How we cite our quotes: (Chapter. Paragraph)
Quote #4
[Stapleton's] sister is everything in his life, he says. That is natural enough, and I am glad that he should understand her value. They have always been together, and according to his account he has been a very lonely man with only her as a companion, so that the thought of losing her was really terrible to him. He had not understood, he said, that I was becoming attached to her, but when he saw with his own eyes that it was really so, and that she might be taken away from him, it gave him such a shock that for a time he was not responsible for what he said or did. He was very sorry for all that had passed […] He would withdraw all opposition upon his part if I would promise for three months to let the matter rest and to be content with cultivating the lady's friendship during that time without claiming her love. This I promised, and so the matter rests. (9.40)
In a detective novel, we spend a lot of time as readers trying to figure out who's behaving suspiciously and why. Here, Stapleton is acting strangely: he blows up at Sir Henry for proposing to his sister, and then he apologizes for his behavior with the most involved explanation possible before doing a 180. Sir Henry and Watson both appear to accept his explanation. But as readers, this episode increases our suspicions about Stapleton. When Holmes tells Watson the truth about Stapleton's marriage to Beryl, that seals the deal for us. Guilty!
Quote #5
"No, no, sir; no, not against you!" It was a woman's voice, and Mrs. Barrymore, paler and more horror-struck than her husband, was standing at the door. Her bulky figure in a shawl and skirt might have been comic were it not for the intensity of feeling upon her face.
"We have to go, Eliza. This is the end of it. You can pack our things," said the butler.
"Oh, John, John, have I brought you to this? It is my doing, Sir Henry—all mine. He has done nothing except for my sake and because I asked him."
"Speak out, then! What does it mean?"
"My unhappy brother is starving on the moor. We cannot let him perish at our very gates. The light is a signal to him that food is ready for him, and his light out yonder is to show the spot to which to bring it."
"Then your brother is—"
"The escaped convict, sir—Selden, the criminal." (9.65-71)
So, the Barrymores are feeling guilty about something, but not about what Sir Henry and Watson expect. In fact, they've secretly been sheltering the escaped convict Selden, since he's Mrs. Barrymore's little brother. Up until now, all of the clues seem to indicate that the butler's the threat facing Sir Henry. But we're only in the ninth chapter of the novel out of fifteen. If Barrymore were really the killer, what would the remaining six chapters be about?
Quote #6
I saw Holmes put his hand to his forehead like a man distracted. He stamped his feet upon the ground.
"He has beaten us, Watson. We are too late."
"No, no, surely not!"
"Fool that I was to hold my hand. And you, Watson, see what comes of abandoning your charge! But, by Heaven, if the worst has happened we'll avenge him!" (12.71-4)
When Holmes initially believes that it is Sir Henry who has died from falling off a cliff rather than Selden, he feels he's failed his client. How guilty do you think he feels? In this passage, he seems more angry at himself than guilty. It's easier to imagine Watson feeling guilt based out of his respect and affection toward Sir Henry.