福爾摩斯探案經典:《恐怖谷》第5章Part9

"Yes, we have been married five years."
"Have you heard him speak of anything which occurred in America and might bring some danger upon him?"
Mrs. Douglas thought earnestly before she answered. "Yes," she said at last, "I have always felt that there was a danger hanging over him. He refused to discuss it with me. It was not from want of confidence in me--there was the most complete love and confidence between us--but it was out of his desire to keep all alarm away from me. He thought I should brood over it if I knew all, and so he was silent."
"How did you know it, then?"
Mrs. Douglas's face lit with a quick smile. "Can a husband ever carry about a secret all his life and a woman who loves him have no suspicion of it? I knew it by his refusal to talk about some episodes in his American life. I knew it by certain precautions he took. I knew it by certain words he let fall. I knew it by the way he looked at unexpected strangers. I was perfectly certain that he had some powerful enemies, that he believed they were on his track, and that he was always on his guard against them. I was so sure of it that for years I have been terrified if ever he came home later than was expected."
"Might I ask," asked Holmes, "what the words were which attracted your attention?"
"The Valley of Fear," the lady answered. "That was an expression he has used when I questioned him. 'I have been in the Valley of Fear. I am not out of it yet.'--'Are we never to get out of the Valley of Fear?' I have asked him when I have seen him more serious than usual. 'Sometimes I think that we never shall,' he has answered."
"Surely you asked him what he meant by the Valley of Fear?"

“對，我們已經結婚五年了。”
“你聽到他講過在美洲發生過什麼危及到他的事嗎？”
道格拉斯夫人認真地思索了一會兒才答道，“對，我總覺得有一種危險在時刻威脅着他，但他不肯與我商量。這並不是因爲他不信任我，順便說一句，我們夫妻一向無比恩愛，推心置腹，而是因爲他不想叫我擔驚受怕。他認爲如果我知道了一切，就會驚惶不安。所以他就不聲不響了。”
“那你是怎麼知道的呢？”
道格拉斯夫人臉上掠過一絲笑容，說道：“做丈夫的一生保守着祕密，而熱愛着他的女人卻一點也覺察不出，這可能嗎？我是從許多方面知道的：從他避而不談他在美洲生活的某些片段；從他採取的某些防範措施；從他偶爾流露出來的某些言語；從他注視某些不速之客的方式。我可以完全肯定，他有一些有勢力的仇人，他確知他們正在追蹤他，所以他總是在防備着他們。因爲我深信這點，所以這幾年來，只要他回來得比預料得晚，我就非常驚恐。”
“我可以問一句嗎？"福爾摩斯說道，“哪些話引起你注意呢？”
“'恐怖谷'，"婦人回答道，“這就是我追問他時，他用的詞兒。他說：‘我一直身陷"恐怖谷"中，至今也無從擺脫。''難道我們就永遠擺脫不開這"恐怖谷"了嗎？'我看到他更失常時曾這樣問過他。他回答說，'有時我想，我們永遠也擺脫不了啦。'”
“你想必問過他，‘恐怖谷'是什麼意思吧？”