here [hI@], defiant [dI'faI@nt], relaxation [,ri:l&k'seIS(@)n]

"There's someone in here," cried Lestrade. "I can hear a movement. Open this door!"

A faint moaning and rustling came from within. Holmes struck the door just over the lock with the flat of his foot and it flew open. Pistol in hand, we all three rushed into the room.

But there was no sign within it of that desperate and defiant villain whom we expected to see. Instead we were faced by an object so strange and so unexpected that we stood for a moment staring at it in amazement.

The room had been fashioned into a small museum, and the walls were lined by a number of glass-topped cases full of that collection of butterflies and moths the formation of which had been the relaxation of this complex and dangerous man. In the centre of this room there was an upright beam, which had been placed at some period as a support for the old, worm-eaten balk of timber which spanned the roof. To this post a figure was tied, so swathed and muffled in the sheets which had been used to secure it that one could not for the moment tell whether it was that of a man or a woman.

One towel passed round the throat (одно полотенце проходило через шею; to pass round — обходить вокруг) and was secured at the back of the pillar (и было завязано сзади столба). Another covered the lower part of the face (другое закрывало нижнюю часть лица), and over it two dark eyes (а над ним два темных глаза) — eyes full of grief and shame and a dreadful questioning (полных горя, стыда и ужаса; question — вопрос) — stared back at us (в ответ пристально уставились на нас). In a minute we had torn off the gag (через минуту мы вырвали кляп; to tear — рвать, разрывать), unswathed the bonds (размотали простыни; bond — узы), and Mrs. Stapleton sank upon the floor in front of us (и миссис Стэплтон упала перед нами на пол; to sink — тонуть; падать, опускаться). As her beautiful head fell upon her chest (когда ее прекрасная головка упала на грудь) I saw the clear red weal of a whiplash across her neck (я увидел четкий красный рубец от хлыста на ее шее; whip — хлыст; to lash — хлестать, стегать).

"The brute!" cried Holmes (животное! — воскликнул Холмс). "Here, Lestrade, your brandy-bottle (Лестрейд, /дайте/ вашу бутылку с бренди; here /межд./ — эй, послушайте)! Put her in the chair (посадите ее в кресло; to put — класть; помещать)! She has fainted from ill-usage and exhaustion (она в обмороке от дурного обращения и изнеможения)."

She opened her eyes again (она снова открыла глаза).

"Is he safe?" she asked (он невредим? — спросила она). "Has he escaped (он спасся; to escape — совершать побег; спастись)?"

"He cannot escape us, madam (он не может убежать от нас, мадам)."

"No, no, I did not mean my husband (нет-нет, я не имела в виду своего мужа). Sir Henry? Is he safe (сэр Генри? С ним все в порядке)?"

"Yes."

"And the hound (а собака)?"

"It is dead (она мертва)."

towel ['tau@l], exhaustion [Ig'zO:stS(@)n], madam ['m&d@m]

One towel passed round the throat and was secured at the back of the pillar. Another covered the lower part of the face, and over it two dark eyes — eyes full of grief and shame and a dreadful questioning — stared back at us. In a minute we had torn off the gag, unswathed the bonds, and Mrs. Stapleton sank upon the floor in front of us. As her beautiful head fell upon her chest I saw the clear red weal of a whiplash across her neck.

"The brute!" cried Holmes. "Here, Lestrade, your brandy-bottle! Put her in the chair! She has fainted from ill-usage and exhaustion."

She opened her eyes again.

"Is he safe?" she asked. "Has he escaped?"

"He cannot escape us, madam."

"No, no, I did not mean my husband. Sir Henry? Is he safe?"

"Yes."

"And the hound?"

"It is dead."

She gave a long sigh of satisfaction (она издала долгий вздох облегчения: «удовлетворения»).

"Thank God! Thank God (благодаренье Господу)! Oh, this villain (о, этот негодяй)! See how he has treated me (смотрите, как он обращался со мной)!" She shot her arms out from her sleeves (она выпростала руки из рукавов; to shoot out — высовывать, выставлять), and we saw with horror (и мы с ужасом увидели) that they were all mottled with bruises (что они повсюду были покрыты: «испещрены» синяками). "But this is nothing — nothing (но это — ничто)! It is my mind and soul that he has tortured and defiled (он измучил и испачкал мой ум и мою душу; to defile — портить; пачкать, марать). I could endure it all (я могла вытерпеть все), ill-usage, solitude, a life of deception, everything (дурное обращение, одиночество, жизнь, /состоящую/ из обмана), as long as I could still cling to the hope (пока я еще могла цепляться за надежду) that I had his love (что он меня любит: «что у меня есть его любовь»), but now I know that in this also (но теперь я знаю, что и в этом тоже) I have been his dupe and his tool (он лгал мне, и я была его орудием = орудием в его руках; dupe — жертва обмана)." She broke into passionate sobbing as she spoke (она разразилась рыданиями, когда сказала /это/; to break; passionate — страстный; to speak).