《福尔摩斯探案集·铜山毛榉案》第5节
“Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything that I can to serve you.” I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and his finger-tips together, to listen to her story. “I have been a governess for five years,” said she, “in the family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his children over to America with him, so that I found myself without a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but without success. At last the little money which I had saved began to run short, and I was at my wit’s end as to what I should do. “There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End called Westaway’s, and there I used to call about once a week in order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers and sees whether she has anything which would suit them.
注释摘要
福尔摩斯请亨特小姐落座，并以一种温和而正式的措辞承诺提供帮助——这既是他作为咨询侦探对委托人的惯常礼节，也透露出他此刻尚无先入为主的判断，准备从零开始接收信息。华生在此处以旁观者的身份迅速捕捉到一个关键信息：福尔摩斯对这位新委托人的举止与谈吐颇有好感。华生只能看到福尔摩斯外显的态度，却无法窥见其内心的推理路径，读者与华生同步，处在同样的信息受限位置。 接下…