A Case of Identitytby Arthur Conan Doyle (3)

"Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the business?"

"Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per cent. Two thousand five hundred pounds was the amount, but I can only touch the interest."

"You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely upon an income of about 60 pounds."

"I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a burden to them, and so they have the use of the money just while I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a-day."

"You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel."

A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school treat. But this time I was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much as taken out of the drawer. At last, when nothing else would do, he went off to France upon the business of the firm, but we went, mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel."

"I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball."

"Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying anything to a woman, for she would have her way."

"I see. Then at the gasfitters' ball you met, as I understand, a gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel."

"Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house any more."

"No?"

"Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to begin with, and I had not got mine yet."

"But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see you?"

"Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so there was no need for father to know."

"Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?"

"Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in Leadenhall Street--and--"

"What office?"

"That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know."

"Where did he live, then?"

"He slept on the premises."

"And you don't know his address?"

"No--except that it was Leadenhall Street."

"Where did you address your letters, then?"

"To the Leadenhall Street Post-Office, to be left till called for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think of."

"It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?"

"He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to be conspicuous. Very retiring and gentlemanly he was. Even his voice was gentle. He'd had the quinsy and swollen glands when he was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just as mine are, and he wore tinted glasses against the glare."

"Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, returned to France?"

"Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. Mother was all in his favor from the first and was even fonder of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on the very morning of the wedding."

"It missed him, then?"

"Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived."

"Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for the Friday. Was it to be in church?"

"Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything since then to throw any light upon what became of him."

To be continued...

A Case of Identitytby Arthur Conan Doyle (3) (с подсказками)

Установление личности. Артур Конан Дойл

I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient [Im'peISqnt] (проявляющий нетерпение) under this rambling ['rxmblIN] (бессвязное) and inconsequential [In"kPnsI'kwenS(q)l] (непоследовательное) narrative ['nxrqtIv] (повествование), but, on the contrary ['kPntrqri] (напротив) he had listened with the greatest ['greItIst] (величайшей) concentration of attention.

"Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the business?"

"Oh [qu], no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle ['ANkl] (дядей) Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand ['zJlqnd] stock (ценных бумагах), paying 4 1/2 per cent [sent]. Two thousand ['Tauz(q)nd] (тысячи) five hundred ['hAndrqd] (сот) pounds was the amount, but I can only touch the interest."

"You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so large a sum as a hundred ['hAndrqd] a year, with what you earn into the bargain ['bRgIn] (прирабатывая), you no doubt travel a little and indulge [In'dAlG] yourself  in every way (позволяете себе всякие развлечения). I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely ['naIsli] (безбедно) upon an income of about 60 pounds."

"I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you understand that as long as I live at home I don't wish to be a burden ['bE:dn] (обузой) to them, and so they have the use of the money just while I am staying with them. Of course, that is only just for the time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it over to mother, and I find that I can do pretty well with what I earn at typewriting ['taIp"raItIN] (печатанием на машинке). It brings me twopence ['tApens] (два пенса) a sheet, and I can often do from fifteen [fIf'tJn] (пятнадцати) to twenty ['twentI] (двадцати) sheets in a day."

"You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. "This is my friend, Dr ['dPktq]. Watson ['wPtsqn], before whom you can speak as freely ['frJli] (откровенно) as before myself. Kindly ['kaIndlI] (пожалуйста) tell us now all about your connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel."

A flush [flAS] (румянец) stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked nervously ['nE:vqsli] (нервно) at the fringe [frInG] (край) of her jacket ['GxkIt]. "I met him first at the gasfitters' ['gxs"fItqz] (газопроводчиков) ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets when he was alive [q'laIv] (жив), and then afterwards they remembered us, and sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He never did wish us to go anywhere ['enIweq] (куда бы то ни было). He would get quite mad [mxd] (злой) if I wanted so much as to join a Sunday-school ['sAndIsku:l] treat (пикник). But this time I was set on going, and I would go; for what right had he to prevent? He said the folk [fquk] (люди) were not fit for us to know, when all father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing fit to wear, when I had my purple [pE:pl] (фиолетовое) plush [plAS] (бархатное платье) that I had never so much as taken out of the drawer ['drL] (ящика). At last, when nothing else would do, he went off to France [frRns] upon the business of the firm, but we went, mother and I, with Mr. Hardy ['hRdi], who used to be our foreman ['fLmqn] (старшим мастером), and it was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel."

"I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from France [frRns] he was very annoyed [q'nOId] (недоволен) at your having gone to the ball."

"Oh [qu], well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and shrugged [SrAgd] (пожал) his shoulders, and said there was no use denying anything to a woman, for she would have her way."

"I see. Then at the gasfitters' ['gxs"fItqz] (газопроводчиков) ball you met, as I understand, a gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel."

"Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if we had got home all safe, and after that we met him -- that is to say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house any more."

"No?"

"Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to begin with, and I had not got mine yet."

"But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see you?"

"Well, father was going off to France [frRns] again in a week, and Hosmer wrote and said that it would be safer ['seIfq] (более безопасно) and better not to see each other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime [mJn'taIm] (тем временем), and he used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so there was no need for father to know."

"Were you engaged [In'geIGd] (обручены) to the gentleman at this time?"

"Oh [qu], yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged [In'geIGd] after the first walk that we took. Hosmer --Mr. Angel-- was a cashier [kx'SIq] (кассиром) in an office in Leadenhall Street -- and --"

"What office?"

"That's the worst [wE:st] (самое худшее) of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know."

"Where did he live, then?"

"He slept on the premises ['premIsIz] (в конторе)."

"And you don't know his address?"

"No -- except that it was Leadenhall Street."

"Where did you address your letters, then?"

"To the Leadenhall Street Post-Office ['pqust"PfIs] (почтовое отделение), to be left till [tIl] called for (до востребования). He said that if they were sent to the office he would be chaffed ['Cxft] (над ним будут смеяться) by all the other clerks [klRks] about having letters from a lady, so I offered to typewrite ['taIpraIt] (печатать на машинке) them, like he did his, but he wouldn't have that, for he said that when I wrote them they seemed to come from me, but when they were typewritten ['taIp"rItn] (напечатаны на машинке) he always felt that the machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond [fPnd] (was ~ - любил) he was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think of."

"It was most suggestive [sq'GestIv] (о многом говорит)," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom ['xksIqm] of mine that the little things are infinitely [In'fInItli] (бесконечно) the most important. Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?"

"He was a very shy [SaI] (застенчивый) man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me in the evening than in the daylight ['deIlaIt] (днем), for he said that he hated to be conspicuous [kqn'spIkjuqs] (привлекающим к себе внимание). Very retiring [rI'taIqrIN] (сдержанный) and gentlemanly ['Gentlmqnli] (учтивый) he was. Even his voice was gentle ['Gentl] (тихий). He'd had the quinsy ['kwInzI] (тонзиллит) and swollen ['swqulqn] (воспаленные) glands [glxndz] when he was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat [Trqut] (горлом), and a hesitating ['hezIteItIN] (нерешительный), whispering ['wIspqrIN] (шепчущий) fashion of speech. He was always well dressed, very neat [nJt] (аккуратно) and plain [pleIn] (просто одет), but his eyes were weak, just as mine are, and he wore tinted ['tIntId] (темные) glasses against the glare [gleq] (яркого света)."

"Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather ['step"fRDq] (отчим), returned to France [frRns]?"

"Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful ['dredf(q)l] (ужасно) earnest ['E:nIst] (серьезный) and made me swear [sweq] (поклясться), with my hands on the Testament ['testqmqnt] (Библии), that whatever happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite right to make me swear [sweq] (поклясться), and that it was a sign of his passion ['pxS(q)n] (страсти). Mother was all in his favor ['feIvq] (хорошо к нему относилась) from the first and was even fonder ['fPndq] ((он ей) нравился) of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like that, Mr. Holmes. It seemed funny that I should ask his leave, as he was only a few years older ['quldq] (старше) than me; but I didn't want to do anything on the sly [slaI] (тайком), so I wrote to father at Bordeaux [bL'dqu], where the company has its French [frenC] (французские) offices, but the letter came back to me on the very morning of the wedding ['wedIN] (свадьбы)."

"It missed him, then?"

"Yes, sir; for he had started to England ['INglqnd] (Англию) just before it arrived."

"Ha [hR]! that was unfortunate [An'fLCnIt] (неудачно). Your wedding ['wedIN] (свадьба) was arranged, then, for the Friday ['fraIdI] (пятницу). Was it to be in church?"

"Yes, sir, but very quietly ['kwaIqtli] (скромно). It was to be at St [seInt]. (святого)  Saviour's ['seIvjqz] (Спасителя), near King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast ['brekfqst] (завтрак) afterwards at the St [seInt]. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom ['hxnsqm] (двуколке), but as there were two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a four-wheeler [fL'wJlq] (кэб), which happened to be the only other cab [kxb] in the street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler [fL'wJlq] (кэб) drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and when the cabman ['kxbmqn] got down from the box and looked there was no one there! The cabman ['kxbmqn] said that he could not imagine what had become of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was last Friday ['fraIdI] (пятница), Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything since then to throw any light upon what became of him."

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