英文解釈参考書スレッド part9

There were no attendants at home; they had absconded to make merry in
honor of the time. I had told them that I should not return until the
morning, and had given them explicit orders not to stir from the house.
These orders were sufficient, I well knew, to insure their immediate
disappearance, one and all, as soon as my back was turned.

屋敷には使用人たちは誰もいなかった。彼らはカーニバルを楽しむために逃亡したのだ。
私は彼らに朝まで戻らないと伝え、家から一歩も出るなと命じた。
この命令は私が彼らに背を向けるやいなや彼ら全員が直ちに姿をくらますのに十分であることを
私は良く心得ていた。