解説　場面 201「土地へ来たころ」

"We now come to that portion of his life which has proved to be of such intense interest to us. The fellow had evidently made inquiry and found that only two lives intervened between him and a valuable estate. When he went to Devonshire his plans were, I believe, exceedingly hazy, but that he meant mischief from the first is evident from the way in which he took his wife with him in the character of his sister. The idea of using her as a decoy was clearly already in his mind, though he may not have been certain how the details of his plot were to be arranged. He meant in the end to have the estate, and he was ready to use any tool or run any risk for that end. His first act was to establish himself as near to his ancestral home as he could, and his second was to cultivate a friendship with Sir Charles Baskerville and with the neighbours.

「さて、ここからが私たちにとってきわめて興味深いと分かった彼の人生の部分だ。彼は明らかに調査を行い、自分と価値ある地所の間には二人の命しかないことを知った。デヴォンシャーへ来た時点では、彼の計画はひどく漠然としていたと思う。だが妻を妹という立場で連れてきたことから、最初から悪事を企んでいたのは明らかだ。妻をおとりに使う考えはすでに頭にあったはずだが、企みの細部をどう整えるかまでは決めていなかったのかもしれない。最終的に地所を手に入れるつもりで、その目的のためならどんな道具を使い、どんな危険を冒す覚悟もあった。最初にしたのは先祖の屋敷のできるだけ近くへ住み着くことで、次にサー・チャールズ・バスカヴィルや近隣の人々との親交を深めた。