| With the connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, covered those keen eyes with tinted glasses, masked the face with a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off other lovers by making love himself." |
Он был совершенно уничтожен. |
| She was flattered by the gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the loudly expressed admiration of her mother. |
Падчерица мила, добродушна, но сердце ее жаждет любви, и совершенно очевидно, что при ее приятной наружности и порядочном доходе она недолго останется в девицах. |
| Then Mr. Angel began to call, for it was obvious that the matter should be pushed as far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. |
Замужество ее, однако, означает потерю годового дохода в сто фунтов. |
| There were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. |
Что же делает отчим, дабы это предотвратить? |
| But the deception could not be kept up forever. |
Он требует, чтобы она сидела дома, запрещает ей встречаться с людьми ее возраста. |
| These pretended journeys to France were rather cumbrous. |
Скоро он убеждается, что этих мер недостаточно. |
| The thing to do was clearly to bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and prevent her from looking upon any other suitor for some time to come. |
Девица начинает упрямиться, настаивать на своих правах и, наконец, заявляет, что хочет посетить некий бал. |
| Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening on the very morning of the wedding. |
Что же делает тогда ее изобретательный отчим? |
| James Windibank wished Miss Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not listen to another man. |
Он замышляет план, который делает больше чести его уму, нежели сердцу. |
| As far as the church door he brought her, and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a four-wheeler and out at the other. |
С ведома своей жены и при ее содействии он изменяет свою внешность, скрывает за темными очками свои проницательные глаза, наклеивает усы и пышные бакенбарды, приглушает свой звонкий голос до вкрадчивого шепота и, пользуясь близорукостью девицы, появляется в качестве мистера Г осмера Эйнджела и отстраняет других поклонников своим настойчивым ухаживанием. |
| I think that was the chain of events, Mr. Windibank!" |
- Это была шутка, - простонал наш посетитель. |
| Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes had been talking, and he rose from his chair now with a cold sneer upon his pale face. |
- Мы не думали, что она так увлечется. |
| "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is you who are breaking the law now, and not me. |
- Возможно. |
| I have done nothing actionable from the first, but as long as you keep that door locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal constraint." |
Однако, как бы там ни было, молодая девушка искренне увлеклась. |
| "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who deserved punishment more. |
Она знала, что отчим во Франции, и потому не могла ничего заподозрить. |
| If the young lady has a brother or a friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. |
Она была польщена вниманием этого джентльмена, а шумное одобрение со стороны матери еще более усилило ее чувство. |
| By Jove!" he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat myself to-" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. |
Отлично понимая, что реального результата можно добиться только решительными действиями, мистер Эйнджел зачастил в дом. |