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第7章 花园血案之谜4（第2页）

ThetialIvahedoorandusheredinandantNeilO'Brien，whomhehadfoundatlastpagthegardenagain。

TheIrishofficerstoodupdisorderedaohreshold。"Whatdoyouwa;hecried。

"Pleasesitdown，"saidValenti，levelto;Why，youaren&#yoursword。Whereisit?"

"Ileftitonthelibrarytable。"saidO'Brien，hisbroguedeepeninginhisdisturbedmood。"Itwasawasgetting-"

"Ivan，"saidValentin，"pleasegoaheandant'sswordfromthelibrary。"Theva;Lallowaysayshesawyouleavingthegardenjustbeforehefoundthecorpse。Whatwereyoudoinginthegarden?"

Theandantflunghimselfrecklesslyintoachair。"Oh，"hepureIrish，&quthemoon。uningwith;

Aheavysilendetheendofitthattrivialandterribleknog。Ivanreappeared，gaeelscabbard。"ThisisallId。"hesaid。

"Putitoable。"saidValentin，withoutlookingup。

Therewasaninhumaheroom，likethatseaofinhumahedockoftheurderer。TheDuchess'sweakexshadlongagodiedaway。Lalloway'sswolleisfiedandevehevoicethatcamewasquiteued。

"IthinkItellyou。"criedLadyMargaret，inthatclear，quiverihwhichaanspeakspublicly。"ItellyouwhatMrO'Brienwasdoinginthegarden，sinceheisboundtosilence。Hewasaskiomarryhim。Irefused;IsaidinmyfamilycesIcouldgivehimnothingbutmyrespect。Hewasalittleangryatthat，hedidhinkmuyrespeder，"sheadded，withratherawa;ifhewillcareatallforitnow。ForIofferithimnoearahehihis。"

Lallowayhadedgeduptohisdaughter，andwasintimidatiheimagiobeao;Hue，Maggie。"hesaidinathunderouswhisper。"Whyshouldyoushieldthefellow?Where'shissword?Where'shisdedcavalry-"

&oppedbecauseofthesingularstarewithwhichhisdaughterwasregardinghim，alookthatwasindeedaluridmaghewholegroup。

"Youoldfool!"shesaidinalowvoicewithoutprete;whatdoyousupptoprove?Itellyouthismanwasiwhilewithme。Butifhewasn'ti，hewasstillwithme。Ifhemurderedamaninthegarden，homusthaveseen-whomustatleasthaveknown?DoyouhateNeilsomuchasthter-"

LadyGallowayscreamed。Everyoingliouchofthosesatahavebeeweenloversbeforeheproud，whitefaceoftheScotcharistodherlover，theIrishadventurer，likeoldportraitsinadarkhouse。Thelongsilencewasfullofformlesshistoriurderedhusbandsandpoisonousparamours。

Ihismorbidsilenotvoicesaid:"Wasitaverylongcigar?"

Thegeofthoughtthattheyhadtolookroundtoseeoken。

"Imean，"saidlittleFatherBrown，fromtheeroftheroom，"ImeanthatcigarMrBrayneisfinishing。Itseemsnearlyaslongasawalking-stick。"

&heirrelevaherewasassentaswellasirritatioin'sfaceasheliftedhishead。

&quht，"heremarkedsharply，"Ivan，goaMrBrayneagain，andbrio;

&thefahadclosedthedoor，Valehegirlwithairelyness。

"LadyMargaret，"hesaid，"weallfeel，Iamsure，bothgratitudeandadmirationforyourarisingaboveynityandexplainingtheandant'sduct。Butthereisahiatusstill。Lalloway，Iuayoupassingfromthestudyt-room，anditwasoesafterwardsthathefoundthegardenandtheandantstillwalki;

"Youhavetoremember，"repliedMargaret，withafaintironyinhervoice，"thatIhadjustrefusedhim，soweshouldscarcelyhaveebaarm。Heisagentleman，anyhow，aeredbehind-andsedwithmurder。"

"Is，"saidVale;hemightreally-"

Theknock，andIvanputinhisscarredface。

"Begpardon，sir，"hesaid，"butMrBrayhehouse。"

"Left!"criedValentin，ahefirsttimetohisfeet。

"Goed。Evaporated，"repliedIvaninhumorousFrench。"Hishatandcooo，andI'lltellyousomethingtocapitall。Irahehousetofindanytra，andIfoundone，andabigtrace，too。"

"Whatdoyoumean?"askedValentin。

"I'llshowyou，"saidhisservant，ahaflashingnakedcavalrysabre，streakedwithbloodaboutthepointandedge。Everyoheroomeyeditasifitwereathutheexperienwentoly:

"Ifoundthis，"hesaid，"flungamongthebushesfiftyyardsuptheroadtoParis。Inotherwords，IfounditjustwhereyourrespectableMrBraywhenheranaway。"

Therewasagaiofa。Valentintookthesabre，examiedwithurationofthought，aurfulfacetoO'Brien。"andant，"hesaid，"wetrustyouroducethisonifitiswantedforpoliation。Mea;headded，slappieelbatheringingscabbard，"letmereturnyouyoursword。"

Atthemilitarysymbolismoftheatheaudiencecouldhardlyrefrainfromapplause。

ForNeilO'Briegesturewastheturning-poiehetimehewaswahemysteriaininthethetragicfutilityofhisordinarymienhadfallenfromhim;hewasamanwithmanyreasonsforhappiness。Lallowaywasagentleman，andhadofferedhimanapology。LadyMargaretwassomethihanalady，awoma，andhadperhapsgiveterthananapology，astheydriftedamongtheoldflowerbedsbeforebreakfast。Thewholepanywasmhtheartedahoughtheriddleofthedeathremaiheloadofsuspiwasliftedoffthemall，aflyingofftoPariswiththestrangemillioheyhardlykhedevilwascastoutofthehouse-hehadcasthimselfout。

Still，theriddleremained;andwhenO'BrienthrewhimselfobesideDrSimon，thatkeeifiato。HedidalkoutofO'Brieswereohings。

"I'tsayitismemuch，"saidtheIrishmanfrankly，"especiallyasitseemsprettyplainnoarentlyBrayrangerforsomereasoothegarden，ahmysword。Thehecity，tossingtheswordawayashewent。Bytheway，IvahedeadmanhadaYankeedollarinhispocket。SohewasaanofBrayne's，aochit。Idon'tseeanydifficultiesaboutthebusi;