1. Good name. 3. Gave in. 2. In classical mythology monsters with women's 4. A prestigious London bank. faces and bodies and birds' wings and claws.
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1648 / ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
garden and the family have to change their name. No, sir, I make it a rule of
mine: the more it looks like Queer Street,5 the less I ask.' 'A very good rule, too,' said the lawyer.
'But I have studied the place for myself,' continued Mr. Enfield. 'It seems
scarcely a house. There is no other door, and nobody goes in or out of that
one but, once in a great while, the gentleman of my adventure. There are three
windows looking on the court on the first floor;6 none below; the windows are
always shut but they're clean. And then there is a chimney which is generally
smoking; so somebody must live there. And yet it's not so sure; for the buildings
are so packed together about that court, that it's hard to say where one ends
and another begins.'
The pair walked on again for a while in silence; and then 'Enfield,' said
Mr. Utterson, 'that's a good rule of yours.' 'Yes, I think it is,' returned Enfield.
'But for all that,' continued the lawyer, 'there's one point I want to ask: I
want to ask the name of that man who walked over the child.'
'Well,' said Mr. Enfield, 'I can't see what harm it would do. It was a man
of the name of Hyde.'
'H'm,' said Mr. Utterson. 'What sort of a man is he to see?'
'He is not easy to describe. There is something wrong with his appearance;
something displeasing, something downright detestable. I never saw a man I
so disliked, and yet I scarce know why. He must be deformed somewhere; he
gives a strong feeling of deformity, although I couldn't specify the point. He's
an extraordinary looking man, and yet I really can name nothing out of the
way. No, sir; I can make no hand of it; I can't describe him. And it's not want
of memory; for I declare I can see him this moment.' Mr. Utterson again walked some way in silence and obviously under a weight
of consideration. 'You are sure he used a key?' he inquired at last.
'My dear sir . . .' began Enfield, surprised out of himself.
'Yes, I know,' said Utterson; 'I know it must seem strange. The fact is, if I
do not ask you the name of the other party, it is because I know it already.
You see, Richard, your tale has gone home. If you have been inexact in any
point, you had better correct it.'
'I think you might have warned me,' returned the other with a touch of
sullenness. 'But I have been pedantically exact, as you call it. The fellow had
a key; and what's more, he has it still. I saw him use it, not a week ago.'
Mr. Utterson sighed deeply but said never a word; and the young man pres
ently resumed. 'Here is another lesson to say nothing,' said he. 'I am ashamed
of my long tongue. Let us make a bargain never to refer to this again.'
'With all my heart,' said the lawyer. 'I shake hands on that, Richard.'
Search for Mr. Hyde
That evening Mr. Utterson came home to his bachelor house in sombre
spirits and sat down to dinner without relish. It was his custom of a Sunday,
when this meal was over, to sit close by the fire, a volume of some dry divinity7
on his reading desk, until the clock of the neighbouring church rang out the
5. I.e., looks like someone is in trouble or a bad Americans call the second floor). fix (slang). 7. Theology. 6. I.e., the first floor above the ground floor (what
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THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE / 1649
