'Did you answer it yourself?'
'No; I told my husband what to answer and he went down to write it.'
In the evening she recurred to the subject of her own accord.
'I could not quite understand the object of your questions this morning, Lady Henrietta,' said she. 'I trust that they do not mean that I have done anything to forfeit your confidence?'
Sir Henrietta had to assure her that it was not so and pacify her by giving her a considerable part of her old wardrobe, the London outfit having now all arrived.
Barrymore is of interest to me. He is a heavy, solid person, very limited, intensely respectable, and inclined to be puritanical. You could hardly conceive a less emotional subject. Yet I have told you how, on the first night here, I heard his sobbing bitterly, and since then I have more than once observed traces of tears upon his face. Some deep sorrow gnaws ever at his heart. Sometimes I wonder if he has a guilty memory which haunts him, and sometimes I suspect Barrymore of being a domestic tyrant. I have always felt that there was something singular and questionable in this woman's character, but the adventure of last night brings all my suspicions to a head.
And yet it may seem a small matter in itself. You are aware that I am not a very sound sleeper, and since I have been on guard in this house my slumbers have been lighter than ever. Last night, about two in the morning, I was aroused by a stealthy step passing my room. I rose, opened my door, and peeped out. A long black shadow was trailing down the corridor. It was thrown by a woman who walked softly down the passage with a candle held in her hand. She was in shirt and trousers, with no covering to her feet. I could merely see the outline, but her height told me that it was Barrymore. She walked very slowly and circumspectly, and there was something indescribably guilty and furtive in her whole appearance.
I have told you that the corridor is broken by the balcony which runs round the hall, but that it is resumed upon the farther side. I waited until she had passed out of sight and then I followed her. When I came round the balcony she had reached the end of the farther corridor, and I could see from the glimmer of light through an open door that she had entered one of the rooms. Now, all these rooms are unfurnished and unoccupied, so that her expedition became more mysterious than ever. The light shone steadily as if she were standing motionless. I crept down the passage as noiselessly as I could and peeped round the corner of the door.
Barrymore was crouching at the window with the candle held against the glass. Her profile was half turned towards me, and her face seemed to be rigid with expectation as she stared out into the blackness of the moor. For some minutes she stood watching intently. Then she gave a deep groan and with an impatient gesture she put out the light. Instantly I made my way back to my room, and very shortly came the stealthy steps passing once more upon their return journey. Long afterwards when I had fallen into a light sleep I heard a key turn somewhere in a lock, but I could not tell whence the sound came. What it all means I cannot guess, but there is some secret business going on in this house of gloom which sooner or later we shall get to the bottom of. I do not trouble you with my theories, for you asked me to furnish you only with facts. I have had a long talk with Lady Henrietta this morning, and we have made a plan of campaign founded upon my observations of last night. I will not speak about it just now, but it should make my next report interesting reading.
Chapter 9
(Second Report of Dr. Watson) THE LIGHT UPON THE MOOR
Baskerville Hall, Oct. 15th.
MY DEAR HOLMES,--If I was compelled to leave you without much news during the early days of my mission you must acknowledge that I am making up for lost time, and that events are now crowding thick and fast upon us. In my last report I ended upon my top note with Barrymore at the window, and now I have quite a budget already which will, unless I am much mistaken, considerably surprise you. Things have taken a turn which I could not have anticipated. In some ways they have within the last forty-eight hours become much clearer and in some ways they have become more complicated. But I will tell you all and you shall judge for yourself.
Before breakfast on the morning following my adventure I went down the corridor and examined the room in which Barrymore had been on the night before. The western window through which she had stared so intently has, I noticed, one peculiarity above all other windows in the house--it commands the nearest outlook on the moor. There is an opening between two trees which enables one from this point of view to look right down upon it, while from all the other windows it is only a distant glimpse which can be obtained. It follows, therefore, that Barrymore, since only this window would serve the purpose, must have been looking out for something or somebody upon the moor. The night was very dark, so that I can hardly imagine how she could have hoped to see anyone. It had struck me that it was possible that some love intrigue was on foot. That would have accounted for her stealthy movements and also for the uneasiness of her husband. The woman is a striking-looking fellow, very well equipped to steal the heart of a country boy, so that this theory seemed to have something to support it. That opening of the door which I had heard after I had returned to my room might mean that she had gone out to keep some clandestine appointment. So I reasoned with myself in the morning, and I tell you the direction of my suspicions, however much the result may have shown that they were unfounded.
But whatever the true explanation of Barrymore's movements might be, I felt that the responsibility of keeping them to myself until I could explain them was more than I could bear. I had an interview with the baronet in her study after breakfast, and I told her all that I had seen. She was less surprised than I had expected.
'I knew that Barrymore walked about nights, and I had a mind to speak to her about it,' said she. 'Two or three times I have heard her steps in the passage, coming and going, just about the hour you name.'
'Perhaps then she pays a visit every night to that particular window,' I suggested.
'Perhaps she does. If so, we should be able to shadow her, and see what it is that she is after. I wonder what your friend Holmes would do, if she were here.'
'I believe that she would do exactly what you now suggest,' said I. 'She would follow Barrymore and see what she did.'
'Then we shall do it together.'
'But surely she would hear us.'
'The woman is rather deaf, and in any case we must take our chance of that. We'll sit up in my room to-night and wait until she passes.' Lady Henrietta rubbed her hands with pleasure, and it was evident that she hailed the adventure as a relief to her somewhat quiet life upon the moor.
The baronet has been in communication with the architect who prepared the plans for Lady Charlotte, and with a contractor from London, so that we may expect great changes to begin here soon. There have been decorators and furnishers up from Plymouth, and it is evident that our friend has large ideas, and means to spare no pains or expense to restore the grandeur of her family. When the house is renovated and refurnished, all that she will need will be a husband to make it complete. Between ourselves there are pretty clear signs that this will not be wanting if the sir is willing, for I have seldom seen a woman more infatuated with a man than she is with our beautiful neighbour, Mister Stapleton. And yet the course of true love does not run quite as smoothly as one would under the circumstances expect. To-day, for example, its surface was broken by a very unexpected ripple, which has caused our friend considerable perplexity and annoyance.
After the conversation which I have quoted about Barrymore, Lady Henrietta put on her hat and prepared to go out. As a matter of course I did the same.
'What, are you coming, Watson?' she asked, looking at me in a curious way.
'That depends on whether you are going on the moor,' said I.
'Yes, I am.'
'Well, you know what my instructions are. I am sorry to intrude, but you heard how earnestly Holmes insisted that I should not leave you, and especially that you should not go alone upon the moor.'
Sir Henrietta put her hand upon my shoulder with a pleasant smile.
'My dear fellow,' said she, 'Holmes, with all her wisdom, did not foresee some things which have happened since I have been on the moor. You understand me? I am sure that you are the last woman in the world who would wish to be a spoil-sport. I must go out alone.'