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1 A Scandal in Bohemia from The Adventures of Sherlo · Sherlock Holmes

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Speaker 1: A Magpie audio production. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by
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Speaker 1: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, first published in eighteen ninety two
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Speaker 1: to my old teacher Joseph Bell m d et cetera.
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Speaker 1: Of two Melville Crescent, Edinburgh, A scandal in Bohemia. One
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Speaker 1: to Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman. I have
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Speaker 1: seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In
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Speaker 1: his eyes, she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.
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Speaker 1: It was not that he felt any emotion akin to
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Speaker 1: love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly
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Speaker 1: were abhorrent to his cold, precise, but admirably balanced mind.
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Speaker 1: He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and
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Speaker 1: observing machine that the world has seen. But as a
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Speaker 1: he would have placed himself in a false position. He
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Speaker 1: never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe
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Speaker 1: and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer,
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Speaker 1: excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions.
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Speaker 1: But for the trained reasoner, to admit such intrusions into
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Speaker 1: his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce
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Speaker 1: a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all
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Speaker 1: his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a
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Speaker 1: crack in one of his own high power lenses would
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Speaker 1: not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a
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Speaker 1: nature such as his. And yet there was but one
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Speaker 1: woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler,
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Speaker 1: of dubious and questionable memory. I had seen little of
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Speaker 1: Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us away from each other.
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Speaker 1: My own complete happiness and the home centered interest which
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Speaker 1: rise up around the man who first finds himself master
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Speaker 1: of his own establishment, were sufficient to absorb all my attention.
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Speaker 1: While Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his
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Speaker 1: whole bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street,
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Speaker 1: buried among his old books, and alternating from week to
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Speaker 1: week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug
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Speaker 1: and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He
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Speaker 1: was still, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime,
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Speaker 1: and occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation
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Speaker 1: in following out those clues and clearing up those mysteries
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Speaker 1: which had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police.
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Speaker 1: From time to time I heard some vague account of
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Speaker 1: his doings, of his summons to Odessa in the case
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Speaker 1: of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up, of the
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Speaker 1: singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at trincomber Lee, and
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Speaker 1: finally of the mission which which he had accomplished so
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Speaker 1: delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. Beyond
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Speaker 1: these signs of his activity, however, which I merely shared
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Speaker 1: with all the readers of the Daily Press, I knew
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Speaker 1: little of my former friend and companion. One night, it
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Speaker 1: was on the twentieth of March eighteen eighty eight. I
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Speaker 1: was returning from a journey to a patient, for I
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Speaker 1: had now returned to civil practice. When my way led
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Speaker 1: me through Baker Street. As I passed the well remembered
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Speaker 1: door which must always be associated in my mind with
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Speaker 1: my wooing and with the dark incidents of the study
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Speaker 1: in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to
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Speaker 1: see Holmes again and to know how he was employing
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Speaker 1: his extraordinary powers. His rooms were brilliantly lit, and even
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Speaker 1: as I looked up, I saw his tall, spare figure
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Speaker 1: pass twice in a dark silhouette against the blind. He
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Speaker 1: was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk
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Speaker 1: upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me,
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Speaker 1: who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and
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Speaker 1: manner told their own story. He was at work again.
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Speaker 1: He had risen out of his drug created dreams, and
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Speaker 1: was hot upon the scent of some new problem. I
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Speaker 1: rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber
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Speaker 1: which had formerly been in part my own. His manner
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Speaker 1: was not effusive, it seldom was, but he was glad
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Speaker 1: I think to see me, With hardly a word spoken,
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Speaker 1: but with a kindly eye. He waved me to an
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Speaker 1: arm chair, threw across his case of cigars, and indicated
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Speaker 1: a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then
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Speaker 1: he stood before the fire and looked me over in
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Speaker 1: his singular introspective fashion. Wedlock suits you, He remarked, I think, Watson,
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Speaker 1: that you have put on seven and a half pounds
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Speaker 1: since I saw you seven. I answered, indeed, I should
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Speaker 1: have thought a little more, just a trifle more. I fancy, Watson,
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Speaker 1: And in practice again I observe you did not tell
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Speaker 1: me that you intended to go into harness. Then how
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Speaker 1: do you know I see it, I deduce it. How
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Speaker 1: do I know that you have been getting yourself very
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Speaker 1: wet lately and that you have a most clumsy and
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Speaker 1: careless servant girl, My dear Holmes, said I, this is
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Speaker 1: too much. You would certainly have been burned had you
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Speaker 1: lived a few centuries ago. It is true that I
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Speaker 1: had a country walk on Thursday and came home in
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Speaker 1: a dreadful mess. But as I have changed my clothes,
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Speaker 1: I can't imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane,
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Speaker 1: she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice.
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Speaker 1: But there again I failed to see how you work
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Speaker 1: it out. He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long,
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Speaker 1: nervous hands together. It is simplicity itself, said he. My
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Speaker 1: eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe,
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Speaker 1: just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is scored
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Speaker 1: by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused
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Speaker 1: by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges
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Speaker 1: of the soul in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence,
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Speaker 1: you see my double deduction that you had been out
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Speaker 1: in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant
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Speaker 1: boot splitting specimen of London slavey as to your practice,
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Speaker 1: if a gentleman walks into my room smelling of iodoform,
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Speaker 1: with a black mark of nitrate of silver upon his
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Speaker 1: right forefinger and a bulge on the side of his
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Speaker 1: top hat to show where he has secreted his stethoscope,
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Speaker 1: I must be dull. Indeed, if I do not pronounce
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Speaker 1: him to be an active member of the medical profession.
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Speaker 1: I could not help laughing at the ease with which
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Speaker 1: he explained his process of deduction. When I hear you
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Speaker 1: give your reasons, I remarked, the thing always appears to
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Speaker 1: me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily
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Speaker 1: do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning,
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Speaker 1: I'm baffled until you explain the process. And yet I
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Speaker 1: believe that my eyes are as good as yours. Quite so,
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Speaker 1: he answered, lighting a cigarette and throwing himself down into
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Speaker 1: an arm chair. You see, but you do not observe.
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Speaker 1: The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen
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Speaker 1: the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.
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Speaker 1: Frequently how often, well, some hundreds of times? Then how
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Speaker 1: many are there how many? I don't know quite so
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Speaker 1: you have not observed, and yet you have seen. That
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Speaker 1: is just my point. Now I know that there are
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Speaker 1: seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed by
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Speaker 1: the way. Since you are interested in these little problems,
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Speaker 1: and since you are good enough to chronicle one or
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Speaker 1: two of my trifling experiences, you may be interested in this.
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Speaker 1: He threw over a sheet of thick, pink tinted notepaper
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Speaker 1: which had been lying open on the table. It came
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Speaker 1: by the last post, said, He read it aloud. The
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Speaker 1: note was undated, and without either signature or address. There
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Speaker 1: will be a call upon you tonight at a quarter
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Speaker 1: to eight o'clock, it said, a gentleman who desires to
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Speaker 1: consult you upon a matter of the very deepest moment.
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Speaker 1: Your recent services to one of the royal houses of
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Speaker 1: Europe have shown that you are one who may safely
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Speaker 1: be trusted with matters which are of an importance which
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Speaker 1: can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have
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Speaker 1: from all quarters received. Be in your chamber then at
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Speaker 1: that hour, and do not take it amiss if your
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Speaker 1: visitor wear a mask. This is indeed a mystery. I remarked,
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Speaker 1: what do you imagine that? It means? I have no
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Speaker 1: data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before
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Speaker 1: one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to
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Speaker 1: sute theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the
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Speaker 1: note itself, what do you deduce from it? I carefully
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Speaker 1: examined the writing and the paper upon which it was written.
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Speaker 1: The man who wrote it was presumably well to do,
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Speaker 1: I remarked, endeavoring to imitate my companion's processes. Such paper
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Speaker 1: could not be bought under half a crown a packet.
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Speaker 1: It is peculiarly strong and stiff. Peculiar, that is the
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Speaker 1: very word, said Holmes. It is not an English paper
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Speaker 1: at all. Hold it up to the light. I did so,
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Speaker 1: and saw a large E with a small G, a
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Speaker 1: P and a large G with a small T woven
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Speaker 1: into the texture of the paper. What do you make
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Speaker 1: of that, asked Holmes. The name of the maker, no doubt,
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Speaker 1: or his monogram, rather not at all. The G with
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Speaker 1: the small T stands for Gesellschaft, which is the German
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Speaker 1: for company. It is a customary contraction like our co. P,
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Speaker 1: of course stands for papier. Now for the e g
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Speaker 1: let us glance at our continental gazetteer. He took down
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Speaker 1: a heavy brown volume from his shelves, Eglov, Eglunitz. Ah,
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Speaker 1: here we are Egria. It is in a German speaking
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Speaker 1: country in Bohemia, not far from Karlsbad, remarkable as being
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Speaker 1: the scene of the death of Valenstein, and for its
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Speaker 1: numerous glass factories and paper mills. Haha, my boy, what
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Speaker 1: do you make of that? His eyes sparkled, and he
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Speaker 1: sent up a great blue triumphant cloud from his cigarette.
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Speaker 1: The paper was made in Bohemia, I said, precisely. And
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Speaker 1: the man who wrote the note is a German. Do
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Speaker 1: you note the peculiar construction of the sentence? This account
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Speaker 1: of you we have from all quarters received. A Frenchman
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Speaker 1: or Russian could not have written that. It is the
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Speaker 1: German who is so uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore,
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Speaker 1: to discover what is wanted by this German who writes
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Speaker 1: upon Bohemian paper and prefers wearing a mask to showing
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Speaker 1: his face. And here he comes, if I am not mistaken,
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Speaker 1: to resolve all our doubts. As he spoke, there was
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Speaker 1: a sharp sound of horses hoofs and grating wheels against
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Speaker 1: the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the bell.
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Speaker 1: Holmes whistled a pair by the sound, said he yes,
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Speaker 1: he continued, glancing out of the window. A nice little
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Speaker 1: broom and a pair of beauties A hundred and fifty
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Speaker 1: guineas apiece. There's money in this case, Watson, if there
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Speaker 1: is nothing else, I think that I'd better go, Holmes,
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Speaker 1: not a bit, doctor, Stay where you are. I'm lost
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Speaker 1: without my Bosswell, and this promises to be interesting. It
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Speaker 1: would be a pity to miss it. But your client
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Speaker 1: never mind him. I may want your help, and so
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Speaker 1: may he. Here he comes, Sit down in that arm chair, doctor,
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Speaker 1: and give us your best attention. A slow and heavy
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Speaker 1: step which had been heard upon the stairs and in
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Speaker 1: the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there was
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Speaker 1: a loud and authoritative rap. Come in, said Holmes. A
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Speaker 1: man entered, who could oddly have been less than six
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Speaker 1: feet six inches in height, with the chest and limbs
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Speaker 1: of her Hercules. His dress was rich with a richness
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Speaker 1: which would in England be looked upon as akin to
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Speaker 1: bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed across the
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Speaker 1: sleeves and fronts of his double breasted coat, while the
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Speaker 1: deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was
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Speaker 1: lined with flame colored silk and secured at the neck
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Speaker 1: with a brooch which consisted of a single flaming beryl.
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Speaker 1: Boots which extended half way up his calves and which
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Speaker 1: were trimmed at the tops with rich brown fur completed
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Speaker 1: the impression of barbaric opulence, which was suggested by his
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Speaker 1: whole appearance. He carried a broad brimmed hat in his hand,
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Speaker 1: while he wore across the upper part of his face,
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Speaker 1: extending down past the cheek bones, a black wizarred mask,
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Speaker 1: which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, for his
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Speaker 1: hand was still raised to it as he entered from
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Speaker 1: the lower part of the face. He appeared to be
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Speaker 1: a man of strong character, with a thick, hanging lip
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Speaker 1: and a long, straight chin, suggestive of resolution pushed to
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Speaker 1: the length of obstinacy. You had my note, he asked,
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Speaker 1: with a deep, harsh voice and strongly marked German accent.
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Speaker 1: I told you that I would call. He looked from
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Speaker 1: one to the other of us, as if uncertain which
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Speaker 1: to address. Pray, take a seat, said Holmes. This is
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Speaker 1: my friend ant colleague, doctor Watson, who is occasionally good
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Speaker 1: enough to help me in my cases, whom have I
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Speaker 1: the honor to address. You may address me as the
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Speaker 1: Count vont Cram, a Bohemian nobleman. I understand that this gentleman,
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Speaker 1: your friend, is a man of honor and discretion, whom
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Speaker 1: I may trust with a matter of the most extreme importance.
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Speaker 1: If not, I should much prefer to communicate with you alone.
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Speaker 1: I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the
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Speaker 1: wrist and pushed me back into my chair. It is
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Speaker 1: both or none, said he. You may say for this
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Speaker 1: gentleman anything which you may say to me. The Count
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Speaker 1: shrugged his broad shoulders. Then I must begin, said he,
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Speaker 1: by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years.
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Speaker 1: At the end of that time, the matter will be
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Speaker 1: of no importance at present. It is not too much
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Speaker 1: to say that it is of such weight that it
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Speaker 1: may have an influence upon European history, I promise, said Holmes,
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Speaker 1: and I you will excuse this mask, continued our stranger.
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Speaker 1: The august person who employs me vicies his agent to
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Speaker 1: be unknown to you, And I may confess at once
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Speaker 1: that the title by which I have just called myself
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Speaker 1: is not exactly my own. I was aware of it,
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Speaker 1: said Holmes dryly. These circumstances are of great delicacy, and
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Speaker 1: every precaution has to be taken to quench what might
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Speaker 1: grow to be an immense scandal and seriously compromise one
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Speaker 1: of the reigning families of Europe. To speak plain, Liz,
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Speaker 1: the matter implicates the great House of Ormstein, hereditary kings
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Speaker 1: of Bohemia. I was also aware of that, murmured Holmes,
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Speaker 1: settling himself down in his arm chair and closing his eyes.
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Speaker 1: Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid,
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Speaker 1: lounging figure of the man who had been, no doubt
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Speaker 1: depicted to him as the most incisive reasoner and most
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Speaker 1: energetic agent in Europe. Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and
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Speaker 1: looked impatiently at his gigantic client. If your majesty would
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Speaker 1: condescend to state your case, he remarked, I should be
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Speaker 1: better able to advise you. The man sprang from his
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Speaker 1: chair and paced up and down the room in uncontrollable agitation. Then,
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Speaker 1: with a gesture of desperation, he tore the mask from
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Speaker 1: his face. And hurled it upon the ground. You are right,
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Speaker 1: he cried, I am the king. Why should I attempt
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Speaker 1: to conceal it? Why? Indeed, murmured Holmes, your Majesty had
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Speaker 1: not spoken before I was aware that I was addressing
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Speaker 1: Wilhelm Godschrike, Sigismund von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel Felstein
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Speaker 1: and hereditary King of Bohemia. But you can understand, said
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Speaker 1: our strange visitor, sitting down once more, and passing his
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Speaker 1: hand over his high white forehead. You can understand that
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Speaker 1: I am not accustomed to doing such business in my
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Speaker 1: own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I
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Speaker 1: could not confide it to an agent without putting myself
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Speaker 1: in his power. I have come incognito from Prague for
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Speaker 1: the purpose of consulting you. Then, pray consult said Holmes,
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Speaker 1: shutting his eyes once more. The facts are briefly these.
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Speaker 1: Some five years ago, during a lengthy visit to Warsaw,
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Speaker 1: I made the acquaintance of the well known adventures Irene Adler.
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Speaker 1: The name is no doubt familiar to you. Kindly look
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Speaker 1: her up in my index, doctor, murmured Holmes, without opening
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Speaker 1: his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system
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Speaker 1: of docketing all paragraphs concerning men and things, so that
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Speaker 1: it was difficult to name a subject or a person
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Speaker 1: on which he could not at once furnish information. In
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Speaker 1: this case, I found her biography sandwiched in between that
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Speaker 1: of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a staff commander
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Speaker 1: who had written a monograph upon the deep sea fishes.
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Speaker 1: Let me see, said Holmes hum born in New Jersey
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Speaker 1: in the year eighteen fifty eight, contralto M. Lascala M
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Speaker 1: Prima Donna, Imperial Opera of Warsaw Yes retired from operatic
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Speaker 1: stage ha living in London. Quite so, your majesty, as
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Speaker 1: I understand, became entangled with this young person, wrote her
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Speaker 1: some compromising letters and is now desirous of getting those
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Speaker 1: letters back. Precisely so, But how was there a secret marriage? None?
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Speaker 1: No legal papers or certificates none. Then I failed to
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Speaker 1: follow your majesty. If this young person should produce her
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Speaker 1: letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is she to
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Speaker 1: prove their authenticity? There is the writing Pooh pooh, forgery,
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Speaker 1: my private notepaper, stolen, my own seal, imitated, my photograph bought.
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Speaker 1: We were both in the photograph. Oh dear, that is
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Speaker 1: very bad. Your Majesty has indeed committeed an indiscretion. I
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Speaker 1: was mad, insane. You have compromised yourself. Seriously. I was
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Speaker 1: only crown Prince then I was young. I am but thirty.
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Speaker 1: Now it must be recovered. We have tried and failed.
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Speaker 1: Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought. She will
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Speaker 1: not sell stolen. Then five attempts have been made. Twice
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Speaker 1: burglars in my pay, ransacked her house once, we diverted
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Speaker 1: her luggage when she traveled. Twice she has been vaylaid.
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Speaker 1: There has been no result, no sign of it, absolutely none.
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Speaker 1: Holmes laughed. It is quite a pretty little problem, said he,
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Speaker 1: But a very serious one to me, returned the King reproachfully,
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Speaker 1: very indeed, And what does she propose to do with
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Speaker 1: the photograph? To ruin me? But how I am about
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Speaker 1: to be married? So I have heard to Clotilde Lotman
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Speaker 1: von Saxe Meningen, second daughter of the King of Scandinavia.
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Speaker 1: You may know the strict principles of her family. She
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Speaker 1: is herself the very soul of delicacy. The shadow of
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Speaker 1: a doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter
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Speaker 1: to an end, and Irene Adler threatens to send them
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Speaker 1: the photograph, and she will do it. I know that
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Speaker 1: she will do it. You do not know her, but
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Speaker 1: she has a soul of steel. She has the face
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Speaker 1: of the most beautiful of women and the mind of
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Speaker 1: the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry
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Speaker 1: another woman, there are no lengths to which she would
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Speaker 1: not go none. You are sure that she has not
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Speaker 1: sent it yet. I am sure. And why because she
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Speaker 1: has said that she would send it on the day
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Speaker 1: when the betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday. Oh,
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Speaker 1: then we have three days yet, said Holmes with a yawn.
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Speaker 1: That very fortunate, as I have one or two matters
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Speaker 1: of importance to look into just at present, Your Majesty
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Speaker 1: will of course stay in London for the present. Certainly
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Speaker 1: you will find me at the Langham under the name
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Speaker 1: of Count von Cram. Then I shall drop you a
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Speaker 1: line to let you know how we progress. Pray do
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Speaker 1: so I shall be all anxiety. Then, as to money,
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Speaker 1: you have carte blanche. Absolutely I tell you that I
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Speaker 1: would give one of the provinces of my kingdom to
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Speaker 1: have that photograph, and for present expenses the king took
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Speaker 1: a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak and
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Speaker 1: laid it on the table. There are three hundred pounds
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Speaker 1: in gold and seven hundred in notes, he said. Holmes
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Speaker 1: scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note paper
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Speaker 1: and handed it to him. And Mademoiselle's address, he asked,
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Speaker 1: is Bryanny Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, Saint John's Wood. Holmes took
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Speaker 1: a note of it. One other question, said he was
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Speaker 1: the photograph a cabinet. It was then good night to
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Speaker 1: your majesty, and I trust that we should soon have
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Speaker 1: some good news for you. And good night Watson, he added,
21:12
Speaker 1: as the wheels of the Royal broom rolled down the street.
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Speaker 1: If you will be good enough to call tomorrow afternoon
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Speaker 1: at three o'clock, I should like to chat this little
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Speaker 1: matter over with you. Two. At three o'clock precisely, I
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Speaker 1: was at Baker Street, but Holmes had not yet returned.
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Speaker 1: The landlady informed me that he had left the house
21:35
Speaker 1: shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down
21:38
Speaker 1: beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him,
21:41
Speaker 1: however long he might be. I was deeply interested in
21:45
Speaker 1: his inquiry. For though it was surrounded by none of
21:48
Speaker 1: the grim and strange features which were associated with the
21:51
Speaker 1: two crimes which I have elsewhere recorded, still the nature
21:55
Speaker 1: of the case and the exalted station of his client
21:58
Speaker 1: gave it a character of its own. Indeed, apart from
22:02
Speaker 1: the nature of the investigation which my friend had on hand,
22:05
Speaker 1: there was something in his masterly grasp of a situation
22:08
Speaker 1: and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a pleasure
22:11
Speaker 1: to me to study his system of work and to
22:14
Speaker 1: follow the quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the
22:17
Speaker 1: most inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable success,
22:23
Speaker 1: that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to
22:26
Speaker 1: enter into my head. It was close upon four before
22:30
Speaker 1: the door opened, and a drunken looking groom, ill kempt
22:34
Speaker 1: and side whiskered, with an inflamed face and disreputable clothes,
22:38
Speaker 1: walked into the room. Accustomed as I was to my
22:42
Speaker 1: friend's amazing powers in the use of disguises, I had
22:45
Speaker 1: to look three times before I was certain that it
22:48
Speaker 1: was indeed he. With a nod, he vanished into the bedroom.
22:51
Speaker 1: Whence he emerged in five minutes tweed, suited and respectable
22:55
Speaker 1: as of old. Putting his hands into his pockets, he
22:58
Speaker 1: stretched out his legs in front of the fire and
23:01
Speaker 1: laughed heartily for some minutes. Well really, he cried, and
23:07
Speaker 1: then he choked and laughed again, until he was obliged
23:10
Speaker 1: to lie back, limp and helpless in the chair. What
23:14
Speaker 1: is it? It's quite too funny. I'm sure you could never
23:17
Speaker 1: guess how I employed my morning, or what I ended
23:20
Speaker 1: by doing. I can't imagine. I suppose that you've been
23:23
Speaker 1: watching the habits, and perhaps the house of Miss Irene
23:26
Speaker 1: Adler quite so. But the sequel was rather unusual. I
23:31
Speaker 1: will tell you, however. I left the house a little
23:34
Speaker 1: after eight o'clock this morning in the character of a
23:37
Speaker 1: groom out of work. There is a wonderful sympathy and
23:40
Speaker 1: freemasonry among Horsey men. Be one of them and you
23:43
Speaker 1: will know all that there is to know. I soon
23:47
Speaker 1: found Bryany Lodge. It is a bijou villa with a
23:50
Speaker 1: garden at the back, but built out in front right
23:53
Speaker 1: up to the road. Two stories chub locked the door,
23:57
Speaker 1: large sitting room on the right side well fernie, with
24:00
Speaker 1: long windows almost to the floor, and those preposterous English
24:03
Speaker 1: window fasteners which a child could open behind. There was
24:07
Speaker 1: nothing remarkable save that the passage window could be reached
24:11
Speaker 1: from the top of the coach house. I walked round
24:13
Speaker 1: it and examined it closely from every point of view,
24:17
Speaker 1: but without noting anything else of interest. I then lounged
24:21
Speaker 1: down the street and found, as I expected, that there
24:24
Speaker 1: was a muse in a lane which runs down by
24:26
Speaker 1: one wall of the garden. I lent the ostlers a
24:28
Speaker 1: hand in rubbing down their horses, and I received in
24:31
Speaker 1: exchange tuppence a glass of half and half, two fills
24:34
Speaker 1: of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could
24:36
Speaker 1: desire about miss Adler, to say nothing of half a
24:40
Speaker 1: dozen other people in the neighborhood, in whom I was
24:42
Speaker 1: not in the least interested, but whose biographies I was
24:45
Speaker 1: compelled to listen to. And what of Irene Adler, I asked, Oh,
24:50
Speaker 1: she has turned all the men's heads down in that part.
24:53
Speaker 1: She is the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet,
24:58
Speaker 1: so say the serpentine mule to a man. She lives quietly,
25:01
Speaker 1: sings at concerts, drives out at five every day, and
25:05
Speaker 1: returns at seven sharp for dinner, seldom goes out at
25:08
Speaker 1: other times except when she sings. Has only one male visitor,
25:12
Speaker 1: but a good deal of him. He is dark, handsome
25:15
Speaker 1: and dashing. Never calls less than once a day, and
25:18
Speaker 1: often twice. He's a mister Godfrey Norton of the Inner Temple,
25:23
Speaker 1: see the advantages of a cabman as a confident. They
25:27
Speaker 1: had driven him home a dozen times from Serpentine muse
25:30
Speaker 1: and knew all about him. When I had listened to
25:33
Speaker 1: all that they had to tell, I began to walk
25:35
Speaker 1: up and down near Bryany Lodge once more, and to
25:38
Speaker 1: think over my plan of campaign. This Godfrey Norton was
25:42
Speaker 1: evidently an important factor in the matter. He was a lawyer.
25:47
Speaker 1: That sounded ominous. What was the relation between them and
25:51
Speaker 1: what the object of his repeated visits? Was she his client,
25:54
Speaker 1: his friend or his mistress. If the former, she had
25:58
Speaker 1: probably transferred the photograph to him keeping. If the latter,
26:01
Speaker 1: it was less likely. On the issue of this question
26:05
Speaker 1: depended whether I should continue my work at Bryany Lodge
26:08
Speaker 1: or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the Temple.
26:12
Speaker 1: It was a delicate point, and it widened the field
26:15
Speaker 1: of my inquiry. I fear that I bore you with
26:18
Speaker 1: these details, but I have to let you see my
26:20
Speaker 1: little difficulties if you are to understand the situation. I
26:24
Speaker 1: am following you closely, I answered. I was still balancing
26:27
Speaker 1: the matter in my mind when a hansom cab drove
26:30
Speaker 1: up to Briany Lodge and a gentleman sprang out. He
26:33
Speaker 1: was a remarkably handsome man, dark aquiline and mustached, evidently
26:37
Speaker 1: the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to
26:39
Speaker 1: be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait,
26:42
Speaker 1: and brushed past the maid, who opened the door with
26:44
Speaker 1: the air of a man who was thoroughly at home.
26:47
Speaker 1: He was in the house about half an hour, and
26:49
Speaker 1: I could catch glimpses of him in the windows of
26:51
Speaker 1: the sitting room, pacing up and down, talking excitedly, and
26:55
Speaker 1: waving his arms of her I could see nothing. Presently, merged,
27:00
Speaker 1: looking even more flurried than before. As he stepped up
27:04
Speaker 1: to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from his
27:06
Speaker 1: pocket and looked at it earnestly. Drive like the devil.
27:10
Speaker 1: He shouted first to Gross and Henk's in Regent Street,
27:12
Speaker 1: and then to the Church of Saint Monica in the
27:14
Speaker 1: Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if you do it in
27:17
Speaker 1: twenty minutes. Away they went, and I was just wondering
27:22
Speaker 1: whether I should not do well to follow them, when
27:25
Speaker 1: up the lane came a neat little Landau, the coachman
27:27
Speaker 1: with his coat only half buttoned and his tie under
27:30
Speaker 1: his ear, while all the tags of his harness were
27:33
Speaker 1: sticking out at the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before
27:36
Speaker 1: she shot out of the hall door and into it.
27:39
Speaker 1: I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment,
27:41
Speaker 1: but she was a lovely woman, with the face that
27:44
Speaker 1: a man might die for. The Church of Saint Monica, John,
27:48
Speaker 1: she cried, and half a sovereign if you reach it
27:50
Speaker 1: in twenty minutes. This was quite too good to lose, Watson.
27:55
Speaker 1: I was just balancing whether I should run for it
27:57
Speaker 1: or whether I should perch behind her Landau, when a
28:00
Speaker 1: cab came through the street. The driver looked twice at
28:03
Speaker 1: such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he
28:05
Speaker 1: could object. The Church of Saint Monica, said I, and
28:09
Speaker 1: half a sovereign if you can reach it in twenty minutes.
28:12
Speaker 1: It was twenty five minutes to twelve, and of course
28:15
Speaker 1: it was clear enough what was in the wind. My
28:18
Speaker 1: cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster,
28:21
Speaker 1: but the others were there before us. The cab and
28:24
Speaker 1: the Landau, with their steaming horses, were in front of
28:26
Speaker 1: the door. When I arrived. I paid the man and
28:29
Speaker 1: hurried into the church. There was not a soul there
28:32
Speaker 1: save the two whom I had followed, and a surplused
28:35
Speaker 1: clergyman who seemed to be expostulating with them. They were
28:39
Speaker 1: all three standing in a knot in front of the altar.
28:42
Speaker 1: I lounged up the aisle like any other idler who
28:45
Speaker 1: was dropped into a church. Suddenly, to my surprise, the
28:49
Speaker 1: three at the altar faced round to me, and Godfrey
28:53
Speaker 1: Norton came, running as hard as he could towards me.
28:56
Speaker 1: Thank God, he cried, you'll do come? Come well? Then
29:01
Speaker 1: I asked, come, man, come only three minutes or it
29:04
Speaker 1: won't be legal. I was half dragged up to the altar,
29:08
Speaker 1: and before I knew where I was, I found myself
29:10
Speaker 1: mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, and vouching
29:14
Speaker 1: for things of which I knew nothing and generally assisting
29:17
Speaker 1: in the secure tying up of Irene Adler Spinster to
29:22
Speaker 1: Godfrey Norton Bachelor. It was all done in an instant,
29:26
Speaker 1: and there was the gentleman thanking me on the one
29:28
Speaker 1: side and the lady on the other, while the clergyman
29:31
Speaker 1: beamed on me in front. It was the most preposterous
29:35
Speaker 1: position which I have ever found myself in my life,
29:38
Speaker 1: and it was the thought of it that started me laughing.
29:41
Speaker 1: Just now. It seems that there had been some informality
29:45
Speaker 1: about their license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry
29:48
Speaker 1: them without a witness of some sort, and that my
29:51
Speaker 1: lucky appearance saved the bridegroom from having to sally out
29:54
Speaker 1: into the streets in search of a best man. The
29:58
Speaker 1: bride gave me a sovereign and I mean to wear
30:00
Speaker 1: it on my watch chain in memory of the occasion.
30:04
Speaker 1: This is a very unexpected turn of affairs, said I.
30:07
Speaker 1: And what then, Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced.
30:14
Speaker 1: It looked as if the pair might take an immediate
30:16
Speaker 1: departure and so necessitate very prompt and energetic measures on
30:20
Speaker 1: my part. At the church door, however, they separated, he
30:24
Speaker 1: driving back to the temple, and she to her own house.
30:29
Speaker 1: I shall drive out in the park at five, as usual,
30:31
Speaker 1: she said, as she left him. I heard no more.
30:35
Speaker 1: They drove away in different directions, and I went off
30:39
Speaker 1: to make my own arrangements, which are some cold beef
30:44
Speaker 1: and a glass of beer, he answered, ringing the bell.
30:47
Speaker 1: I have been too busy to think of food, and
30:49
Speaker 1: I am likely to be busier still this evening. By
30:52
Speaker 1: the way, doctor, I shall want your co operation. I
30:55
Speaker 1: shall be delighted you don't mind breaking the law, not
30:58
Speaker 1: in the least, nor run a chance of arrest, not
31:01
Speaker 1: in a good cause. Oh, the cause is excellent. Then
31:05
Speaker 1: I am your man. I was sure that I might
31:07
Speaker 1: rely on you. But what is it you wish? When
31:11
Speaker 1: missus Turner has brought in the tray, I will make
31:13
Speaker 1: it clear to you now, he said, as he turned
31:17
Speaker 1: hungrily on the simple fare that our landlady had provided.
31:21
Speaker 1: I must discuss it while I eat, for I have
31:24
Speaker 1: not much time. It is nearly five now. In two
31:27
Speaker 1: hours we must be on the scene of action. Miss
31:31
Speaker 1: Irene or Madame Rather returns from her drive at seven.
31:35
Speaker 1: We must be at Bryanny Lodge to meet her. And
31:38
Speaker 1: what then you must leave that to me. I have
31:41
Speaker 1: already arranged what is to occur. There is only one
31:45
Speaker 1: point on which I must insist. You must not interfere. Come,
31:48
Speaker 1: what may you understand? I am to be neutral, to
31:52
Speaker 1: do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small unpleasantness.
31:57
Speaker 1: Do not join in. It will end in my being
32:00
Speaker 1: inveighed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards, the
32:04
Speaker 1: sitting room window will open. You are to station yourself
32:08
Speaker 1: close to that open window. Yes. You are to watch me,
32:11
Speaker 1: for I will be visible to you. Yes. And when
32:15
Speaker 1: I raise my hand so you will throw into the
32:18
Speaker 1: room what I give you to throw, and will at
32:20
Speaker 1: the same time raise the cry of fire. You quite
32:23
Speaker 1: follow me entirely. It is nothing very formidable, he said,
32:28
Speaker 1: taking a long cigar shaped roll from his pocket. It
32:32
Speaker 1: is an ordinary plumber's smoke rocket, fitted with a cap
32:35
Speaker 1: at either end to make it self lighting. Your task
32:38
Speaker 1: is confined to that when you raise your cry of fire,
32:42
Speaker 1: it will be taken up by quite a number of people.
32:45
Speaker 1: You may then walk to the end of the street
32:47
Speaker 1: and I will rejoin you in ten minutes. I hope
32:50
Speaker 1: that I have made myself clear. I am to remain
32:53
Speaker 1: neutral to get near the window to watch you, and
32:57
Speaker 1: at the signal to throw in this object, then to
33:00
Speaker 1: raise the cry of fire, and to await you at
33:03
Speaker 1: the corner of the street precisely. Then you may entirely
33:07
Speaker 1: rely on me. That is excellent. I think perhaps it
33:10
Speaker 1: is almost time that I prepared for the new role
33:13
Speaker 1: I have to play. He disappeared into his bedroom and
33:16
Speaker 1: returned in a few minutes in the character of an
33:19
Speaker 1: amiable and simple minded nonconformist clergyman. His broad black hat,
33:25
Speaker 1: his baggy trousers, his white tie, his sympathetic smile, and
33:29
Speaker 1: general look of peering and benevolent curiosity were such as
33:33
Speaker 1: mister John Hare alone could have equalled. It was not
33:36
Speaker 1: merely that Holmes changed his costume, his expression, his manner,
33:41
Speaker 1: his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part
33:44
Speaker 1: that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even
33:48
Speaker 1: a science last, an acute reasoner when he became a
33:51
Speaker 1: specialist in crime. It was a quarter past six when
33:56
Speaker 1: we left Baker Street, and it still wanted ten minutes
33:59
Speaker 1: to the hour when we found ourselves in Serpentine Avenue.
34:03
Speaker 1: It was already dusk, and the lamps were just being
34:05
Speaker 1: lighted as we paced up and down in front of
34:08
Speaker 1: Bryany Lodge, waiting for the coming of its occupant. The
34:12
Speaker 1: house was just such as I had pictured it from
34:15
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes's succinct description, but the locality appeared to be
34:19
Speaker 1: less private than I expected. On the contrary, for a
34:22
Speaker 1: small street in a quiet neighborhood, it was remarkably animated.
34:27
Speaker 1: There was a group of shabbily dressed men smoking and
34:29
Speaker 1: laughing in a corner, a scissors grinder with his wheel,
34:33
Speaker 1: two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse girl, and
34:36
Speaker 1: several well dressed young men who were lounging up and
34:39
Speaker 1: down with cigars in their mouths. You see, remarked Holmes,
34:43
Speaker 1: as we paced to and fro in front of the house.
34:46
Speaker 1: This marriage rather simplifies matters. The photograph becomes a double
34:50
Speaker 1: edged weapon. Now the chances are that she would be
34:53
Speaker 1: as averse to its being seen by mister Godfrey Norton
34:56
Speaker 1: as our client is to its coming to the eyes
34:58
Speaker 1: of his princess. Now the question is where are we
35:02
Speaker 1: to find the photograph where? Indeed, it is most unlikely
35:07
Speaker 1: that she carries it about with her. It is cabinet
35:10
Speaker 1: size too large for easy concealment about a woman's dress.
35:15
Speaker 1: She knows that the king is capable of having her
35:17
Speaker 1: way lay down searched. Two attempts of that sort have
35:20
Speaker 1: already been made. We may take it, then, that she
35:23
Speaker 1: does not carry it about with her where then a
35:27
Speaker 1: banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But
35:32
Speaker 1: I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive,
35:36
Speaker 1: and they like to do their own secreting. Why should
35:39
Speaker 1: she hand it over to any one else? She could
35:42
Speaker 1: trust her own guardianship, but she could not tell what
35:45
Speaker 1: indirect or political influence might be brought to bear upon
35:48
Speaker 1: a business man. Besides, remember that she had resolved to
35:51
Speaker 1: use it within a few days. It must be where
35:54
Speaker 1: she can lay her hands upon it. It must be
35:57
Speaker 1: in her own house. But it has twice been burgled.
36:01
Speaker 1: Purse shure. They did not know how to look. But
36:04
Speaker 1: how will you look? I will not look what? Then?
36:08
Speaker 1: I will get her to show me, But she will refuse.
36:12
Speaker 1: She will not be able to. But I hear the
36:15
Speaker 1: rumble of wheels. It is her carriage. Now carry out
36:18
Speaker 1: my orders to the letter. As he spoke, the gleam
36:22
Speaker 1: of the side lights of a carriage came round the
36:24
Speaker 1: curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landou
36:28
Speaker 1: which rattled up to the door of Bryany Lodge. As
36:31
Speaker 1: it pulled up, one of the loafing men at the
36:34
Speaker 1: corner dashed forward to open the door in the hope
36:36
Speaker 1: of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another
36:40
Speaker 1: loafer who had rushed up with the same intention. A
36:44
Speaker 1: fierce quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen,
36:47
Speaker 1: who took sides with one of the lounges, and by
36:50
Speaker 1: the scissors grinder, who was equally hot upon the other side.
36:54
Speaker 1: A blow was struck, and in an instant the lady,
36:57
Speaker 1: who had stepped from her carriage was the center of
36:59
Speaker 1: a little knot of flush down struggling men who struck
37:03
Speaker 1: savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes
37:07
Speaker 1: dashed into the crowd to protect the lady, but just
37:10
Speaker 1: as he reached her, he gave a cry and dropped
37:12
Speaker 1: to the ground, with the blood running freely down his face.
37:17
Speaker 1: At his fall, the guardsmen took to their heels in
37:19
Speaker 1: one direction and the loungers in the other, while a
37:22
Speaker 1: number of better dressed people who had watched the scuffle
37:25
Speaker 1: without taking part in it. Crowded in to help the
37:28
Speaker 1: lady and to attend to the injured man. Irene Adler,
37:32
Speaker 1: as I will still call her, had hurried up the steps,
37:36
Speaker 1: but she stood at the top with her superb figure
37:39
Speaker 1: outlined against the lights of the hall, looking back into
37:43
Speaker 1: the street. Is the poor gentleman much hurt? She asked?
37:48
Speaker 1: He is dead, cried several voices. No, no, there's life
37:51
Speaker 1: in him, shouted another. But he'll be gone before you
37:55
Speaker 1: can get into hospital. He's a brave fellow, said a woman.
37:59
Speaker 1: They would have had the lady person watch if it
38:01
Speaker 1: hadn't been for him. They were a gang and a
38:03
Speaker 1: rough one too. Ah, he's breathing there. He can't lie
38:08
Speaker 1: in the street. May we bring him in, ma'am? Surely
38:11
Speaker 1: bring him into the sitting room. There is a comfortable sofa.
38:15
Speaker 1: This way, please slowly and solemnly. He was borne in
38:19
Speaker 1: to Bryanny Lodge and laid out in the principal room,
38:22
Speaker 1: while I still observed the proceedings from my post by
38:25
Speaker 1: the window. The lamps had been lit, but the blinds
38:28
Speaker 1: had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes
38:31
Speaker 1: as he lay upon the couch. I do not know
38:34
Speaker 1: whether he was seized with compunction at that moment for
38:36
Speaker 1: the part he was playing. But I know that I
38:39
Speaker 1: never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life
38:43
Speaker 1: than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I
38:46
Speaker 1: was conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she
38:49
Speaker 1: waited upon the injured man. And yet it would be
38:53
Speaker 1: the blackest treachery to Holmes to draw back now from
38:56
Speaker 1: the part which he had entrusted to me. I hardened
38:59
Speaker 1: my hoe and took the smoke rocket from under my ulster.
39:04
Speaker 1: After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We
39:07
Speaker 1: are but preventing her from injuring another. Holmes had sat
39:12
Speaker 1: up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like
39:15
Speaker 1: a man who is in want of air. A maid
39:18
Speaker 1: rushed across and threw open the window. At the same
39:22
Speaker 1: instant I saw him raise his hand, and at the signal,
39:25
Speaker 1: I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry
39:27
Speaker 1: of fire. The word was no sooner out of my
39:31
Speaker 1: mouth than the whole crowd of spectators, well dressed and
39:34
Speaker 1: ill gentlemen, ostlers and servant maids, joined in a general
39:38
Speaker 1: shriek of fire, thick clouds of smoke curled through the
39:42
Speaker 1: room and out at the open window. I caught a
39:45
Speaker 1: glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice
39:48
Speaker 1: of Holmes from within, assuring them that it was a
39:51
Speaker 1: false alarm. Slipping through the shouting crowd, I made my
39:55
Speaker 1: way to the corner of the street, and in ten
39:58
Speaker 1: minutes was rejoiced to find and my friend's arm in
40:01
Speaker 1: mine and to get away from the scene of the uproar.
40:06
Speaker 1: He walked swiftly and in silence for some minutes, until
40:09
Speaker 1: we had turned down one of the quiet streets which
40:12
Speaker 1: lead towards the Edgeware Road. You did it very nicely, doctor,
40:16
Speaker 1: he remarked. Nothing could have been better. It is all right.
40:20
Speaker 1: You have the photograph. I know where it is. And
40:23
Speaker 1: how did you find out? She showed me as I
40:27
Speaker 1: told you that she would. I am still in the dark.
40:30
Speaker 1: I do not wish to make a mystery, said he, laughing.
40:33
Speaker 1: The matter was perfectly simple. You, of course saw that
40:37
Speaker 1: every one in the street was an accomplice. They were
40:39
Speaker 1: all engaged for the evening. I guessed as much. Then,
40:44
Speaker 1: when the row broke out, I had a little moist
40:46
Speaker 1: red paint in the palm of my hand. I rushed forward,
40:49
Speaker 1: fell down, clapped my hand to my face, and became
40:52
Speaker 1: a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick that also
40:56
Speaker 1: I could fathom. Then they carried me in. She was
41:00
Speaker 1: bound to have me in what else could she do?
41:03
Speaker 1: And into her sitting room, which was the very room
41:05
Speaker 1: which I suspected it lay between that and her bedroom,
41:09
Speaker 1: and I was determined to see which They laid me
41:12
Speaker 1: on a couch. I motioned for air. They were compelled
41:15
Speaker 1: to open the window, and you had your chance. How
41:18
Speaker 1: did that help you? It was all important. When a
41:22
Speaker 1: woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct
41:25
Speaker 1: is at once to rush to the thing which she
41:26
Speaker 1: values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I
41:30
Speaker 1: have more than once taken advantage of it. In the
41:33
Speaker 1: case of the Darlington substitution scandal it was of use
41:37
Speaker 1: to me, and also in the Arnsworth Castle business. A
41:40
Speaker 1: married woman grabs at her baby, an unmarried one reaches
41:44
Speaker 1: for her jewel box. Now it was clear to me
41:47
Speaker 1: that our lady of to day had nothing in the
41:49
Speaker 1: house more precious to her than what we are in
41:52
Speaker 1: quest of. She would rush to secure it. The alarm
41:56
Speaker 1: of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting was
41:59
Speaker 1: enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The
42:04
Speaker 1: photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel, just
42:08
Speaker 1: above the right bell pull. She was there in an instant,
42:11
Speaker 1: and I caught a glimpse of it as she half
42:13
Speaker 1: drew it out. When I cried out that it was
42:16
Speaker 1: a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket,
42:20
Speaker 1: rushed from the room, and I have not seen her
42:23
Speaker 1: since I rose, and, making my excuses, escaped from the house.
42:28
Speaker 1: I hesitated whether to attempt to secure the photograph at once,
42:32
Speaker 1: but the coachman had come in, and as he was
42:34
Speaker 1: watching me narrowly, it seemed safer to wait a little
42:38
Speaker 1: over precipitance may ruin all. And now I asked, our
42:43
Speaker 1: quest is practically finished. I shall call with the king
42:46
Speaker 1: tomorrow and with you, if you care to come with us.
42:50
Speaker 1: We will be shown into the sitting room to wait
42:52
Speaker 1: for the lady. But it is probable that when she
42:54
Speaker 1: comes she may find neither us nor the photograph. It
42:58
Speaker 1: might be a satisfaction to his magicy to regain it
43:01
Speaker 1: with his own hands. And when will you call? At
43:05
Speaker 1: eight in the morning, she will not be up so
43:08
Speaker 1: that we shall have a clear field. Besides, we must
43:11
Speaker 1: be prompt, for this marriage may mean a complete change
43:13
Speaker 1: in her life and habit. I must wire to the
43:16
Speaker 1: king without delay. We had reached Baker Street and had
43:20
Speaker 1: stopped at the door. He was searching his pockets for
43:23
Speaker 1: the key, when some one passing said good night, mister
43:27
Speaker 1: Sherlock Holmes. There were several people on the pavement at
43:31
Speaker 1: the time, but the greeting appeared to come from a
43:33
Speaker 1: slim youth in an ulster who had hurried by. I've
43:37
Speaker 1: heard that voice before, said Holmes, staring down the dimly
43:41
Speaker 1: lit street. Now I wonder who the deuce that could
43:44
Speaker 1: have been? Three. I slept at Baker Street that night,
43:51
Speaker 1: and we were engaged upon our toast and coffee when
43:53
Speaker 1: the King of Bohemia rushed into the room. You have
43:56
Speaker 1: really got it, he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by either
44:00
Speaker 1: shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. Not yet, but
44:05
Speaker 1: you have hopes. I have hopes. Then come, I am
44:09
Speaker 1: impatient to be gone. We must have a cab. No,
44:12
Speaker 1: my broom is waiting. Then that will simplify matters. We
44:18
Speaker 1: descended and started off once more for Bryany Lodge. Irene
44:23
Speaker 1: Adler is married, remarked Holmes married when yesterday, but to whom?
44:30
Speaker 1: To an English lawyer named Norton. But she could not
44:34
Speaker 1: love him. I am in hopes that she does, and
44:37
Speaker 1: why in hopes, because it would spare your Majesty all
44:41
Speaker 1: fear of future annoyance. If the lady loves her husband,
44:45
Speaker 1: she does not love your majesty. If she does not
44:47
Speaker 1: love your Majesty, there is no reason why she should
44:50
Speaker 1: interfere with your Majesty's plan. It is true, and yet
44:55
Speaker 1: well I wish she had been off my own station.
44:59
Speaker 1: What a queen she would have made. He relapsed into
45:02
Speaker 1: a moody silence, which was not broken until we drew
45:05
Speaker 1: up in Serpentine Avenue. The door of Bryany Lodge was open,
45:10
Speaker 1: and an elderly woman stood upon the steps. She watched
45:14
Speaker 1: us with a sardonic eye as we stepped from the broom.
45:18
Speaker 1: Mister Sherlock Holmes, I believe, said she, I am, mister Holmes,
45:23
Speaker 1: answered my companion, looking at her with a questioning and
45:26
Speaker 1: rather startled gaze. Indeed, my mistress told me that you
45:30
Speaker 1: were likely to call. She left this morning with her
45:33
Speaker 1: husband by the five fifteen train from charing Cross for
45:37
Speaker 1: the continent. What Sherlock Holmes staggered back white with chagrin
45:43
Speaker 1: and surprise. Do you mean that she has left England?
45:47
Speaker 1: Never to return? And the papers? Asked the King hoarsely,
45:52
Speaker 1: all is lost, we shall see. He pushed past the
45:57
Speaker 1: servant and rushed into the drawing room, followed by the
46:00
Speaker 1: King and myself. The furniture was scattered about in every direction,
46:05
Speaker 1: with dismantled shelves and opened drawers, as if the lady
46:08
Speaker 1: had hurriedly ransacked them before her flight. Holmes rushed at
46:13
Speaker 1: the bell, pull tore back a small sliding shutter, and
46:16
Speaker 1: plunging in his hand, pulled out a photograph and a letter.
46:21
Speaker 1: The photograph was of Irene Adler herself in evening dress.
46:25
Speaker 1: The letter was superscribed to Sherlock Holmes, esquire to be
46:29
Speaker 1: left till called for. My friend tore it open and
46:33
Speaker 1: we all three read it together. It was dated at
46:36
Speaker 1: midnight of the preceding night, and ran in this way.
46:41
Speaker 1: My dear mister Sherlock Holmes, you really did it very well.
46:46
Speaker 1: You took me in completely until after the alarm of
46:49
Speaker 1: fire I had not a suspicion. But then when I
46:53
Speaker 1: found how I had betrayed myself, I began to think.
46:57
Speaker 1: I had been warned against you months ago. I had
47:00
Speaker 1: been told that if the King employed an agent, it
47:02
Speaker 1: would certainly be you, and your address had been given me.
47:08
Speaker 1: Yet with all this, you made me reveal what you
47:10
Speaker 1: wanted to know. Even after I became suspicious, I found
47:14
Speaker 1: it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind
47:16
Speaker 1: old clergyman. But you know I have been trained as
47:20
Speaker 1: an actress myself. Male costume is nothing new to me.
47:24
Speaker 1: I often take advantage of the freedom which it gives.
47:28
Speaker 1: I sent John, the coachman, to watch you. Ran upstairs,
47:31
Speaker 1: got into my walking clothes, as I called them, and
47:34
Speaker 1: came down just as you departed. Well, I followed you
47:37
Speaker 1: to your door, and so made sure that I was
47:40
Speaker 1: really an object of interest to the celebrated mister Sherlock Holmes.
47:44
Speaker 1: Then I rather imprudently wished you good night and started
47:49
Speaker 1: for the temple to see my husband. We both thought
47:52
Speaker 1: the best resource was flight when pursued by so formidable
47:56
Speaker 1: an antagonist. So you will find the nest empty when
48:00
Speaker 1: you call to morrow. As to the photograph, your client
48:03
Speaker 1: may rest in peace. I love and am loved by
48:06
Speaker 1: a better man than he. The King may do what
48:09
Speaker 1: he will without hindrance from one whom he is cruelly wronged.
48:14
Speaker 1: I keep it only to safeguard myself and to preserve
48:18
Speaker 1: a weapon which will always secure me from any steps
48:20
Speaker 1: which he might take in the future. I leave a
48:23
Speaker 1: photograph which he might care to possess, and I remain
48:27
Speaker 1: dear mister Sherlock Holmes, very truly yours Irene Norton nay Adler.
48:36
Speaker 1: What a woman, Oh what a woman, cried the King
48:40
Speaker 1: of Bohemia, when we had all three read this epistle?
48:44
Speaker 1: Did I not tell you how quick and resolute she was?
48:48
Speaker 1: Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it
48:51
Speaker 1: not a pity she was not on my level? From
48:54
Speaker 1: what I have seen of the lady, she seems indeed
48:56
Speaker 1: to be on a very different level to your Majesty.
49:00
Speaker 1: At Holmes Coldly, I am sorry that I have not
49:03
Speaker 1: been able to bring your Majesty's business to a more
49:05
Speaker 1: successful conclusion. On the contrary, my dear sir, cried the King.
49:10
Speaker 1: Nothing could be more successful. I know that her word
49:13
Speaker 1: is inviolate. The photograph is now as safe as if
49:17
Speaker 1: it were in the fire. I am glad to hear
49:21
Speaker 1: your majesty say so. I am immensely indebted to you.
49:25
Speaker 1: Pray tell me in what way I can reward you?
49:28
Speaker 1: Is this ring? He slipped an emerald snake ring from
49:32
Speaker 1: his finger and held it out upon the palm of
49:35
Speaker 1: his hand. Your Majesty has something which I should value
49:38
Speaker 1: even more highly, said Holmes. You have but to name
49:42
Speaker 1: it this photograph. The king stared at him in amazement.
49:46
Speaker 1: Irene's photograph. He cried, certainly, if you wish it, I
49:51
Speaker 1: thank your majesty, then there is no more to be
49:54
Speaker 1: done in the matter. I have the honor to wish
49:57
Speaker 1: you a very good morning. He bowed, and, turning away,
50:01
Speaker 1: without observing the hand which the King had stretched out
50:04
Speaker 1: to him, he set off in my company for his chambers.
50:10
Speaker 1: And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect
50:13
Speaker 1: the Kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of
50:17
Speaker 1: mister Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a woman's wit. He
50:21
Speaker 1: used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but
50:25
Speaker 1: I have not heard him do it of late. And
50:28
Speaker 1: when he speaks of Irene Adler or when he refers
50:31
Speaker 1: to her photograph, It is always under the honorable title
50:35
Speaker 1: of the Woman