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+Stripped down from project Gutenberg's
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+"The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", by Arthur Conan Doyle
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+
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+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
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+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
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+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
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+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
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+
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+
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+ADVENTURE I. A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA
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+
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+I.
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+
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+To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard
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+him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses
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+and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt
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+any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that
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+one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but
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+admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect
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+reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a
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+lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never
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+spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They
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+were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the
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+veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner
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+to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely
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+adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which
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+might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a
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+sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power
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+lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a
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+nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and
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+that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questionable
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+memory.
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+
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+I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us
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+away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the
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+home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first
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+finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to
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+absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of
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+society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in
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+Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from
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+week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the
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+drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still,
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+as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his
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+immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in
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+following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which
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+had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time
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+to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons
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+to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up
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+of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee,
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+and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so
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+delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland.
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+Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely
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+shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of
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+my former friend and companion.
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+
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+One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was
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+returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to
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+civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I
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+passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated
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+in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the
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+Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes
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+again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers.
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+His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw
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+his tall, spare figure pass twice in a dark silhouette against
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+the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head
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+sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who
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+knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their
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+own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his
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+drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new
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+problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which
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+had formerly been in part my own.
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+
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+His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I
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+think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly
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+eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars,
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+and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he
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+stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular
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+introspective fashion.
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+
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+"Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have
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+put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you."
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+
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+"Seven!" I answered.
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+
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+"Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more,
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+I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not
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+tell me that you intended to go into harness."
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+
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+"Then, how do you know?"
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+
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+"I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting
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+yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and
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+careless servant girl?"
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+
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+"My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly
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+have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true
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+that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful
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+mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you
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+deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has
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+given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it
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+out."
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+
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+He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands
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+together.
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+
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+"It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the
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+inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it,
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+the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they
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+have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round
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+the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it.
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+Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile
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+weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting
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+specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a
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+gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black
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+mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge
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+on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted
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+his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do not pronounce
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+him to be an active member of the medical profession."
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+
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+I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his
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+process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I
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+remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously
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+simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each
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+successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you
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+explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good
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+as yours."
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+
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+"Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing
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+himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe.
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+The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen
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+the steps which lead up from the hall to this room."
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+
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+"Frequently."
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+
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+"How often?"
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+
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+"Well, some hundreds of times."
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+
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+"Then how many are there?"
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+
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+"How many? I don't know."
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+
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+"Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is
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+just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps,
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+because I have both seen and observed. By-the-way, since you are
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+interested in these little problems, and since you are good
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+enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you
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+may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick,
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+pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table.
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+"It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud."
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+
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+The note was undated, and without either signature or address.
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+
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+"There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight
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+o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a
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+matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of
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+the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may
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+safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which
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+can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all
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+quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do
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+not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask."
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+
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+"This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that
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+it means?"
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+
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+"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before
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+one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit
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+theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself.
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+What do you deduce from it?"
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+
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+I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was
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+written.
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+
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+"The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked,
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+endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper
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+could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly
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+strong and stiff."
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+
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+"Peculiar--that is the very word," said Holmes. "It is not an
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+English paper at all. Hold it up to the light."
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+
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+I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a
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+large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper.
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+
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+"What do you make of that?" asked Holmes.
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+
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+"The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather."
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+
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+"Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for
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+'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a
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+customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for
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+'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental
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+Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves.
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+"Eglow, Eglonitz--here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking
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+country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being
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+the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous
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+glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you
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+make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue
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+triumphant cloud from his cigarette.
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+
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+"The paper was made in Bohemia," I said.
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+
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+"Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you
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+note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of
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+you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian
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+could not have written that. It is the German who is so
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+uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover
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+what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and
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+prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if
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+I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts."
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+
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+As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and
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+grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the
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+bell. Holmes whistled.
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+
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+"A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing
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+out of the window. "A nice little brougham and a pair of
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+beauties. A hundred and fifty guineas apiece. There's money in
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+this case, Watson, if there is nothing else."
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+
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+"I think that I had better go, Holmes."
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+
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+"Not a bit, Doctor. Stay where you are. I am lost without my
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+Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity
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+to miss it."
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+
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+"But your client--"
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+
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+"Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he
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+comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best
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+attention."
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+
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+A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and
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+in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there
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+was a loud and authoritative tap.
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+
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+"Come in!" said Holmes.
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+
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+A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six
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+inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His
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+dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked
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+upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed
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+across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while
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+the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined
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+with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch
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+which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended
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+halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with
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+rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence
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+which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a
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+broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper
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+part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones, a black
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+vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment,
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+for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower
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+part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character,
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+with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive
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+of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy.
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+
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+"You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a
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+strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He
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+looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to
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+address.
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+
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+"Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and
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+colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me
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+in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?"
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+
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+"You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman.
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+I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour
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+and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most
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+extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate
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+with you alone."
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+
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+I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me
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+back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say
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+before this gentleman anything which you may say to me."
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+
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+The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said
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+he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at
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+the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At
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+present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it
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+may have an influence upon European history."
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+
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+"I promise," said Holmes.
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+
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+"And I."
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+
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+"You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The
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+august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to
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+you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have
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+just called myself is not exactly my own."
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+
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+"I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly.
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+
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+"The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution
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+has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense
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+scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of
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+Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House
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+of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia."
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+
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+"I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself
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+down in his armchair and closing his eyes.
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+
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+Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid,
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+lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him
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+as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe.
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+Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his
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+gigantic client.
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+
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+"If your Majesty would condescend to state your case," he
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+remarked, "I should be better able to advise you."
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+
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+The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in
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+uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he
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+tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You
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+are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to
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+conceal it?"
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+
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+"Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken
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+before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich
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+Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, and
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+hereditary King of Bohemia."
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+
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+"But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down
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+once more and passing his hand over his high white forehead, "you
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+can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in
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+my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not
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+confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I
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+have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting
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+you."
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+
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+"Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more.
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+
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+"The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a
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+lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known
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+adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no doubt familiar to you."
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+
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+"Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without
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+opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of
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+docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it
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+was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not
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+at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography
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+sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a
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+staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea
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+fishes.
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+
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+"Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year
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+1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera
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+of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in
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+London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled
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+with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and
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+is now desirous of getting those letters back."
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+
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+"Precisely so. But how--"
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+
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+"Was there a secret marriage?"
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+
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+"None."
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+
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+"No legal papers or certificates?"
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+
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+"None."
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+
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+"Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should
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+produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is
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+she to prove their authenticity?"
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+
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+"There is the writing."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Pooh, pooh! Forgery."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"My private note-paper."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Stolen."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"My own seal."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Imitated."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"My photograph."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Bought."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"We were both in the photograph."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an
|
|
|
+indiscretion."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I was mad--insane."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"You have compromised yourself seriously."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"It must be recovered."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"We have tried and failed."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"She will not sell."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Stolen, then."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked
|
|
|
+her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice
|
|
|
+she has been waylaid. There has been no result."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"No sign of it?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Absolutely none."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the
|
|
|
+photograph?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"To ruin me."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"But how?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I am about to be married."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"So I have heard."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the
|
|
|
+King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her
|
|
|
+family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a
|
|
|
+doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And Irene Adler?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I
|
|
|
+know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul
|
|
|
+of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and
|
|
|
+the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry
|
|
|
+another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not
|
|
|
+go--none."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"You are sure that she has not sent it yet?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I am sure."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And why?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the
|
|
|
+betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That
|
|
|
+is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to
|
|
|
+look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in
|
|
|
+London for the present?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the
|
|
|
+Count Von Kramm."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Then, as to money?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"You have carte blanche."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Absolutely?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom
|
|
|
+to have that photograph."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And for present expenses?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak
|
|
|
+and laid it on the table.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in
|
|
|
+notes," he said.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and
|
|
|
+handed it to him.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the
|
|
|
+photograph a cabinet?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"It was."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon
|
|
|
+have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added,
|
|
|
+as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If
|
|
|
+you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three
|
|
|
+o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+II.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had
|
|
|
+not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the
|
|
|
+house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down
|
|
|
+beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him,
|
|
|
+however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his
|
|
|
+inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and
|
|
|
+strange features which were associated with the two crimes which
|
|
|
+I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the
|
|
|
+exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own.
|
|
|
+Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my
|
|
|
+friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of
|
|
|
+a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a
|
|
|
+pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the
|
|
|
+quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most
|
|
|
+inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable
|
|
|
+success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to
|
|
|
+enter into my head.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+It was close upon four before the door opened, and a
|
|
|
+drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an
|
|
|
+inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room.
|
|
|
+Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of
|
|
|
+disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it
|
|
|
+was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he
|
|
|
+emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old.
|
|
|
+Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in
|
|
|
+front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again
|
|
|
+until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the
|
|
|
+chair.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"What is it?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I
|
|
|
+employed my morning, or what I ended by doing."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the
|
|
|
+habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you,
|
|
|
+however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this
|
|
|
+morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a
|
|
|
+wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of
|
|
|
+them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found
|
|
|
+Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but
|
|
|
+built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock
|
|
|
+to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well
|
|
|
+furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those
|
|
|
+preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open.
|
|
|
+Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window
|
|
|
+could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round
|
|
|
+it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without
|
|
|
+noting anything else of interest.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that
|
|
|
+there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the
|
|
|
+garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses,
|
|
|
+and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two
|
|
|
+fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire
|
|
|
+about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in
|
|
|
+the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but
|
|
|
+whose biographies I was compelled to listen to."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And what of Irene Adler?" I asked.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is
|
|
|
+the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the
|
|
|
+Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts,
|
|
|
+drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for
|
|
|
+dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings.
|
|
|
+Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark,
|
|
|
+handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and
|
|
|
+often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See
|
|
|
+the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him
|
|
|
+home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him.
|
|
|
+When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up
|
|
|
+and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan
|
|
|
+of campaign.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the
|
|
|
+matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the
|
|
|
+relation between them, and what the object of his repeated
|
|
|
+visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the
|
|
|
+former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his
|
|
|
+keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this
|
|
|
+question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony
|
|
|
+Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the
|
|
|
+Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my
|
|
|
+inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to
|
|
|
+let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the
|
|
|
+situation."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I am following you closely," I answered.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab
|
|
|
+drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a
|
|
|
+remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently
|
|
|
+the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a
|
|
|
+great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the
|
|
|
+maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly
|
|
|
+at home.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch
|
|
|
+glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and
|
|
|
+down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see
|
|
|
+nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than
|
|
|
+before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from
|
|
|
+his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he
|
|
|
+shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to
|
|
|
+the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if
|
|
|
+you do it in twenty minutes!'
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do
|
|
|
+well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau,
|
|
|
+the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under
|
|
|
+his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of
|
|
|
+the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall
|
|
|
+door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment,
|
|
|
+but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a
|
|
|
+sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.'
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing
|
|
|
+whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her
|
|
|
+landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked
|
|
|
+twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could
|
|
|
+object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign
|
|
|
+if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to
|
|
|
+twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the
|
|
|
+others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their
|
|
|
+steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid
|
|
|
+the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there
|
|
|
+save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who
|
|
|
+seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three
|
|
|
+standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side
|
|
|
+aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church.
|
|
|
+Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to
|
|
|
+me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards
|
|
|
+me.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!'
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"'What then?' I asked.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.'
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was
|
|
|
+I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear,
|
|
|
+and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally
|
|
|
+assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to
|
|
|
+Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and
|
|
|
+there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady
|
|
|
+on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was
|
|
|
+the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my
|
|
|
+life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just
|
|
|
+now. It seems that there had been some informality about their
|
|
|
+license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them
|
|
|
+without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance
|
|
|
+saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in
|
|
|
+search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean
|
|
|
+to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what
|
|
|
+then?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if
|
|
|
+the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate
|
|
|
+very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church
|
|
|
+door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and
|
|
|
+she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as
|
|
|
+usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove
|
|
|
+away in different directions, and I went off to make my own
|
|
|
+arrangements."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Which are?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the
|
|
|
+bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to
|
|
|
+be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want
|
|
|
+your co-operation."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I shall be delighted."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"You don't mind breaking the law?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Not in the least."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Nor running a chance of arrest?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Not in a good cause."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Oh, the cause is excellent!"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Then I am your man."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I was sure that I might rely on you."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"But what is it you wish?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to
|
|
|
+you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that
|
|
|
+our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I
|
|
|
+have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must
|
|
|
+be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns
|
|
|
+from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And what then?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to
|
|
|
+occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must
|
|
|
+not interfere, come what may. You understand?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I am to be neutral?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small
|
|
|
+unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being
|
|
|
+conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the
|
|
|
+sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close
|
|
|
+to that open window."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Yes."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Yes."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And when I raise my hand--so--you will throw into the room what
|
|
|
+I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of
|
|
|
+fire. You quite follow me?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Entirely."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped
|
|
|
+roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket,
|
|
|
+fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting.
|
|
|
+Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire,
|
|
|
+it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then
|
|
|
+walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten
|
|
|
+minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you,
|
|
|
+and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry
|
|
|
+of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Precisely."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Then you may entirely rely on me."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I
|
|
|
+prepare for the new role I have to play."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in
|
|
|
+the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist
|
|
|
+clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white
|
|
|
+tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and
|
|
|
+benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have
|
|
|
+equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His
|
|
|
+expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every
|
|
|
+fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as
|
|
|
+science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in
|
|
|
+crime.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still
|
|
|
+wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in
|
|
|
+Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just
|
|
|
+being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge,
|
|
|
+waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such
|
|
|
+as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description,
|
|
|
+but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On
|
|
|
+the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was
|
|
|
+remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men
|
|
|
+smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors-grinder with his
|
|
|
+wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and
|
|
|
+several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with
|
|
|
+cigars in their mouths.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of
|
|
|
+the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The
|
|
|
+photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are
|
|
|
+that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey
|
|
|
+Norton, as our client is to its coming to the eyes of his
|
|
|
+princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the
|
|
|
+photograph?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Where, indeed?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is
|
|
|
+cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's
|
|
|
+dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid
|
|
|
+and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We
|
|
|
+may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Where, then?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But
|
|
|
+I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive,
|
|
|
+and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it
|
|
|
+over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but
|
|
|
+she could not tell what indirect or political influence might be
|
|
|
+brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she
|
|
|
+had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she
|
|
|
+can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"But it has twice been burgled."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Pshaw! They did not know how to look."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"But how will you look?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I will not look."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"What then?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I will get her to show me."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"But she will refuse."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is
|
|
|
+her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round
|
|
|
+the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which
|
|
|
+rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of
|
|
|
+the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in
|
|
|
+the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another
|
|
|
+loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce
|
|
|
+quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who
|
|
|
+took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder,
|
|
|
+who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and
|
|
|
+in an instant the lady, who had stepped from her carriage, was
|
|
|
+the centre of a little knot of flushed and struggling men, who
|
|
|
+struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes
|
|
|
+dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached
|
|
|
+her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood
|
|
|
+running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to
|
|
|
+their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while
|
|
|
+a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle
|
|
|
+without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to
|
|
|
+attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her,
|
|
|
+had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her
|
|
|
+superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking
|
|
|
+back into the street.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"He is dead," cried several voices.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be
|
|
|
+gone before you can get him to hospital."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the
|
|
|
+lady's purse and watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a
|
|
|
+gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Surely. Bring him into the sitting-room. There is a comfortable
|
|
|
+sofa. This way, please!"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out
|
|
|
+in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings
|
|
|
+from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the
|
|
|
+blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay
|
|
|
+upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with
|
|
|
+compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I
|
|
|
+know that I never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life
|
|
|
+than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was
|
|
|
+conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited
|
|
|
+upon the injured man. And yet it would be the blackest treachery
|
|
|
+to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted
|
|
|
+to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under
|
|
|
+my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are
|
|
|
+but preventing her from injuring another.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man
|
|
|
+who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the
|
|
|
+window. At the same instant I saw him raise his hand and at the
|
|
|
+signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The
|
|
|
+word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of
|
|
|
+spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and
|
|
|
+servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds
|
|
|
+of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I
|
|
|
+caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice
|
|
|
+of Holmes from within assuring them that it was a false alarm.
|
|
|
+Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner
|
|
|
+of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my
|
|
|
+friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar.
|
|
|
+He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we
|
|
|
+had turned down one of the quiet streets which lead towards the
|
|
|
+Edgeware Road.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could
|
|
|
+have been better. It is all right."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"You have the photograph?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I know where it is."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And how did you find out?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"She showed me, as I told you she would."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I am still in the dark."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter
|
|
|
+was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the
|
|
|
+street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I guessed as much."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in
|
|
|
+the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand
|
|
|
+to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"That also I could fathom."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else
|
|
|
+could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room
|
|
|
+which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was
|
|
|
+determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for
|
|
|
+air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your
|
|
|
+chance."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"How did that help you?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on
|
|
|
+fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she
|
|
|
+values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I have
|
|
|
+more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the
|
|
|
+Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in
|
|
|
+the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby;
|
|
|
+an unmarried one reaches for her jewel-box. Now it was clear to
|
|
|
+me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious
|
|
|
+to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it.
|
|
|
+The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were
|
|
|
+enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The
|
|
|
+photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the
|
|
|
+right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a
|
|
|
+glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it
|
|
|
+was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed
|
|
|
+from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making
|
|
|
+my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to
|
|
|
+attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had
|
|
|
+come in, and as he was watching me narrowly it seemed safer to
|
|
|
+wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And now?" I asked.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King
|
|
|
+to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be
|
|
|
+shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is
|
|
|
+probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the
|
|
|
+photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain
|
|
|
+it with his own hands."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And when will you call?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall
|
|
|
+have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage
|
|
|
+may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to
|
|
|
+the King without delay."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+We had reached Baker Street and had stopped at the door. He was
|
|
|
+searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said:
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the
|
|
|
+greeting appeared to come from a slim youth in an ulster who had
|
|
|
+hurried by.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the
|
|
|
+dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have
|
|
|
+been."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+III.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our
|
|
|
+toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed
|
|
|
+into the room.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by
|
|
|
+either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Not yet."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"But you have hopes?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I have hopes."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"We must have a cab."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"No, my brougham is waiting."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off
|
|
|
+once more for Briony Lodge.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Married! When?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Yesterday."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"But to whom?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"To an English lawyer named Norton."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"But she could not love him."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I am in hopes that she does."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And why in hopes?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future
|
|
|
+annoyance. If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your
|
|
|
+Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason
|
|
|
+why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own
|
|
|
+station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a
|
|
|
+moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in
|
|
|
+Serpentine Avenue.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood
|
|
|
+upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped
|
|
|
+from the brougham.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a
|
|
|
+questioning and rather startled gaze.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She
|
|
|
+left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing
|
|
|
+Cross for the Continent."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and
|
|
|
+surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Never to return."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the
|
|
|
+drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was
|
|
|
+scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and
|
|
|
+open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before
|
|
|
+her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small
|
|
|
+sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a
|
|
|
+photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler
|
|
|
+herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to
|
|
|
+"Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend
|
|
|
+tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at
|
|
|
+midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way:
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You
|
|
|
+took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a
|
|
|
+suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I
|
|
|
+began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had
|
|
|
+been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly
|
|
|
+be you. And your address had been given me. Yet, with all this,
|
|
|
+you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became
|
|
|
+suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind
|
|
|
+old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress
|
|
|
+myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage
|
|
|
+of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to
|
|
|
+watch you, ran up stairs, got into my walking-clothes, as I call
|
|
|
+them, and came down just as you departed.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was
|
|
|
+really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock
|
|
|
+Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and
|
|
|
+started for the Temple to see my husband.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by
|
|
|
+so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when
|
|
|
+you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in
|
|
|
+peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may
|
|
|
+do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly
|
|
|
+wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a
|
|
|
+weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might
|
|
|
+take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to
|
|
|
+possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes,
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+ "Very truly yours,
|
|
|
+ "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when
|
|
|
+we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick
|
|
|
+and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen?
|
|
|
+Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a
|
|
|
+very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am
|
|
|
+sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business
|
|
|
+to a more successful conclusion."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be
|
|
|
+more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The
|
|
|
+photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I am glad to hear your Majesty say so."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can
|
|
|
+reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from
|
|
|
+his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Your Majesty has something which I should value even more
|
|
|
+highly," said Holmes.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"You have but to name it."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"This photograph!"
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+The King stared at him in amazement.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it."
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+"I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the
|
|
|
+matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He
|
|
|
+bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the
|
|
|
+King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his
|
|
|
+chambers.
|
|
|
+
|
|
|
+And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom
|
|
|
+of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were
|
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+beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the
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+cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And
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+when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her
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+photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman.
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Branimir Karadžić