复仇女神11
时间：2026-01-29 07:00:18
（单词翻译:单击）
Five
INSTRUCTIONS FROM BEYOND
I
It was some three or four days later that a communication arrived by the
second post. Miss Marple picked up the letter, did what she usually did to
letters, turned it over, looked at the stamp, looked at the handwriting, de-
cided that it wasn’t a bill and opened it. It was typewritten.
“Dear Miss Marple,
By the time you read this I shall be dead and also buried.
Not cremated, I am glad to think. It has always seemed to
me unlikely that one would manage to rise up from one’s
handsome bronze vase full of ashes and haunt anyone if
one wanted so to do! Whereas the idea of rising from one’s
grave and haunting anyone is quite possible. Shall I want
to do that? Who knows. I might even want to communicate
with you.
By now my solicitors will have communicated with you
and will have put a certain proposition before you. I hope
you will have accepted it. If you have not accepted it, don’t
feel in the least remorseful. It will be your choice.
This should reach you, if my solicitors have done what they
were told to do, and if the posts have done the duty they
are expected to perform, on the 11th of the month. In two
days from now you will receive a communication from a
travel bureau in London. I hope what it proposes will not
be distasteful to you. I needn’t say more. I want you to
have an open mind. Take care of yourself. I think you will
manage to do that. You are a very shrewd person. The best
of luck and may your guardian angel be at your side look-
ing after you. You may need one.
Your affectionate friend,
J. B. Rafiel.”
“Two days!” said Miss Marple.
She found it difficult to pass the time. The Post Office did their duty and
so did the Famous Houses and Gardens of Great Britain.
“Dear Miss Jane Marple,
Obeying instructions given us by the late Mr. Rafiel we
send you particulars of our Tour No. 37 of the Famous
Houses and Gardens of Great Britain which starts from
London on Thursday next—the 17th.
If it should be possible for you to come to our office in Lon-
don, our Mrs. Sandbourne who is to accompany the tour,
will be very glad to give you all particulars and to answer
all questions.
Our tours last for a period of two to three weeks. This par-
ticular tour, Mr. Rafiel thinks, will be particularly accept-
able to you as it will visit a part of England which as far as
he knows you have not yet visited, and takes in some really
very attractive scenery and gardens. He has arranged for
you to have the best accommodation and all the luxury
available that we can provide.
Perhaps you will let us know which day would suit you to
visit our office in Berkeley Street?”
Miss Marple folded up the letter, put it in her bag, noted the telephone
number, thought of a few friends whom she knew, rang up two of them,
one of whom had been for tours with the Famous Houses and Gardens,
and spoke highly of them, the other one had not been personally on a tour
but had friends who had travelled with this particular firm and who said
everything was very well done, though rather expensive, and not too ex-
hausting for the elderly. She then rang up the Berkeley Street number and
said she would call upon them on the following Tuesday.
The next day she spoke to Cherry on the subject.
“I may be going away, Cherry,” she said. “On a Tour.”
“A Tour?” said Cherry. “One of these travel tours? You mean a package
tour abroad?”
“Not abroad. In this country,” said Miss Marple. “Mainly visiting historic
buildings and gardens.”
“Do you think it’s all right to do that at your age? These things can be
very tiring, you know. You have to walk miles sometimes.”
“My health is really very good,” said Miss Marple, “and I have always
heard that in these tours they are careful to provide restful intervals for
such people who are not particularly strong.”
“Well, be careful of yourself, that’s all,” said Cherry. “We don’t want you
falling down with a heart attack, even if you are looking at a particularly
sumptuous fountain or something. You’re a bit old, you know, to do this
sort of thing. Excuse me saying it, it sounds rude, but I don’t like to think
of you passing out because you’ve done too much or anything like that.”
“I can take care of myself,” said Miss Marple, with some dignity.
“All right, but you just be careful,” said Cherry.
Miss Marple packed a suitcase bag, went to London, booked a room at a
modest hotel—(“Ah, Bertram’s Hotel,” she thought in her mind, “what a
wonderful hotel that was! Oh dear, I must forget all those things, the St.
George is quite a pleasant place.”) At the appointed time she was at Berke-
ley Street and was shown in to the office where a pleasant woman of
about thirty-five rose to meet her, explained that her name was Mrs. Sand-
bourne and that she would be in personal charge of this particular tour.
“Am I to understand,” said Miss Marple, “that this trip is in my case—”
she hesitated.
Mrs. Sandbourne, sensing slight embarrassment, said:
“Oh yes, I ought to have explained perhaps better in the letter we sent
you. Mr. Rafiel has paid all expenses.”
“You do know that he is dead?” said Miss Marple.
“Oh yes, but this was arranged before his death. He mentioned that he
was in ill health but wanted to provide a treat for a very old friend of his
who had not had the opportunity of travelling as much as she could have
wished.”
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