I nodded, and stood by the door. My first feeling of fear had passed away, and I thrilled now with a keener zest than I had ever enjoyed when we were the defenders of the law instead of its defiers. The high object of our mission, the consciousness that it was unselfish and chivalrous, the villainous character of our opponent, all added to the sporting interest of the adventure. Far from feeling guilty, I rejoiced and exulted in our dangers. With a glow of admiration I watched Holmes unrolling his case of instruments and choosing his tool with the calm, scientific accuracy of a surgeon who performs a delicate operation. I knew that the opening of safes was a particular hobby with him, and I understood the joy which it gave him to be confronted with this green and gold monster, the dragon which held in its maw the reputations of many fair ladies. Turning up the cuffs of his dress-coat – he had placed his overcoat on a chair – Holmes laid out two drills, a jemmy, and several skeleton keys. I stood at the centre door with my eyes glancing at each of the others, ready for any emergency, though, indeed, my plans were somewhat vague as to what I should do if we were interrupted. For half an hour, Holmes worked with concentrated energy, laying down one tool, picking up another, handling each with the strength and delicacy of the trained mechanic. Finally I heard a click, the broad green door swung open, and inside I had a glimpse of a number of paper packets, each tied, sealed, and inscribed. Holmes picked one out, but it was hard to read by the flickering fire, and he drew out his little dark lantern, for it was too dangerous, with Milverton in the next room, to switch on the electric light. Suddenly I saw him halt, listen intently, and then in an instant he had swung the door of the safe to, picked up his coat, stuffed his tools into the pockets, and darted behind the window curtain, motioning me to do the same.

私はうなずいた / そして扉の側に立った◆私の最初に感じた恐れは / 消え去っていた / そして私はこの時、もっと鋭い興奮を覚えていた / 我々が法の挑戦者でなく、番人だった時に感じていたものより◆我々の使命の高い目的 / 次のような自覚 / これが利他的で騎士道に則ったものであること / 我々の敵対者の非道な性格 / これら全てが、この冒険に正々堂々とした興味を与えていた◆やましさの実感からはるかに離れて / 私はこの危険を喜び勇んでいた◆感嘆の念で私は見つめていた / ホームズがケースの中の道具を広げ / 道具を選ぶのを / 繊細な手術を行う外科医の静かな科学的正確さで◆私は金庫破りが彼の特別な趣味である事を知っていた / そして私は理解していた / それが彼に与える喜びを / 緑と金の怪物と対決することが / 多くの麗人の名声を胃の中に収めた竜と◆夜会服の袖を捲り上げ / / 彼はコートを椅子の上に置いていた / / ホームズは二本のドリル、一本のカナテコ、数本の合鍵を並べた◆私は真中の扉の前に立ち / 両側の扉に目を配っていた / 緊急の事態に備えて / しかし、実際は / 私の計画はやや曖昧だった / もし我々に邪魔が入った時にどうするべきかということに関して◆30分 / ホームズは精力を傾けて作業した / 一つの道具を置き / 別の道具を取り上げ / それぞれを熟練工の力強さと繊細さで扱っていた◆遂に私はカチリと音がするのを聞いた / 大きな緑の扉が揺れるように開き / その中に私はちらりとたくさんの紙包みを見た / それぞれ、括られ、封をされ、表書きされていた◆ホームは一つの包みを取り上げた / しかし揺らめく炎の光で読むことは難しかった / だから彼は小さなダークランタンを取り出した / これは危険すぎたからだ / ミルヴァートンが隣の部屋にいるので / 電気のスイッチを入れるのは◆突然私は彼が中断するのを見た / 熱心に聞き耳を立て / そして次の瞬間 / 彼は金庫の扉を閉め / コートを取り上げ / 道具をポケットに押し込み / 窓のカーテンの後ろに突進した / 私に同じようにするように手振りで知らせて

It was only when I had joined him there that I heard what had alarmed his quicker senses. There was a noise somewhere within the house. A door slammed in the distance. Then a confused, dull murmur broke itself into the measured thud of heavy footsteps rapidly approaching. They were in the passage outside the room. They paused at the door. The door opened. There was a sharp snick as the electric light was turned on. The door closed once more, and the pungent reek of a strong cigar was borne to our nostrils. Then the footsteps continued backward and forward, backward and forward, within a few yards of us. Finally there was a creak from a chair, and the footsteps ceased. Then a key clicked in a lock, and I heard the rustle of papers.

私が彼と一緒に隠れた時になって / 私は彼のより鋭い五感が既に察知していたものを聞いた◆家の中のどこかで大きな物音がした◆遠くで扉がバタンと閉められた◆その時、はっきりしない鈍いざわめきが / こちらに急ぎ足で近づいてくる重い整然とした足音へと変わった◆足音は部屋の外の廊下で鳴った◆扉のところで立ち止まり◆扉が開かれ◆鋭いカチッという音がして電気がついた◆扉はまた閉じられ / そして強い葉巻の刺激的な臭いが / 我々の鼻へと流れてきた◆それから足音がずっと行ったり来たりした / 行ったり来たり / 我々から数ヤードと離れていないところを◆遂に椅子がしなる音がし / 足音は止んだ◆それから鍵が錠の中でカチリと鳴り / 書類をめくる音が聞こえた

So far I had not dared to look out, but now I gently parted the division of the curtains in front of me and peeped through. From the pressure of Holmes’s shoulder against mine, I knew that he was sharing my observations. Right in front of us, and almost within our reach, was the broad, rounded back of Milverton. It was evident that we had entirely miscalculated his movements, that he had never been to his bedroom, but that he had been sitting up in some smoking or billiard room in the farther wing of the house, the windows of which we had not seen. His broad, grizzled head, with its shining patch of baldness, was in the immediate foreground of our vision. He was leaning far back in the red leather chair, his legs outstretched, a long, black cigar projecting at an angle from his mouth. He wore a semi-military smoking jacket, claret-coloured, with a black velvet collar. In his hand he held a long, legal document which he was reading in an indolent fashion, blowing rings of tobacco smoke from his lips as he did so. There was no promise of a speedy departure in his composed bearing and his comfortable attitude.

ここまで私はあえて外を見ようとはしなかった / しかしここで私はそっと自分の前のカーテンの継ぎ目を開き / そこから覗き見した◆ホームズの肩が私の肩に押し付けられて / 私は彼が同じ場所から覗いているのが分かった◆我々の真正面に / そしてほとんど手を伸ばせばとどく場所に / 広く丸いミルヴァートンの背中があった◆これは明らかだった / 我々が完全に彼の行動を読み誤っていたことは / 彼は決して寝室に行っていたのではなく / 彼はどこか喫煙室かビリヤード室で起きていた / この家の遠くの棟で / 我々が見ていなかった窓がある◆彼の大きな白髪混じりの頭が / 禿げて所々光っていたが / 我々の視線のすぐ前にあった◆彼は赤い革の椅子に思い切りもたれかかり / 足は伸ばされ / 口の端から長く黒い葉巻が飛び出していた◆彼は半軍隊式の室内上着を着ていた / 濃い赤紫色で黒いベルベットのカラーがついた◆彼は長い法律関係文書を手にし / 彼はそれをだらけた雰囲気で読んでいた / 以前そうしたように煙草の煙の輪を吹き出しながら◆彼がすぐに出て行く見込みはなかった / 落ち着いた態度とくつろいだ姿勢から

I felt Holmes’s hand steal into mine and give me a reassuring shake, as if to say that the situation was within his powers, and that he was easy in his mind. I was not sure whether he had seen what was only too obvious from my position, that the door of the safe was imperfectly closed, and that Milverton might at any moment observe it. In my own mind I had determined that if I were sure, from the rigidity of his gaze, that it had caught his eye, I would at once spring out, throw my great coat over his head, pinion him, and leave the rest to Holmes. But Milverton never looked up. He was languidly interested by the papers in his hand, and page after page was turned as he followed the argument of the lawyer. At least, I thought, when he has finished the document and the cigar he will go to his room, but before he had reached the end of either, there came a remarkable development, which turned our thoughts into quite another channel.

私はホームズの手がそっと伸びて私の手を握り / 元気付けるように振るのを感じた / あたかもこの状況が彼の支配下にあるとでも言うように / そしてそれは私の心を楽にした◆私は彼が見ていたか確信がなかった / 私の場所からは一目瞭然だったものを / それは金庫の扉がきちんと閉まっていないこと / そしてミルヴァートンがいつでもそれに気付きかねないことだった◆私は心の中で決意していた / もし私がはっきりと / 彼の視線がそこから離れないことから / それが彼の目に止まった事を確信すれば / 私はすぐに飛び出し / 大きなコートを彼にかぶせ / 彼を拘束し / あとはホームズにまかせようと◆しかしミルヴァートンは視線を上げなかった◆彼は物憂げに手にした書類をしげしげと見ていた / そして次々とページをめくっていた / 彼が弁護士の主張を追っているうちに◆少なくとも / 私は考えた / 彼が文書を読み終わるか葉巻を吸い終わるかすれば / 彼はこの部屋から出て行くだろうと / しかしどちらも終わらないうちに / 驚くべき展開が起こった / それが我々の考えを全く違う方向に変えた

Several times I had observed that Milverton looked at his watch, and once he had risen and sat down again, with a gesture of impatience. The idea, however, that he might have an appointment at so strange an hour never occurred to me until a faint sound reached my ears from the veranda outside. Milverton dropped his papers and sat rigid in his chair. The sound was repeated, and then there came a gentle tap at the door. Milverton rose and opened it.

何度か / 私はミルヴァートンが腕時計を見ているところを観察した / そして一度は彼が立ち上がってまた座りなおしたのを / イライラした様子で◆しかし、この考えは / 彼がこの妙な時刻に会う約束をしていたかもしれないという / 私には思いつかなかった / 外のベランダからごく小さな音が聞こえてくるまで◆ミルヴァートンは書類を捨てて椅子でじっと座っていた◆もう一度音がした / そしてそれから扉をノックする小さな音がした◆ミルヴァートンは立ち上がってそれを開けた

“Well,” said he, curtly, “you are nearly half an hour late.”

「おい」 / 彼は言った / ぶっきらぼうに / 「30分近く遅れているぞ」

So this was the explanation of the unlocked door and of the nocturnal vigil of Milverton. There was the gentle rustle of a woman’s dress. I had closed the slit between the curtains as Milverton’s face had turned in our direction, but now I ventured very carefully to open it once more. He had resumed his seat, the cigar still projecting at an insolent angle from the corner of his mouth. In front of him, in the full glare of the electric light, there stood a tall, slim, dark woman, a veil over her face, a mantle drawn round her chin. Her breath came quick and fast, and every inch of the lithe figure was quivering with strong emotion.

つまりこれが理由だった / 施錠されていない扉とミルヴァートンの夜更かしの◆女性のドレスの柔らかな衣擦れの音がした◆私はカーテンの隙間を閉じていた / ミルヴァートンの顔が私達の方を向いたので / しかしここで私はあえて非常に慎重にもう一度それを開けた◆彼は椅子に戻っていた / 葉巻はまだ傲慢な角度で突き出ていた / 彼の口元から◆彼の正面に / 電気のまばゆい輝きの中 / 背の高い、痩せた、黒髪の女性が立っていた / 顔にベールを掛け / マントを首の周りに巻いた◆彼女の息遣いは速く / そして彼女の体全体は / 強い衝動に震えていた