inglethorp I fancied that it would be very hard to find anything to connect him with it.
When I arrived at the chateau, I realized at once that it was Mrs. Inglethorp who had burnt the will; and there, by the way, you cannot complain, my friend, for I tried my best to force on you the significance of that bedroom fire in midsummer.”
"Well, my friend, as I say, my views as to Mr. Inglethorp’s guilt were very much shaken. There was, in fact, so much evidence against him that I was inclined to believe that he had not done it."
"When I found that the more efforts I made to clear him, the more efforts he made to get himself arrested. Then, when I discovered that Inglethorp had nothing to do with Mrs. Raikes and that in fact it was John Cavendish who was interested in that quarter, I was quite sure."
"Simply this. If it had been Inglethorp who was carrying on an intrigue with Mrs. Raikes, his silence was perfectly comprehensible. But, when I discovered that it was known all over the village that it was John who was attracted by the farmer’s pretty wife, his silence bore quite a different interpretation.
It was nonsense to pretend that he was afraid of the scandal, as no possible scandal could attach to him. This attitude of his gave me furiously to think, and I was slowly forced to the conclusion that Alfred Inglethorp wanted to be arrested. Eh bien! from that moment, I was equally determined that he should not be arrested.”
读书笔记
是否公开
25
-
“等一等。我不懂,为什么他希望被捕呢?”
读书笔记
是否公开
25
-
"Wait a minute. I don’t see why he wished to be arrested?"
"Because, mon ami, it is the law of your country that a man once acquitted can never be tried again for the same offence. Aha! but it was clever--his idea! Assuredly, he is a man of method. See here, he knew that in his position he was bound to be suspected, so he conceived the exceedingly clever idea of preparing a lot of manufactured evidence against himself. He wished to be arrested. He would then produce his irreproachablealibi--and, hey presto, he was safe for life!"
读书笔记
是否公开
27
-
“可是我仍然不明白他用什么办法来证明自己不在犯罪现场,他可是去过药店的?”
读书笔记
是否公开
27
-
"But I still don’t see how he managed to prove his alibi, and yet go to the chemist’s shop?"
读书笔记
是否公开
28
-
波洛诧异地注视着我。
读书笔记
是否公开
28
-
Poirot stared at me in surprise.
读书笔记
是否公开
29
-
“这可能吗?我可怜的朋友啊!你还不知道去药店的是霍华德小姐?”
读书笔记
是否公开
29
-
"Is it possible? My poor friend! You have not yet realized that it was Miss Howard who went to the chemist’s shop?"
"But, certainly. Who else? It was most easy for her. She is of a good height, her voice is deep and manly; moreover, remember, she and Inglethorp are cousins, and there is a distinct resemblance between them, especially in their gait and bearing. It was simplicity itself. They are a clever pair!"
读书笔记
是否公开
32
-
“关于溴化物的事究竟是怎么搞的,我还是有点模糊,”我说。
读书笔记
是否公开
32
-
"I am still a little fogged as to how exactly the bromide business was done," I remarked.
"Bon! I will reconstruct for you as far as possible. I am inclined to think that Miss Howard was the master mind in that affair. You remember her once mentioning that her father was a doctor? Possibly she dispensed his medicines for him, or she may have taken the idea from one of the many books lying about when MademoiselleCynthia was studying for her exam.
Anyway, she was familiar with the fact that the addition of a bromide to a mixture containing strychnine would cause the precipitation of the latter. Probably the idea came to her quite suddenly. Mrs. Inglethorp had a box of bromide powders, which she occasionally took at night.
What could be easier than quietly to dissolve one or more of those powders in Mrs. Inglethorp’s large sized bottle of medicine when it came from Coot’s? The risk is practically nil. The tragedy will not take place until nearly a fortnight later. If anyone has seen either of them touching the medicine, they will have forgotten it by that time.
Miss Howard will have engineered her quarrel, and departed from the house. The lapse of time, and her absence, will defeat all suspicion. Yes, it was a clever idea! If they had left it alone, it is possible the crime might never have been brought home to them. But they were not satisfied. They tried to be too clever--and that was their undoing.”
读书笔记
是否公开
37
-
波洛喷着细小的雪前烟,他的两眼凝视着天花板。
读书笔记
是否公开
37
-
Poirot puffed at his tiny cigarette, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.
"They arranged a plan to throw suspicion on John Cavendish, by buying strychnine at the village chemist’s, and signing the register in his hand-writing.
"On Monday Mrs. Inglethorp will take the last dose of her medicine. On Monday, therefore, at six o’clock, Alfred Inglethorp arranges to be seen by a number of people at a spot far removed from the village. Miss Howard has previously made up a cock and bull story about him and Mrs. Raikes to account for his holding his tongue afterwards.
At six o’clock, Miss Howard, disguised as Alfred Inglethorp, enters the chemist’s shop, with her story about a dog, obtains the strychnine, and writes the name of Alfred Inglethorp in John’s handwriting, which she had previously studied carefully.
"But, as it will never do if John, too, can prove an alibi, she writes him an anonymous note--still copying his hand-writing --which takes him to a remote spot where it is exceedingly unlikely that anyone will see him.
"So far, all goes well. Miss Howard goes back to Middlingham. Alfred Inglethorp returns to Styles. There is nothing that can compromise him in any way, since it is Miss Howard who has the strychnine, which, after all, is only wanted as a blind to throw suspicion on John Cavendish.
"But now a hitch occurs. Mrs. Inglethorp does not take her medicine that night. The broken bell, Cynthia’s absence-- arranged by Inglethorp through his wife--all these are wasted. And then--he makes his slip.
"Mrs. Inglethorp is out, and he sits down to write to his accomplice, who, he fears, may be in a panic at the nonsuccess of their plan. It is probable that Mrs. Inglethorp returned earlier than he expected. Caught in the act, and somewhat flurried he hastily shuts and locks his desk.
He fears that if he remains in the room he may have to open it again, and that Mrs. Inglethorp might catch sight of the letter before he could snatch it up. So he goes out and walks in the woods, little dreaming that Mrs. Inglethorp will open his desk, and discover the incriminating document.
"But this, as we know, is what happened. Mrs. Inglethorp reads it, and becomes aware of the perfidy of her husband and Evelyn Howard, though, unfortunately, the sentence about the bromides conveys no warning to her mind. She knows that she is in danger--but is ignorant of where the danger lies. She decides to say nothing to her husband, but sits down and writes to her solicitor, asking him to come on the morrow, and she also determines to destroy immediately the will which she has just made. She keeps the fatal letter."
读书笔记
是否公开
47
-
“那未她的丈夫强行撬开公文箱的锁是为了找那封信了?”
读书笔记
是否公开
47
-
"It was to discover that letter, then, that her husband forced the lock of the despatch-case?"
"Yes, and from the enormous risk he ran we can see how fully he realized its importance. That letter excepted, there was absolutely nothing to connect him with the crime."
读书笔记
是否公开
49
-
“可是还有一件事情我不理解,他拿到这封信后为什么不马上烧毁呢?”
读书笔记
是否公开
49
-
"There’s only one thing I can’t make out, why didn’t he destroy it at once when he got hold of it?"
读书笔记
是否公开
50
-
“因为他不敢冒最大的风险——把它保存在自己那里。”
读书笔记
是否公开
50
-
"Because he did not dare take the biggest risk of all--that of keeping it on his own person."
"Look at it from his point of view. I have discovered that there were only five short minutes in which he could have taken it--the five minutes immediately before our own arrival on the scene, for before that time Annie was brushing the stairs, and would have seen anyone who passed going to the right wing. Figure to yourself the scene!
He enters the room, unlocking the door by means of one of the other doorkeys--they were all much alike. He hurries to the despatch-case--it is locked, and the keys are nowhere to be seen. That is a terrible blow to him, for it means that his presence in the room cannot be concealed as he had hoped.
But he sees clearly that everything must be risked for the sake of that damning piece of evidence. Quickly, he forces the lock with a penknife, and turns over the papers until he finds what he is looking for.
"But now a fresh dilemma arises: he dare not keep that piece of paper on him. He may be seen leaving the room--he may be searched. If the paper is found on him, it is certain doom. Probably, at this minute, too, he hears the sounds below of Mr. Wells and John leaving the boudoir.
He must act quickly. Where can he hide this terrible slip of paper? The contents of the waste-paper-basket are kept and in any case, are sure to be examined. There are no means of destroying it; and he dare not keep it. He looks round, and he sees--what do you think, mon ami?”
读书笔记
是否公开
57
-
我摇摇头。
读书笔记
是否公开
57
-
I shook my head.
读书笔记
是否公开
58
-
“他立刻把信撕成细条条,又卷成几只纸捻,然后把它们插到壁炉架上那只瓶子里的其它点火纸捻中间。”
读书笔记
是否公开
58
-
"In a moment, he has torn the letter into long thin strips, and rolling them up into spills he thrusts them hurriedly in amongst the other spills in the vase on the mantle-piece."
读书笔记
是否公开
59
-
我发出了一声惊叫。
读书笔记
是否公开
59
-
I uttered an exclamation.
读书笔记
是否公开
60
-
“没有一个人会想到去那儿看看。”波洛继续说。
读书笔记
是否公开
60
-
"No one would think of looking there," Poirot continued.
读书笔记
是否公开
61
-
“在他有空时,他可以回来烧毁这唯一的一份告发他的证据。”
读书笔记
是否公开
61
-
”And he will be able, at his leisure, to come back and destroy this solitary piece of evidence against him.”
读书笔记
是否公开
62
-
“那么,它一直就在英格里桑太太卧室里的纸捻瓶里,就在我们的鼻子底下?”我大声说。
读书笔记
是否公开
62
-
"Then, all the time, it was in the spill vase in Mrs. Inglethorp’s bedroom, under our very noses?" I cried.
读书笔记
是否公开
63
-
波洛点点头。
读书笔记
是否公开
63
-
Poirot nodded.
读书笔记
是否公开
64
-
“是的,我的朋友。那就是我发现我的‘最后一环’的地方,而且我应该把这一非常侥幸的发现归功于你。”
读书笔记
是否公开
64
-
"Yes, my friend. That is where I discovered my ’last link,’ and I owe that very fortunate discovery to you."
读书笔记
是否公开
65
-
“归功于我?”
读书笔记
是否公开
65
-
"To me?"
读书笔记
是否公开
66
-
“是的。你还记得吗,你告诉我说,我在摆弄壁炉架上的礼拜用品时,我的手在颤抖?”
读书笔记
是否公开
66
-
"Yes. Do you remember telling me that my hand shook as I was straightening the ornaments on the mantel-piece?"
"No, but I saw. Do you know, my friend, I remembered that earlier in the morning, when we had been there together, I had straightened all the objects on the mantel-piece. And, if they were already straightened, there would be no need to straighten them again, unless, in the meantime, some one else had touched them."
读书笔记
是否公开
69
-
“呵,”我咕哝道,“这也就为你的举止反常作了说明了。你飞快地赶到斯泰尔斯,发现它仍在那儿?”
读书笔记
是否公开
69
-
"Dear me," I murmured, "so that is the explanation of your extraordinary behaviour. You rushed down to Styles, and found it still there?"
读书笔记
是否公开
70
-
“是的,这是一场时间上的竞赛。”
读书笔记
是否公开
70
-
"Yes, and it was a race for time."
读书笔记
是否公开
71
-
“可是,我还是搞不懂,为什么英格里桑这么傻,还让它留在那儿,他有许多机会可以烧毁它呀。”
读书笔记
是否公开
71
-
"But I still can’t understand why Inglethorp was such a fool as to leave it there when he had plenty of opportunity to destroy it."
读书笔记
是否公开
72
-
“啊,他没有机会。我看住的。”
读书笔记
是否公开
72
-
"Ah, but he had no opportunity. I saw to that."
读书笔记
是否公开
73
-
“是呀,你记得吧,你不是还责备我,说我在这件事情上把这一家人都当作知心吗?”
读书笔记
是否公开
73
-
"Yes. Do you remember reproving me for taking the household into my confidence on the subject?"
"Well, my friend, I saw there was just one chance. I was not sure then if Inglethorp was the criminal or not, but if he was I reasoned that he would not have the paper on him, but would have hidden it somewhere, and by enlisting the sympathy of the household I could effectually prevent his destroying it.
He was already under suspicion, and by making the matter public I secured the services of about ten amateur detectives, who would be watching him unceasingly, and being himself aware of their watchfulness he would not dare seek further to destroy the document. He was therefore forced to depart from the house, leaving it in the spill vase.”
读书笔记
是否公开
77
-
“但是霍华德小姐无疑有足够的机会帮他忙的。”
读书笔记
是否公开
77
-
"But surely Miss Howard had ample opportunities of aiding him."
"Yes, but Miss Howard did not know of the paper’s existence. In accordance with their prearranged plan, she never spoke to Alfred Inglethorp. They were supposed to be deadly enemies, and until John Cavendish was safely convicted they neither of them dared risk a meeting.
Of course I had a watch kept on Mr. Inglethorp, hoping that sooner or later he would lead me to the hiding-place. But he was too clever to take any chances. The paper was safe where it was; since no one had thought of looking there in the first week, it was not likely they would do so afterwards. But for your lucky remark, we might never have been able to bring him to justice.”
读书笔记
是否公开
80
-
“现在我懂了;可是你是什么时候开始怀疑霍华德小姐的?”
读书笔记
是否公开
80
-
"I understand that now; but when did you first begin to suspect Miss Howard?"
读书笔记
是否公开
81
-
“从我发现她审讯时在她收到英格里桑太太的那封信的问题上撒了一个谎之后。”
读书笔记
是否公开
81
-
"When I discovered that she had told a lie at the inquest about the letter she had received from Mrs. Inglethorp."
读书笔记
是否公开
82
-
“唷,撤了什么谎?”
读书笔记
是否公开
82
-
"Why, what was there to lie about?"
读书笔记
是否公开
83
-
“你看过那封信吧?你还记得大体的样子吗?”
读书笔记
是否公开
83
-
"You saw that letter? Do you recall its general appearance?"
"You will recollect, then, that Mrs. Inglethorp wrote a very distinctive hand, and left large clear spaces between her words. But if you look at the date at the top of the letter you will notice that ’July 17th’ is quite different in this respect. Do you see what I mean?"
"You do not see that that letter was not written on the 17th, but on the 7th--the day after Miss Howard’s departure? The ’1’ was written in before the ’7’ to turn it into the ’17th’."
"That is exactly what I asked myself. Why does Miss Howard suppress the letter written on the 17th, and produce this faked one instead? Because she did not wish to show the letter of the 17th. Why, again? And at once a suspicion dawned in my mind. You will remember my saying that it was wise to beware of people who were not telling you the truth."
读书笔记
是否公开
90
-
“可是,”我愤慨地大声说,“在那以后,你给我说了霍华德小姐不可能犯罪的两个理由!”
读书笔记
是否公开
90
-
"And yet," I cried indignantly, "after that, you gave me two reasons why Miss Howard could not have committed the crime!"
"And very good reasons too," replied Poirot. "For a long time they were a stumbling-block to me until I remembered a very significant fact: that she and Alfred Inglethorp were cousins. She could not have committed the crime single-handed, but the reasons against that did not debar her from being an accomplice. And, then, there was that rather over-vehement hatred of hers! It concealed a very opposite emotion.
There was, undoubtedly, a tie of passion between them long before he came to Styles. They had already arranged their infamous plot--that he should marry this rich, but rather foolish old lady, induce her to make a will leaving her money to him, and then gain their ends by a very cleverly conceived crime. If all had gone as they planned, they would probably have left England, and lived together on their poor victim’s money.
"They are a very astute and unscrupulous pair. While suspicion was to be directed against him, she would be making quiet preparations for a very different denouement. She arrives from Middlingham with all the compromising items in her possession. No suspicion attaches to her. No notice is paid to her coming and going in the house. She hides the strychnine and glasses in John’s room. She puts the beard in the attic. She will see to it that sooner or later they are duly discovered."
"I don’t quite see why they tried to fix the blame on John," I remarked. "It would have been much easier for them to bring the crime home to Lawrence."
"Yes, but that was mere chance. All the evidence against him arose out of pure accident. It must, in fact, have been distinctly annoying to the pair of schemers."
读书笔记
是否公开
96
-
“劳伦斯的态度实在令人遗憾,”我若有所思地说。
读书笔记
是否公开
96
-
"His manner was unfortunate," I observed thoughtfully.
读书笔记
是否公开
97
-
“是的。你当然知道在那后面是什么了?”
读书笔记
是否公开
97
-
"Yes. You realize, of course, what was at the back of that?"
读书笔记
是否公开
98
-
“不知道。”
读书笔记
是否公开
98
-
"No."
读书笔记
是否公开
99
-
“他认为辛西娅小姐在这桩案子中是有罪的,这你不了解吗?”
读书笔记
是否公开
99
-
"You did not understand that he believed MademoiselleCynthia guilty of the crime?"
"Not at all. I myself nearly had the same idea. It was in my mind when I asked Mr. Wells that first question about the will. Then there were the bromide powders which she had made up, and her clever male impersonations, as Dorcas recounted them to us. There was really more evidence against her than anyone else."
"No. Shall I tell you what made Monsieur Lawrence turn so pale when he first entered his mother’s room on the fatal night? It was because, whilst his mother lay there, obviously poisoned, he saw, over your shoulder, that the door into Mademoiselle Cynthia’s room was unbolted."
读书笔记
是否公开
104
-
“可是他公开说他看到它是闩上的!”我喊了起来。
读书笔记
是否公开
104
-
"But he declared that he saw it bolted!" I cried.
读书笔记
是否公开
105
-
“确实如此,”波洛干巴巴地说。“这恰恰加深了我的怀疑,事实并非如此。他在包庇辛西娅小姐。”
读书笔记
是否公开
105
-
"Exactly," said Poirot dryly. "And that was just what confirmed my suspicion that it was not. He was shielding MademoiselleCynthia."
读书笔记
是否公开
106
-
“可是他为什么要包庇她?”
读书笔记
是否公开
106
-
"But why should he shield her?"
读书笔记
是否公开
107
-
“因为他和她相爱。”
读书笔记
是否公开
107
-
"Because he is in love with her."
读书笔记
是否公开
108
-
我笑了起来。
读书笔记
是否公开
108
-
I laughed.
读书笔记
是否公开
109
-
“波洛,这你可完全错了!我曾偶尔了解到一个事实,他不仅没有和她相爱,而且他肯定不喜欢她。”
读书笔记
是否公开
109
-
"There, Poirot, you are quite wrong! I happen to know for a fact that, far from being in love with her, he positively dislikes her."
读书笔记
是否公开
110
-
“这是谁告诉你的,朋友?”
读书笔记
是否公开
110
-
"Who told you that, mon ami?"
读书笔记
是否公开
111
-
“辛西娅本人。”
读书笔记
是否公开
111
-
"Cynthia herself."
读书笔记
是否公开
112
-
“这可怜的孩子!她忧心重重了吧?”
读书笔记
是否公开
112
-
"La pauvre petite! And she was concerned?"
读书笔记
是否公开
113
-
“她说她根本就不在乎。”
读书笔记
是否公开
113
-
"She said that she did not mind at all."
读书笔记
是否公开
114
-
“那就是说她必定非常在乎了,”波洛说。”他们完全象——一对恋人!”
读书笔记
是否公开
114
-
"Then she certainly did mind very much," remarked Poirot. "They are like that--les femmes!"
读书笔记
是否公开
115
-
“你说的有关劳伦斯的情况,使我大为惊诧。”我说。
读书笔记
是否公开
115
-
"What you say about Lawrence is a great surprise to me," I said.
"But why? It was most obvious. Did not Monsieur Lawrence make the sour face every time MademoiselleCynthia spoke and laughed with his brother? He had taken it into his long head that Mademoiselle Cynthia was in love with Monsieur John. When he entered his mother’s room, and saw her obviously poisoned, he jumped to the conclusion that Mademoiselle Cynthia knew something about the matter.
He was nearly driven desperate. First he crushed the coffee-cup to powder under his feet, remembering that _she_ had gone up with his mother the night before, and he determined that there should be no chance of testing its contents. Thenceforward, he strenuously, and quite uselessly, upheld the theory of ’Death from natural causes’.”
"I was fairly certain that it was Mrs. Cavendish who had hidden it, but I had to make sure. Monsieur Lawrence did not know at all what I meant; but, on reflection, he came to the conclusion that if he could find an extra coffee-cup anywhere his lady love would be cleared of suspicion. And he was perfectly right."
读书笔记
是否公开
120
-
“还有一件事。英格里桑太太临终时说的话是什意思呀?”
读书笔记
是否公开
120
-
"One thing more. What did Mrs. Inglethorp mean by her dying words?"
读书笔记
是否公开
121
-
“当然是告发她的丈夫了。”
读书笔记
是否公开
121
-
"They were, of course, an accusation against her husband."
"Dear me, Poirot," I said with a sigh, "I think you have explained everything. I am glad it has all ended so happily. Even John and his wife are reconciled."
"My dear friend, do you not realize that it was simply and solely the trial which has brought them together again? That John Cavendish still loved his wife, I was convinced. Also, that she was equally in love with him. But they had drifted very far apart. It all arose from a misunderstanding. She married him without love. He knew it.
He is a sensitive man in his way, he would not force himself upon her if she did not want him. And, as he withdrew, her love awoke. But they are both unusually proud, and their pride held them inexorably apart. He drifted into an entanglement with Mrs. Raikes, and she deliberately cultivated the friendship of Dr. Bauerstein. Do you remember the day of John Cavendish’s arrest, when you found me deliberating over a big decision?”
"Pardon me, mon ami, but you did not understand it in the least. I was trying to decide whether or not I would clear John Cavendish at once. I could have cleared him--though it might have meant a failure to convict the real criminals. They were entirely in the dark as to my real attitude up to the very last moment--which partly accounts for my success."
读书笔记
是否公开
129
-
“你的意思是说你本来可以搭救约翰·卡文迪什,使他免受审判的?”
读书笔记
是否公开
129
-
"Do you mean that you could have saved John Cavendish from being brought to trial?"
"Yes, my friend. But I eventually decided in favour of ’a woman’s happiness’. Nothing but the great danger through which they have passed could have brought these two proud souls together again."
I looked at Poirot in silent amazement. The colossal cheek of the little man! Who on earth but Poirot would have thought of a trial for murder as a restorer of conjugal happiness!
"I perceive your thoughts, mon ami," said Poirot, smiling at me. "No one but Hercule Poirot would have attempted such a thing! And you are wrong in condemning it. The happiness of one man and one woman is the greatest thing in all the world."
His words took me back to earlier events. I remembered Mary as she lay white and exhausted on the sofa, listening, listening. There had come the sound of the bell below. She had started up. Poirot had opened the door, and meeting her agonized eyes had nodded gently. "Yes, madame," he said. "I have brought him back to you." He had stood aside, and as I went out I had seen the look in Mary’s eyes, as John Cavendish had caught his wife in his arms.
读书笔记
是否公开
134
-
“也许你是对的,波洛,”我轻声地说。“是的,这是世界上最大的大事。”
读书笔记
是否公开
134
-
"Perhaps you are right, Poirot," I said gently. "Yes, it is the greatest thing in the world."
读书笔记
是否公开
135
-
突然,响起了叩门声,辛西娅往里面探进头来。
读书笔记
是否公开
135
-
Suddenly, there was a tap at the door, and Cynthia peeped in.
Cynthia fidgeted with a little tassel for some moments, then, suddenly exclaiming: "You dears!" kissed first me and then Poirot, and rushed out of the room again.
读书笔记
是否公开
142
-
“这究竟是什么意思?”我吃惊地问道。
读书笔记
是否公开
142
-
"What on earth does this mean?" I asked, surprised.
读书笔记
是否公开
143
-
受辛西娅一吻是非常愉快的,但是这种公开的接吻有点减弱了乐趣。
读书笔记
是否公开
143
-
It was very nice to be kissed by Cynthia, but the publicity of the salute rather impaired the pleasure.
读书笔记
是否公开
144
-
“这是说,她已经发现芳伦斯先生并不象她原来想的那样不喜欢她。”波洛富有哲理地回答说。
读书笔记
是否公开
144
-
"It means that she has discovered Monsieur Lawrence does not dislike her as much as she thought," replied Poirot philosophically.
读书笔记
是否公开
145
-
“可是——”
读书笔记
是否公开
145
-
"But----"
读书笔记
是否公开
146
-
“他来了。”
读书笔记
是否公开
146
-
"Here he is."
读书笔记
是否公开
147
-
就在这时候,劳伦斯跨进了房门。
读书笔记
是否公开
147
-
Lawrence at that moment passed the door.
读书笔记
是否公开
148
-
“啊!劳伦斯先生,”波洛叫道。“我们得向你道喜了,是这样吧?”
读书笔记
是否公开
148
-
"Eh! Monsieur Lawrence," called Poirot. "We must congratulate you, is it not so?"