The Law and the Lady
.pdfWILKIE COLLINS
THE LAW
AND THE LADY
Москва, 2018
УДК 82 ББК 84
Wilkie Collins
The Law and the Lady / W. Collins. – М. : T8RUGRAM / Original, 2018. – 530 с.
ISBN 978-5-521-06458-8
Probably the first full-length novel with a woman detective as its heroine, The Law and the Lady is a fascinating example of Collins’ later fiction.
Despite the grave misgivings of both their families, Valeria Brinton and Eustace Woodville are married. But before long the new bride begins to suspect a dark secret in her husband’s past and when she discovers that he has been living under a false name, she determines to find out why he is concealing his true identity from her. Soon she must endure an even greater shock: the revelation that her husband has been on trial for poisoning his first wife. Convinced of his innocence, Valeria is prepared to do anything to clear her husband’s name, and in so doing upturns the conventions of polite nineteenth century society.
УДК 82 ББК 84 BIC FC
BISAC FIC000000
|
© T8RUGRAM, оформление, 2018 |
ISBN 978-5-521-06458-8 |
© Original, 2018 |
CONTENTS
NOTE: ADDRESSED TO THE READER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
PART I
PARADISE LOST
Chapter I. THE BRIDE’S MISTAKE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Chapter II. THE BRIDE’S THOUGHTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Chapter III. RAMSGATE SANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Chapter IV. ON THE WAY HOME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Chapter V. THE LANDLADY’S DISCOVERY . . . . . . . . 49 Chapter VI. MY OWN DISCOVERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Chapter VII. ON THE WAY TO THE MAJOR. . . . . . . . 65 Chapter VIII. THE FRIEND OF THE WOMEN. . . . . . . 76 Chapter IX. THE DEFEAT OF THE MAJOR . . . . . . . . . . 85 Chapter X. THE SEARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Chapter XI. THE RETURN TO LIFE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Chapter XII. THE SCOTCH VERDICT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Chapter XIII. THE MAN’S DECISION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Chapter XIV. THE WOMAN’S ANSWER . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
3
WILKIE COLLINS
PART II
PARADISE REGAINED
Chapter XV. THE STORY OF THE TRIAL.
THE PRELIMINARIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Chapter XVI. FIRST QUESTION – DID
THE WOMAN DIE POISONED?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Chapter XVII. SECOND QUESTION –
WHO POISONED HER? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Chapter XVIII. THIRD QUESTION – WHAT
WAS HIS MOTIVE? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Chapter XIX. THE EVIDENCE FOR
THE DEFENSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Chapter XX. THE END OF THE TRIAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Chapter XXI. I SEE MY WAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Chapter XXII. THE MAJOR MAKES
DIFFICULTIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Chapter XXIII. MY MOTHER-IN-LAW
SURPRISES ME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Chapter XXIV. MISERRIMUS DEXTER –
FIRST VIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Chapter XXV. MISERRIMUS DEXTER –
SECOND VIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Chapter XXVI. MORE OF MY OBSTINACY . . . . . . . . . 284
Chapter XXVII. MR. DEXTER AT HOME . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Chapter XXVIII. IN THE DARK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
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THE LAW AND THE LADY
Chapter XXIX. IN THE LIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Chapter XXX. THE INDICTMENT
OF MRS. BEAULY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323 Chapter XXXI. THE DEFENSE OF MRS. BEAULY . . . 336 Chapter XXXII. A SPECIMEN OF MY WISDOM . . . . 346 Chapter XXXIII. A SPECIMEN OF MY FOLLY. . . . . . . 350 Chapter XXXIV. GLENINCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 Chapter XXXV. MR. PLAYMORE’S PROPHECY . . . . 374 Chapter XXXVI. ARIEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386 Chapter XXXVII. AT THE BEDSIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394 Chapter XXXVIII. ON THE JOURNEY BACK . . . . . . . 408 Chapter XXXIX. ON THE WAY TO DEXTER. . . . . . . . 411 Chapter XL. NEMESIS AT LAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Chapter XLI. MR. PLAYMORE IN A NEW CHARACTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
Chapter XLII. MORE SURPRISES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459 Chapter XLIII. AT LAST! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467 Chapter XLIV. OUR NEW HONEYMOON . . . . . . . . . 472 Chapter XLV. THE DUST-HEAP DISTURBEDN. . . . 480 Chapter XLVI. THE CRISIS DEFERRED. . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 Chapter XLVII. THE WIFE’S CONFESSION . . . . . . . . . 495 Chapter XLVIII. WHAT ELSE COULD I DO? . . . . . . . 506 Chapter XLIX. PAST AND FUTURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 512 Chapter L. THE LAST OF THE STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
NOTE:
ADDRESSED TO THE READER
IN offering this book to you, I have no Preface to write. I have only to request that you will bear in mind certain established truths, which occasionally escape your memory when you are reading a work of fiction. Be pleased, then, to remember (First): That the actions of human beings are not invariably governed by the laws of pure reason. (Secondly): That we are by no means always in the habit of bestowing our love on the objects which are the most deserving of it, in the opinions of our friends. (Thirdly and Lastly): That Characters which may not have appeared, and Events which may not have taken place, within the limits of our own individual experience, may nevertheless be perfectly natural Characters and perfectly probable Events, for all that. Having said these few words, I have said all that seems to be necessary at the present time, in presenting my new Story to your notice.
W. C.
LONDON, February 1, 1875.
PART I
PARADISE LOST