“Mrs. Barclay was, it appears, a member of the Roman Catholic Church and had interested herself very much in the establishment of the Guild of St. George, which was formed in connection with the Watt Street Chapel for the purpose of supplying the poor with cast-off clothing. A meeting of the Guild had been held that evening at eight, and Mrs. Barclay had hurried over her dinner in order to be present at it. When leaving the house she was heard by the coachman to make some commonplace remark to her husband, and to assure him that she would be back before very long. She then called for Miss Morrison, a young lady who lives in the next villa, and the two went off together to their meeting. It lasted forty minutes, and at a quarter-past nine Mrs. Barclay returned home, having left Miss Morrison at her door as she passed.

「バークレイ夫人は / どうやら / ローマカトリック教会の信者で / セント・ジョージ・ギルドの設立に非常に興味を持ち / ワット街礼拝堂と協力して設立される / 古着を貧しい人に提供する目的で◆ギルドの会合がその夜8時にあった / それに出席するためにバークレイ夫人は急いで夕食をすませた◆家を出る時 / 彼女は御者から聞かれた / ごく普通の会話を夫としているのを / そして彼にそんなに長くかからずに戻ってくると約束しているのを◆彼女はそれから隣に住むモリソンという若い女性のところに行き / 一緒に会合に出発した◆40分くらいかかり / バークレイ夫人が家に戻ったのは九時四十五分だった / モリソンさんを途中戸口で降ろして」

“There is a room which is used as a morning-room at Lachine. This faces the road and opens by a large glass folding-door on to the lawn. The lawn is thirty yards across and is only divided from the highway by a low wall with an iron rail above it. It was into this room that Mrs. Barclay went upon her return. The blinds were not down, for the room was seldom used in the evening, but Mrs. Barclay herself lit the lamp and then rang the bell, asking Jane Stewart, the housemaid, to bring her a cup of tea, which was quite contrary to her usual habits. The colonel had been sitting in the dining-room, but, hearing that his wife had returned, he joined her in the morning-room. The coachman saw him cross the hall and enter it. He was never seen again alive.

「ラシーヌには朝食をとる居間があった◆この部屋は通りに面し / 大きなガラス扉が芝生へ開いていた◆芝生は30ヤードあり / 大通りとは、上に鉄の手すりがついた低い塀で隔てられているだけだ◆バークレイ夫人は帰ってくるとこの部屋に入った◆ブラインドは下ろされていなかった / 夜にその部屋はほとんど利用されていなかったため / しかし、バークレイ夫人は自分でランプに火を入れてベルを鳴らした / メイドのジェーン・スチュワートに / 紅茶を持ってくるように頼んだ / それは彼女の普段の習慣にはないものだった◆大佐は居間で座っていたが / しかし、妻が帰ってきた音がしたので / 彼は朝食用の部屋に行った◆御者は彼が広間を横切って入るのを目撃している◆これが彼の生きて目撃された最後となった」

“The tea which had been ordered was brought up at the end of ten minutes; but the maid, as she approached the door, was surprised to hear the voices of her master and mistress in furious altercation. She knocked without receiving any answer, and even turned the handle, but only to find that the door was locked upon the inside. Naturally enough she ran down to tell the cook, and the two women with the coachman came up into the hall and listened to the dispute which was still raging. They all agreed that only two voices were to be heard, those of Barclay and of his wife. Barclay’s remarks were subdued and abrupt so that none of them were audible to the listeners. The lady’s, on the other hand, were most bitter, and when she raised her voice could be plainly heard. ‘You coward!’ she repeated over and over again. ‘What can be done now? What can be done now? Give me back my life. I will never so much as breathe the same air with you again! You coward! You coward!’ Those were scraps of her conversation, ending in a sudden dreadful cry in the man’s voice, with a crash, and a piercing scream from the woman. Convinced that some tragedy had occurred, the coachman rushed to the door and strove to force it, while scream after scream issued from within. He was unable, however, to make his way in, and the maids were too distracted with fear to be of any assistance to him. A sudden thought struck him, however, and he ran through the hall door and round to the lawn upon which the long French windows open. One side of the window was open, which I understand was quite usual in the summertime, and he passed without difficulty into the room. His mistress had ceased to scream and was stretched insensible upon a couch, while with his feet tilted over the side of an armchair, and his head upon the ground near the corner of the fender, was lying the unfortunate soldier stone dead in a pool of his own blood.

「指示されていた紅茶は / 10分経過して運ばれてきた / しかしメイドは / 扉に近づいた時 / 驚いた / 夫婦が物凄い口論をしている声を聞いて◆彼女はノックしたが返事はなかった / そしてノブを回してみた / しかし扉は内側から鍵が掛けれらていることが分かった◆当然彼女はコックの所に走って行った / そして女性二人と御者が広間に駆けつけ / まだ激しくやりあっている言い合いを聞いていた◆彼らは全員二人の声しか聞いていないという点で一致した / バークレイと妻の◆バークレイの話は圧倒されて途切れ途切れだったので / 誰も何を言っているか分からなかった◆夫人の声は / これに対して / 非常に辛辣で / 彼女が声を荒げた時ははっきりと聞き取れた◆『この卑怯者！』 / 彼女は何度も何度も繰り返した◆『今何が出来るというの？ / 今何が出来るというの？ / 私の人生を返して頂戴◆あなたとは二度と同じ空気を吸わないわ！ / 卑怯者！ / 卑怯者！』 / これが夫人の会話の断片だ / 中断された / 突然の恐ろしい男の叫び声で / ガシャンという音と / 女性のつんざくような悲鳴で◆何か大変な事が起きたと確信して / 御者は扉に体当たりしてこじ開けようと奮闘した / その間も中から何度も叫び声がしていた◆しかし扉を開けることは出来なかった / メイドは恐怖に動揺して彼の手助けをしなかった◆しかし、彼は突然思いついた / 彼は玄関から飛び出て / 背の高い出窓がある芝生に回りこんだ◆片側の窓が開いていた / 聞いたところでは夏の時期は極めて普通だそうだ / そして彼は簡単に部屋の中に入れた◆女主人は叫ぶのをやめ / 長椅子に意識不明で横たわっていた / 足を肘掛け椅子の片側に / 頭を暖炉の格子の近くの床に置き / 不幸な軍人は自分の血の海に完全に死んで横たわっていた」

“Naturally, the coachman’s first thought, on finding that he could do nothing for his master, was to open the door. But here an unexpected and singular difficulty presented itself. The key was not in the inner side of the door, nor could he find it anywhere in the room. He went out again, therefore, through the window, and, having obtained the help of a policeman and of a medical man, he returned. The lady, against whom naturally the strongest suspicion rested, was removed to her room, still in a state of insensibility. The colonel’s body was then placed upon the sofa and a careful examination made of the scene of the tragedy.

「当然 / 御者はまず考えた / 主人に対してはどうすることも出来ないと分かったので / 扉を開けようと◆しかし予期しない奇妙な困難が現れた◆鍵は扉の内側に差し込まれておらず / しかも部屋のどこにも見当たらなかった◆そのため、彼はもう一度窓から外に出て / 警官一人と医者一人を助けとして連れて / 戻ってきた◆夫人は / 当然最も疑いが掛けられる人物だったが / 自室に運ばれた / 意識を取り戻さないまま◆大佐の死体はソファの上に置かれ / 殺害現場の入念な捜査が行われた」