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Laura Lyons
Selden is Mrs. Barrymore’s brother and Mr. Barrymore’s brother-in-law. According to Mrs. Barrymore, Selden was overindulged as a child, and this led directly to his criminal life. Shortly before the opening events of The Hound of the Baskervilles, Selden escapes from prison and eludes recapture by hiding out on the moors. His sister provides him with food and drink, and later with clothes provided unwittingly by Sir Henry Baskerville. Selden is known as the “Notting Hill murderer,” and is remembered by Dr. Watson as being a particularly brutal killer who only avoided the death penalty because the court thought he might be insane. He is later referred to as “one of the most notorious criminals in the country.” As a wanton fugitive already known to be capable of brutal murder, Selden serves as a red herring until he is killed while fleeing Jack Stapleton’s hound.
Selden Quotes in The Hound of the Baskervilles
The The Hound of the Baskervilles quotes below are all either spoken by Selden or refer to Selden. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 6
Quotes
I remembered the case well, for it was one in which Holmes had taken an interest on account of the peculiar ferocity of the crime and the wanton brutality which had marked all the actions of the assassin.
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Chapter 8
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Some deep sorrow gnaws ever at her heart. Sometimes I wonder if she has a guilty memory which haunts her, and sometimes I suspect Barrymore of being a domestic tyrant. I have always felt there was something singular and questionable in this man's character […].
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Chapter 9
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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.
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Chapter 12
Quotes
The gleam of the match which he struck shone upon his clotted fingers and upon the ghastly pool which widened slowly from the crushed skull of the victim. And it shone upon something else which turned our hearts sick and faint within us—the body of Sir Henry Baskerville!
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Chapter 13
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That’s lucky for him—in fact, it’s lucky for all of you, since you are all on the wrong side of the law in this matter. I am not sure that as a conscientious detective my first duty is not to arrest the whole household.
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Selden Quotes in The Hound of the Baskervilles
The The Hound of the Baskervilles quotes below are all either spoken by Selden or refer to Selden. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
I remembered the case well, for it was one in which Holmes had taken an interest on account of the peculiar ferocity of the crime and the wanton brutality which had marked all the actions of the assassin.
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Chapter 8
Quotes
Some deep sorrow gnaws ever at her heart. Sometimes I wonder if she has a guilty memory which haunts her, and sometimes I suspect Barrymore of being a domestic tyrant. I have always felt there was something singular and questionable in this man's character […].
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Chapter 9
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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.
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Chapter 12
Quotes
The gleam of the match which he struck shone upon his clotted fingers and upon the ghastly pool which widened slowly from the crushed skull of the victim. And it shone upon something else which turned our hearts sick and faint within us—the body of Sir Henry Baskerville!
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Chapter 13
Quotes
That’s lucky for him—in fact, it’s lucky for all of you, since you are all on the wrong side of the law in this matter. I am not sure that as a conscientious detective my first duty is not to arrest the whole household.
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