修道院公学（7）

“I fear I cannot help you much. His only correspondent, so far as I know, was his own father.”

“Who wrote to him on the very day of his disappearance. Were the relations between father and son very friendly?”

“His Grace is never very friendly with anyone. He is completely immersed in large public questions, and is rather inaccessible to all ordinary emotions. But he was always kind to the boy in his own way.”

“But the sympathies of the latter were with the mother?”

“Yes.”

“Did he say so?”

“No.”

“The Duke, then?”

“Good heavens, no!”

“Then how could you know?”

“I have had some confidential talks with Mr. James Wilder, his Grace's secretary. It was he who gave me the information about Lord Saltire's feelings.”

“I see. By the way, that last letter of the Duke's—was it found in the boy's room after he was gone?”

“No; he had taken it with him. I think, Mr. Holmes, it is time that we were leaving for Euston.”

“I will order a four-wheeler. In a quarter of an hour we shall be at your service. If you are telegraphing home, Mr. Huxtable, it would be well to allow the people in your neighbourhood to imagine that the inquiry is still going on in Liverpool, or wherever else that red herring led your pack. In the meantime I will do a little quiet work at your own doors, and perhaps the scent is not so cold but that two old hounds like Watson and myself may get a sniff of it.”

That evening found us in the cold, bracing atmosphere of the Peak country, in which Dr. Huxtable's famous school is situated. It was already dark when we reached it. A card was lying on the hall table, and the butler whispered something to his master, who turned to us with agitation in every heavy feature.

“恐怕我帮不了多大忙。据我所知，只有他父亲和他通信。”

“他父亲恰巧就在他失踪的那天给他写了信。父亲和儿子之间的关系是很亲近的吗？”

“公爵无论和谁都不亲近。他的心思完全沉浸在公众的重大问题上，对于一般的情感，他是无动于衷的。但是就公爵本人来说，他待这个孩子是很好的。”

“孩子的感情是在他母亲一边吧？”

“是的。”

“孩子这样说过吗？”

“没有。”

“那么，公爵呢？”

“唉！他也没有。”

“您怎么会知道的呢？”

“公爵大人的秘书詹姆士·王尔得先生和我私下谈过。是他给我讲了这个孩子的感情。”

“我明白了。还要问一下，公爵最后送来的那封信——孩子走了以后在他的屋中找到没有？”

“没有，他把信带走了。福尔摩斯先生，我看我们该去尤斯顿车站了。”

“我要叫一辆四轮马车。过一刻钟我们就会再见到您。贺克斯塔布尔先生，如果您要往回打电报，最好是让您周围的人们以为调查仍然继续进行，是在利物浦，或是在这个假线索使你们想到的任何地方。同时我要在您的学校附近悄悄地做点工作，也许痕迹尚未完全消失，华生和我这两只老猎狗还可以嗅出一点气味来。”

当天晚上我们到了贺克斯塔布尔先生著名学校的所在地皮克镇；这儿空气清凉使人感到爽一快。我们到达的时候，天色已经黑了。大厅的桌子上放着一张名片，管家向主人耳语了几句，博士转过身来，脸色十分激动。