3 Two Disappearances

Chapter 3 Two Disappearances "For the next two days, Brunton carried out his duties very well," continued Musgrave. "We didn't talk about what had happened. I simply waited for him to announce his resignation. On the third morning, however, Brunton did not appear. "Normally, he would come to me after breakfast to receive his instructions for the day, but on that day there was no sign of him. As I was leaving the dining room, I happened to meet Rachel Howells, the maid. She looked so pale and weak, I assumed she was ill. "'You should be in bed,' I told her. 'You can resume your duties when you are stronger.' "She smiled at me strangely and said, 'I am strong enough, sir.' "'We'll see what the doctor says about that,' I responded. 'By the way, have you seen Brunton?'

“在接下来的两天里，布伦顿很好地履行了他的职责，”马斯格雷夫继续说。 “我们没有谈论发生了什么。 我只是等着他宣布辞职。 可是到了第三天早晨，布伦顿没有出现。 “通常，他会在早餐后来找我，接受当天的指示，但那天没有他的踪影。 当我离开餐厅时，我碰巧遇到了女仆雷切尔·豪威尔斯。 她看上去如此苍白和虚弱，我以为她病了。 “‘你应该躺在床上，’我告诉她。 “等你身体好些了，你就可以回去上班了。’”她奇怪地对我笑了笑，说：‘我很强壮，先生。’”‘我们要看看医生怎么说，’我回答。 “顺便问一下，你见到布伦顿了吗？”

"'The butler is gone,' she said, that same sickly smile playing on her lips. "'Gone? Gone where?' "'He's gone. No one's seen him. He's not in his room. Oh, yes, he's gone all right. Quite gone!' She fell back against the wall, laughing wildly. "Horrified, I rushed away to summon help as the corridor echoed with her shrieks of laughter. Rachel was taken to her room, her laughter having turned, by now, to wild sobbing. Meanwhile, I enquired among the other staff

“‘管家走了，’她说，嘴角还挂着那种病态的微笑。 “去了?去哪儿了?’”‘他走了。 没人见过他。他不在房间里。 哦，是的，他很好。 完全不见了!”她向后倒在墙上，狂笑起来。 我吓坏了，赶紧跑去求救，走廊里回荡着她尖叫的笑声。 雷切尔被带到她的房间，她的笑声现在已经变成了疯狂的哭泣。 与此同时，我向其他员工询问

about Brunton. No one, it turned out, had seen him since he retired to his room the night before. "I checked his room. His bed had not been slept in. His clothes, watch, and even his money were still there, but the black suit that he usually wore was missing. His slippers were also gone, but his boots remained. It was very strange. Who, I wondered, would run off without their boots? "The windows and doors were all bolted on the inside that morning, so it was difficult to see how he could have left the house. Of course, we searched the place from cellar to attic, but there was no trace of him. It's a big, rambling house, but we scoured every room—even in the old wing, which is now barely ever used, except to put up guests. We couldn't find the smallest sign of him.

勃氏。事实证明，自从他前一天晚上回到房间后，没有人见过他。 我检查了他的房间。他的床没人睡过。 他的衣服、手表，甚至他的钱都还在，但他平时穿的黑色西装不见了。 他的拖鞋也不见了，但他的靴子还在。 这很奇怪。我在想，谁会不穿靴子就跑掉呢？ “那天早上，门窗都是从里面闩上的，所以很难想象他是怎么离开房子的。 当然，我们从地下室到阁楼都找遍了，但没有他的踪迹。 这是一所又大又乱的房子，但我们把每一个房间都找遍了——甚至连旧的厢房也找遍了。 我们找不到他的一丝踪迹。

"It was incredible to me that Brunton would simply have run away, leaving all his possessions behind. I knew the man had been upset after our confrontation in the library and that he had been planning to leave anyway. But he had wanted a dignifed departure. Above all, he had been determined to maintain his good name. This sudden disappearance made no sense at all. "I called in the county police, but they could shed no light on the mystery. Rain had fallen during the night, and we examined the lawns and paths surrounding the house for footprints, but found nothing. "While we were busy searching for Brunton, Rachel Howells remained in her strange, feverish

“让我难以置信的是，布伦顿会丢下他所有的财产跑掉。 我知道那个男人在我们在图书馆对峙后很不高兴，他本来就打算离开的。 但他想体面地离开。 最重要的是，他决心维护自己的好名声。 她的突然消失完全说不通。 “我叫来了县警察，但他们无法解开这个谜团。 夜里下了雨，我们检查了房子周围的草坪和小路，看有没有脚印，但什么也没找到。 当我们忙着寻找布伦顿的时候，雷切尔·豪威尔斯还在她那奇怪的发烧的

state. Sometimes she babbled incoherently. At other times, she burst into uncontrollable fits of crying or laughter. I was so concerned for her health, I employed a nurse to sit up with her at night. "On the third night after Brunton's disappearance, Howells fell into a peaceful sleep. The nurse, relieved that her patient seemed in a better state, dozed off in her armchair. She awoke early the next morning to find the bed empty, the window open, and no sign of Howells.

状态。有时她语无伦次。 有时，她会失控地大哭或大笑。 我很关心她的健康，所以雇了一名护士晚上守着她不睡。 在布伦顿失踪后的第三天晚上，豪威尔斯平静地睡着了。 护士看到她的病人似乎好些了，松了一口气，便在扶手椅上打起了盹。 第二天一早她醒来，发现床空无一人，窗户开着，没有豪威尔斯的影子。

"The nurse came and woke me up, and I started off at once, together with my two footmen, in search of the missing maid. It wasn't difficult to see the route she'd taken. Starting from under her window, there was a clear trail of footprints heading out across the lawn. "The footprints vanished at the edge of the lake, close to a gravel path that leads out of the grounds. The lake is quite deep, and you can imagine our fears when we saw the footprints of this poor, unstable young woman come to an end on its shores. "Of course, we dragged it at once, but found no trace of a body. We did, however, retrieve a

“保姆来叫醒了我，我立刻和我的两个男仆一起出发去寻找失踪的女仆。 不难看出她走过的路线。 从她的窗户下面开始，有一条清晰的脚印穿过草坪。 脚印消失在湖边，靠近一条通往场地的砾石小路。 这个湖相当深，你可以想象当我们看到这个可怜的、不稳定的年轻女人的脚印落在湖岸上时我们的恐惧。 “当然，我们立刻就把它拖走了，但是没有发现任何尸体的痕迹。 然而，我们确实找回了一个