7. Twin Rings

7 Twin Rings Shocked by the beam of light, the guard sprang into action and thundered toward Stanley, Arthur, and Lady Laura. "What is the meaning of this?" he bellowed. He pushed Lady Laura out of the way and stood in front of Stanley. "I demand an explanation!" Lady Laura blinked. She did not know what had happened. "I just want to read the message,"

卫兵被那束光吓了一跳，立即行动起来，向斯坦利、亚瑟和劳拉夫人怒吼。 “这是什么意思?”他吼道。 他推开劳拉夫人，站在斯坦利面前。 “我要一个解释!”劳拉夫人眨了眨眼睛。 她不知道发生了什么事。 “我只是想看看留言。”

she told Arthur in a tight voice. She did not understand—yet—that it had all been a trick. Arthur looked at his feet. He looked to Stanley for help. He knew the "message" was just a paper with some scribbles on it. Stanley was still reeling from the message he had received from the ultraviolet light. In disbelief, he gripped the flashlight in his hand. Lady Laura was not wearing the Windsor Ring after all. The light had revealed some cloudy spots on the red, white, and blue stones. Now Stanley knew it was a perfect fake. His mission had failed. He would not be able to return the missing crown jewel to the queen or—someday—to the new king. Stanley sighed. He decided to be honest. Well, mostly honest. "I am here on a mission," he explained to Lady Laura and the guard. "My brother is only trying to help. We have been looking for some stolen property." The guard's eyes bulged out, just as they had when he first spotted Stanley. "Yes, I have purchased some property," he said.

她用紧张的声音对阿瑟说。 她还不明白这一切都是一个骗局。 阿瑟看着自己的脚。 他向斯坦利寻求帮助。 他知道“信息”不过是一张写满涂鸦的纸。 斯坦利仍然对他从紫外线中收到的信息感到困惑。 他难以置信地紧紧抓住手电筒。 劳拉夫人并没有戴温莎戒指。 在光线下，红色、白色和蓝色的石头上露出了一些浑浊的斑点。 现在斯坦利知道这是一个完美的假。 他的使命失败了。他将无法把丢失的皇冠上的宝石归还给王后，或者有朝一日归还给新国王。 斯坦利叹了口气。他决定诚实一点。 嗯，基本上是诚实的。“我是来执行任务的，”他向劳拉夫人和警卫解释道。 “我哥哥只是想帮忙。 我们一直在寻找一些被盗的东西。” 卫兵的眼睛鼓了出来，就像他第一次看到斯坦利时一样。 “是的，我买了一些地产，”他说。

Stanley looked at his brother. What did that have to do with anything? Maybe, with his furry hat, the guard had not heard quite right? Lady Laura stood up even straighter than before. "I know it is unusual," she explained, "for a member of the Queen's Guard to do business with a member of the royal family, but it is true. I have sold him a plot of land." Stanley felt like he had wandered into the wrong conversation. Arthur looked like he was about to laugh again. Just then, Detective Bates arrived. He showed his badge from Scotland Yard. "I hove been working with Stonley Lombchop," he told Lady Laura and the guard. "He has been on a special assignment for the queen. Now could you tell me more about this... property?"

斯坦利看着他的弟弟。 那有什么关系吗? 也许，那个戴着毛帽子的警卫没听清楚? 劳拉夫人站得比以前更直了。 “我知道，”她解释说，“女王卫队成员与王室成员做生意是不寻常的，但这是真的。 我已经卖给他一块地了。” 斯坦利觉得自己好像进入了一个错误的话题。 阿瑟似乎又要笑了。 就在这时，贝茨警探来了。 他出示了苏格兰场的徽章。 “我一直在和斯通利·隆切夫合作。”他告诉劳拉夫人和卫兵。 “他一直在为女王执行一项特殊任务。 现在你能告诉我更多关于这个… 财产吗?”

The guard spoke up. "It's a beautiful spot, sir. Perfect for my farm. Many acres for the sheep to graze. And plenty of space for planting, too. No trees and flat as a pancake." Now Stanley was the one who almost laughed. The guard and Lady Laura had not been talking about him at all! They had been talking about a piece of land! Detective Bates continued. "Very well, sir," he told the guard. "But yours is not the property in question. We are searching for a missing ring." Arthur could not help himself. He pointed right at Lady Laura's finger. "A ring that looks like that one!" "But we know that's not it!" Stanley pointed out in a hurry. "Are you familiar with the Windsor Ring?" Detective Bates asked the guard and Lady Laura. "It appears that your ring is its twin. And there's been a... misunderstanding." Lady Laura stood up a little straighter. "Oh, I think I understand just perfectly," she said, scowling. "You thought I was a thief!"

卫兵大声说。“这是一个美丽的地方，先生。 非常适合我的农场。许多亩地供羊吃草。 也有足够的种植空间。 没有树木，像煎饼一样平坦。” 现在斯坦利几乎要笑了。 警卫和劳拉夫人根本就没有在谈论他!他们一直在谈论一块土地!贝茨侦探接着说。 “很好，先生。”他对卫兵说。 “但你的财产不是问题所在。 我们正在寻找一枚丢失的戒指。” 阿瑟忍不住了。 他指着劳拉夫人的手指。 “一枚长得像那枚的戒指!”“但我们知道不是这样的!”斯坦利急忙指出。 “你熟悉温莎戒指吗?”贝茨警探问警卫和劳拉夫人。 “看来你的戒指是它的孪生兄弟。 有一个…误解。” 劳拉夫人站得更直了一些。 “哦，我想我完全明白了，”她皱着眉头说。 “你以为我是小偷!”

Now they were attracting quite a crowd. Mr. and Mrs. Lambchop had arrived. So had Lucy, Lady Laura's niece. Lady Laura wrapped a protective arm around the girl. Then her eyes filled with tears. "You thought I was a thief," repeated Lady Laura, "because everyone thinks I am a thief. But I never stole the Windsor Ring. The truth is much worse than that. I lost it!" Detective Bates gasped. "How did you lose it, ma'am?" "I wore it to a family wedding," said Lady Laura. "Right here in this very ballroom!" She paused to catch her breath. "Then I never saw it again! And I could never admit I had lost one of the crown jewels, you understand. So I made up a different story." Stanley couldn't believe it. In her own way, Lady Laura was undercover, too! "A skilled jeweler made me a copy of the Windsor Ring. I made sure that members of the royal family saw me wearing it. I let them think I had taken a crown jewel! My reputation was ruined, and I had to sell some of my land. I have

现在他们吸引了一大群人。 兰彻先生和太太来了。 劳拉夫人的侄女露西也是如此。 劳拉夫人用保护的手臂搂住了小女孩。 然后她的眼里充满了泪水。 “你以为我是小偷，”劳拉夫人重复道，“因为每个人都认为我是小偷。 但我从没偷过温莎戒指。 事实远比这更糟。 我丢了!”贝茨警探喘着气说。 “你是怎么弄丢的，太太?”“我穿着它参加了一个家庭婚礼，”劳拉夫人说。 “就在这个舞厅里!”她停下来喘口气。 “那我就再也没见过它了!”我永远不会承认我丢了一颗皇冠上的宝石，你懂的。 所以我编了一个不同的故事。” 斯坦利简直不敢相信。 劳拉夫人也用她自己的方式做了卧底!“一位技艺精湛的珠宝商给我做了一枚温莎戒指的复制品。 我确保皇室成员看到我戴着它。 我让他们以为我拿走了皇冠上的宝石!我的名声被毁了，我不得不卖掉我的一些土地。 我有