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01 - A Scandal in Bohemia · Sherlock Holmes

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Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. That's lbriv ox dot org. The
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Speaker 1: Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Adventure
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Speaker 1: IE A Scandal in Bohemia, Sections one through three. Section 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: her 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: lover he would have placed himself in a false position.
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Speaker 1: He never spoke of the softer passions, save with the
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Speaker 1: gibe 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 on 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 have 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 interests 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 attentions.
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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 altering from weak tweak
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Speaker 1: between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug and
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Speaker 1: the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still,
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Speaker 1: as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and
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Speaker 1: occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in
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Speaker 1: following out these clues and clearing up those mysteries which
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Speaker 1: had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From
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Speaker 1: time to time I heard some vague account of his doings,
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Speaker 1: of his summons to Odessa in the case of the
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Speaker 1: trip off murder, of his clearing up of the singular
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Speaker 1: tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Tricomalae, and finally of
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Speaker 1: the mission which he had accomplished so delicately and successfully
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Speaker 1: for the reigning family of Holland. Beyond these signs of
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Speaker 1: his activity, however, which I merely shared with all the
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Speaker 1: readers of the day daily press, I knew little of
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Speaker 1: my former friend and companion. One night, it was on
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Speaker 1: the twentieth of March eighteen eighty eight. I was returning
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Speaker 1: from a journey to a patient, for I had now
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Speaker 1: returned to civil practice. When my way led me through
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Speaker 1: Baker Street. As I passed the well remembered door which
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Speaker 1: must always be associated in my mind with my woeing
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Speaker 1: and with the dark incidents of the Stoty Scarlet, I
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Speaker 1: was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes again
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Speaker 1: and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers.
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Speaker 1: His rooms were brilliantly lit, and even as I looked up,
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Speaker 1: I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in a
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Speaker 1: dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly,
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Speaker 1: with his head sunk upon his chest and his hands
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Speaker 1: clasped behind him. To me, who knew his every mood
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Speaker 1: and habit, his attitude and manner told their own story.
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Speaker 1: He was at work again. He had risen out of
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Speaker 1: his drug created dreams, and was hot upon the scent
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Speaker 1: of some new problem. I rang the bell and was
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Speaker 1: shown up to the chamber which had formerly been in
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Speaker 1: part my own. His manner was not effusive, it seldom was,
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Speaker 1: but he was glad I think to see me, With
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Speaker 1: hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye. He
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Speaker 1: waved me an arm chair, threw across his case of cigars,
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Speaker 1: and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner.
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Speaker 1: Then he stood before the fire and looked me over
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Speaker 1: in his singular, introspective fashion. Wedlock suits you, He remarked,
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Speaker 1: I think, Watson, that you have put on seven and
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Speaker 1: a half pounds since I saw you seven. I answered, indeed,
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Speaker 1: I should have thought a little more, just a trifle more,
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Speaker 1: I fancy Watson, and in practice again I observed you
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Speaker 1: did not tell me that you intended to go into harness.
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Speaker 1: Then how do you know I see it? I deduce it?
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Speaker 1: How do I know that you have been getting yourself
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Speaker 1: very wet lately and that you have a most clumsy
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Speaker 1: and careless servant girl, My dear Holmes, said I, this
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Speaker 1: is too much. You would certainly have been burned had
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Speaker 1: you lived a few centuries ago. It is true that
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Speaker 1: I had a country walk on Thursday and came home
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Speaker 1: in 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 in creag rigible and my wife has given
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Speaker 1: her notice. But there again I felt to see how
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Speaker 1: you work it out. He chuckled to himself and rubbed
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Speaker 1: his long, nervous hands together. It is simplicity itself, said he.
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Speaker 1: My eyes tell me that on the inside of your
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Speaker 1: left shoe, just where the far light strikes it, the
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Speaker 1: leather is scourged by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they
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Speaker 1: have been caused by someone who has very careless scraped
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Speaker 1: around the edges of the souls in order to remove
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Speaker 1: crusted mud from it. Hence you see my double deduction
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Speaker 1: that you have been out in vile weather, and that
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Speaker 1: you have a particularly malignant boot slitting specimen of the
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Speaker 1: London slovee As to your practice, if a gentleman walks
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Speaker 1: into my room smelling of I adorn with a black
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Speaker 1: mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger and
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Speaker 1: a budge on the right side of his top hat
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Speaker 1: to show where he has secreted his stethoscope, I must
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Speaker 1: be dull. Indeed, if I did not pronounce him to
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Speaker 1: be an active member of the medical profession, I could
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Speaker 1: not help laughing at the ease with which he examined
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Speaker 1: his process of deduction. When I hear you give your reasons,
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Speaker 1: I remarked, the thing always appears to me to be
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Speaker 1: so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself.
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Speaker 1: Though at each successive instance of your reasoning, I am
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Speaker 1: baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe
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Speaker 1: 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 armchair. You see, but you do not observe. The
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Speaker 1: distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the
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Speaker 1: steps which lead up from the hall to this room frequently,
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Speaker 1: how often, well, some hundreds of times. Then how many
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Speaker 1: are there? How many? I don't know. Quite so you
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Speaker 1: have not observed, and yet you have seen. That is
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Speaker 1: just my point. Now I know that there are seventeen steps,
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Speaker 1: because I have both seen and observed by the way.
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Speaker 1: Since you are interested in these little problems, and since
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Speaker 1: you have been good enough to chronicle one or two
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Speaker 1: 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 upon the table. It came by
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Speaker 1: the last post, said, He read it aloud. The note
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Speaker 1: was an dated and without either signature or address. There
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Speaker 1: will call upon you tonight at a quarter to eight o'clock,
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Speaker 1: it said, a gentleman who desires to consult you upon
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Speaker 1: a matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services
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Speaker 1: to one of the royal houses of Europe have shown
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Speaker 1: that you are one who may safely be trusted with
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Speaker 1: matters which are of an importance which can hardly be exaggerated.
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Speaker 1: This account of you will have from all quarters received,
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Speaker 1: but in your chamber then at that hour, and do
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Speaker 1: not take it amiss if your visitor wears a mask.
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Speaker 1: This is indeed a mystery, I remarked, what do you
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Speaker 1: imagine that? It means? I have no data yet. It
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Speaker 1: is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.
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Speaker 1: Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead
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Speaker 1: of theories to suit facts. But the note itself, what
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Speaker 1: do you deduce from it? I certainly examined the writing
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Speaker 1: and the paper upon which it was written. The man
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Speaker 1: who wrote it was presumably well to do, I remarked,
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Speaker 1: endeavoring to imitate my companion's process. Such paper could not
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Speaker 1: be bought under half a crown a packet. It is
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Speaker 1: peculiarly strong and stiff. Peculiar, that is the very word,
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Speaker 1: said Holmes. It is not an English paper at all.
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Speaker 1: Hold it up to the light. I did sew and
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Speaker 1: saw a large E with a small G, a P
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Speaker 1: and a large G with a small T woven into
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Speaker 1: the texture of the paper. What do you make of that?
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Speaker 1: Asked Holmes. The name of the maker, no doubt, or
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Speaker 1: his monogram rat not at all. The G with a
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Speaker 1: small T stands for Gesselchercht, which is German for company.
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Speaker 1: It is a customary contraction like our co P, of
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Speaker 1: course stands for paper. Now for the e g let
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Speaker 1: us glance at our continual gazetteer. He took down a
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Speaker 1: heavy brown volume from his shelves. You glow eglos. Here
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Speaker 1: we are Igoria. It is in a German speaking country,
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Speaker 1: in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad, remarkably as being the
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Speaker 1: scene of the death of Woenstein, and for its numerous
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Speaker 1: glass factories and paper mills. Ha ha, 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 know the particular contraction 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 uncounterrous 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's the
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Speaker 1: sharp sound of horses hoofs and the 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: bragman and a pair of beauties one 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 had better go, Holmes,
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Speaker 1: not a bit, doctor, Stay where you are. I am
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Speaker 1: lost without my boswell, and that promises to be interesting.
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Speaker 1: It would be a pity to miss it. But your
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Speaker 1: client never mind him. I may want your help, and
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Speaker 1: so may he. Here he comes, Sit down in that armchair, 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 step. Come in, said Holmes. A
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Speaker 1: man entered, who could hardly have been less than six
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Speaker 1: feet six inches in height, with the chest and limbers
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Speaker 1: of a Hercules. His dress was rich with a richness
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Speaker 1: which would in England be looked upon as a kin
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Speaker 1: to bad taste. Heavy bands of Astrakhan were slashed across
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Speaker 1: the sleeves and fronts of his double breasted coat, while
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Speaker 1: the deep blue coat which was thrown over his shoulders
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Speaker 1: was lined with flame colored silk and secured at the
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Speaker 1: neck with a brooch which consisted of a single flaming burial.
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Speaker 1: Boots which extended halfway up his calls, and which were
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Speaker 1: trimmed at the tops with rich brown fur completed the
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Speaker 1: impression of barbaric opulence, which was suggested by the whole appearance.
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Speaker 1: He carried a broad brimmed hat in his hand, while
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Speaker 1: he wore across the upper part of his face, extending
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Speaker 1: down the past the cheek bones, a black vizard 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 a 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 and calling 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 Count
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Speaker 1: von 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 see before this gentleman,
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Speaker 1: anything which you may say to me. The Count shrugged
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Speaker 1: his broad shoulders. Then I must begin, said he, by
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Speaker 1: binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years. At
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Speaker 1: the end of that time, the matter will be of
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Speaker 1: no importance at present. It is too much to say
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Speaker 1: that it is of such weight it may have an
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Speaker 1: influence upon European history, I promise, said Holmes. And I
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Speaker 1: you may excuse this mask, counted our strange visitor. The
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Speaker 1: august person who employs me wishes his agent to be
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Speaker 1: unknown to you, and I may confess at once that
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Speaker 1: the title by which I have just called myself is
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Speaker 1: not exactly my own. I was aware of it, said
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Speaker 1: Holmes dryly. The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every
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Speaker 1: precaution has to be taken to quench what might grow
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Speaker 1: to be an immense scandal, and seriously compromise one of
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Speaker 1: the ranging families of Europe. To speak plainly, the matter
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Speaker 1: implicates the great House of Armstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia.
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Speaker 1: I was also aware of that, murmured Holmes, setting himself
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Speaker 1: down in his armchair, closing his eyes, all glanced with
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Speaker 1: some apparent surprise at the leugid, longing figure of the
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Speaker 1: man who had been, no doubt depicted to him as
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Speaker 1: the most insensitive reasoner, a most energetic agent in Europe.
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Speaker 1: Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his
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Speaker 1: gigantic client. If your majesty would condescend to state your case,
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Speaker 1: he remarked, I should be better able to advise you.
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Speaker 1: The man sprang from his chair and paced up and
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Speaker 1: down the room in uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture
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Speaker 1: of desperation, he tore the mask from his face and
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Speaker 1: hurled it upon the ground. You are right, he cried,
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Speaker 1: I am the king. Why should I attempt to conceal it? Why? Indeed,
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Speaker 1: murmured Holmes, your majesty had not spoken before I was
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Speaker 1: aware that I was addressing William Gotstrich Sigmund von Armstrom,
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Speaker 1: Grand Duke of castel Fraasine and hereditary King of Bohemia.
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Speaker 1: But you can understand, said our strange visitor, sitting down
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Speaker 1: once more, and passing his hand over his high white forehead.
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Speaker 1: You can understand that I am not accustomed to doing
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Speaker 1: such business in my own person, that I could not
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Speaker 1: confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power.
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Speaker 1: I have come incognito from pregou from the purpose of
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Speaker 1: consulting you. Then pray consult, said Holmes, shutting his eyes
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Speaker 1: once more. The facts are briefly these. Some five years ago,
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Speaker 1: during a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance
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Speaker 1: of the well known adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is
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Speaker 1: no doubt familiar to you. Kindly look her up in
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Speaker 1: my index, doctor, murmured Holmes, without opening his eyes. For
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Speaker 1: many years he had adopted a system of docking all
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Speaker 1: paragraphs concerning men and things, so that it was difficult
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Speaker 1: to name a subject or a person on which he
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Speaker 1: could not at once furnish information. In this case, I
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Speaker 1: found her biography sandwiched in between that of Hebrew Rabbi
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Speaker 1: and that of staff commander, who had written a monograph
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Speaker 1: upon the deep sea fishes. Let me see, said Holmes
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Speaker 1: hum born in New Jersey in the year in eighteen
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Speaker 1: fifty eight Contrito hum Let's Calm Prima Donna, Imperial Opera
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Speaker 1: of Walsaw Yes retired from the operatic stage. Ha living
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Speaker 1: in London. Quite so, your majesty, as I understand, become
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Speaker 1: entangled with this young person, wrote her some comprising letters
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Speaker 1: and is now desirous of getting these letters back. Precisely so,
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Speaker 1: But how was there a secret marriage? None? No legal
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Speaker 1: papers or certificates none. Then I failed to follow your majesty.
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Speaker 1: If this young person should produce her letters from blackmailing
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Speaker 1: or other purposes, how is she to prove their authenticity?
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Speaker 1: There is writing po pooh, forgery, my private notepaper, stolen,
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Speaker 1: my own seal, imitated my photograph. But we were both
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Speaker 1: in the photograph. Oh dear, that is very bad. Your
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Speaker 1: Majesty has indeed committed an indiscretion. I was mad, insane.
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Speaker 1: You have compromised yourself seriously. I was only crown Prince
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Speaker 1: then I was young. I am but thirty. Now it
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Speaker 1: must be recovered. We have tried and failed. Your majesty
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Speaker 1: must pay. It must be bold. She will not sell stolen.
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Speaker 1: Then five attempts have been made, twice burglars in my pay,
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Speaker 1: ransacked her house once, we diverted her luggage when she
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Speaker 1: traveled twice she had been waylaid. There has been no result,
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Speaker 1: no sign of it, absolutely none, Holmes laughed. It is
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Speaker 1: quite a pretty little problem, said he, but a very
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Speaker 1: serious one to me, returned The King reproachfully, very indeed,
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Speaker 1: what does she propose to do with the photograph to
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Speaker 1: ruin me? But how I am about to be married?
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Speaker 1: So I have heard to Claudia Outlare von Saxe Montengun,
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Speaker 1: second daughter of the King of Scandinavia. You may know
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Speaker 1: that stract principles of her family, she is herself the
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Speaker 1: very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a doubt as
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Speaker 1: to my conduct would bring the matter to an end.
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Speaker 1: And Irene Attler threat inst to send him a photograph,
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Speaker 1: and she will do it. I know that she will
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Speaker 1: do it. You do not know her, but she has
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Speaker 1: a soul of steel. She has the face of the
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Speaker 1: most beautiful of woman and the mind of the most
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Speaker 1: resolute of men. Rather than I should marry another woman,
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Speaker 1: there are no lengths to which she would not go none.
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Speaker 1: You are sure that she has not sent it yet.
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Speaker 1: I am sure. And why because she has said that
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Speaker 1: she would send it on the day when the betrothal
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Speaker 1: was publicly proclaimed, That would be next Monday. Oh, then
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Speaker 1: we have three days yet, said Holmes with a own
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Speaker 1: That is very fortunate, as I have one or two
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Speaker 1: matters of importance to look into just at present, Your
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Speaker 1: majesty will of course stay in London for the present.
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Speaker 1: Suddenly you will find me at the long Ram under
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Speaker 1: the name of the Count von Kram. Then I shall
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Speaker 1: drop you a line to let you know how we progress.
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Speaker 1: Pray do so I shall be all anxiety. Then, as too, 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 the present expenses. The King
25:47
Speaker 1: took a heavy chambos leather bag from under his cloak
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Speaker 1: and laid it on the table. There are three hundred
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Speaker 1: pounds in a gold and seven hundred in notes, he said.
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Speaker 1: Holmes gribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note
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Speaker 1: book and handed it to him. And Mademoiselle's address, he asked,
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Speaker 1: is Brawny Lodge, Supritim Avenue Saint John's wood Alms. Took
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Speaker 1: a note of it. What other question? Said? He was
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Speaker 1: to photograph a cabinet. It was then good night, your majesty,
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Speaker 1: and I trust that we shall soon have some good
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Speaker 1: news for you. And good night Wilson, he added, as
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Speaker 1: the wheels of the Royal Brogham 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. End of Section one, Section two.
26:53
Speaker 1: At three o'clock precisely, I was at Baker Street, but
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Speaker 1: Holmes had not yet returned. The Landley informed me that
27:01
Speaker 1: he had left the house shortly after eight o'clock in
27:05
Speaker 1: the morning. I sat down beside the fire, however, with
27:10
Speaker 1: the intention of awaiting him, however long he might be.
27:15
Speaker 1: I was already deeply interested in his inquiry. For though
27:21
Speaker 1: it was surrounded by none of the grim and strange
27:26
Speaker 1: features which were associated with the two crimes which I
27:30
Speaker 1: have already recorded, still the nature of the case and
27:35
Speaker 1: the exalted station of his client gave it a character
27:40
Speaker 1: of its own. Indeed, apart from the nature of the
27:44
Speaker 1: investigation which my friend had on hand, there was something
27:49
Speaker 1: in his masterly grasp of a situation and his keen,
27:54
Speaker 1: incisive reasoning, which made it a pleasure to me to
27:59
Speaker 1: study his system of work and to follow the quick,
28:04
Speaker 1: subtle methods by which he distinguished the most inextractable mysteries.
28:11
Speaker 1: So accustomed was I to his invariable success, that the
28:16
Speaker 1: very possibility of his felling had ceased to enter into
28:21
Speaker 1: my head. It was close upon four before the door opened,
28:27
Speaker 1: and a drunken looking groom, ill kept and sighed, whiskered
28:33
Speaker 1: with an inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room.
28:41
Speaker 1: Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in
28:46
Speaker 1: the use of disguises, I had to look three times
28:50
Speaker 1: before I was certain that it was indeed he. With
28:53
Speaker 1: a nod, he vanished into the bedroom. Whence he emerged
28:58
Speaker 1: in five minutes, too suited and respectable as of old.
29:05
Speaker 1: Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his
29:09
Speaker 1: legs in front of the fire, and laughing heartily for
29:14
Speaker 1: some minutes. Well really, he cried, and then he choked
29:19
Speaker 1: and laughed again, until he was obliged to lie back,
29:23
Speaker 1: limp and helpless in the chair. What is it? It's
29:26
Speaker 1: quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess
29:29
Speaker 1: how I employed my morning or what I ended by doing.
29:34
Speaker 1: I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching
29:37
Speaker 1: the habits, and perhaps the house of Miss Irene Adler
29:42
Speaker 1: quite so. But the sequel was rather unusual. I will
29:47
Speaker 1: tell you, however. I left the house a little after
29:50
Speaker 1: eight o'clock this morning in the character of a groom
29:55
Speaker 1: out of walk. There is a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry
30:02
Speaker 1: among horsey men. But one of them, and you will
30:07
Speaker 1: know all that there is snow. I soon found Broughtney Lodge.
30:13
Speaker 1: It is a basieu villa with a garden at the back,
30:18
Speaker 1: but built on it front right up to the road.
30:21
Speaker 1: Two stories chup lock to the door, large sitting room
30:27
Speaker 1: on the right side, well furnished with long windows almost
30:32
Speaker 1: to the floor, and those prosperous English window fasteners which
30:38
Speaker 1: a child could open behind. There was nothing remarkable save
30:43
Speaker 1: the passage window could be yet reached from the top
30:48
Speaker 1: of the cook hill. I walked round it and examined
30:53
Speaker 1: it closely from every point of view, but without nothing
30:57
Speaker 1: anything else of interest. I then lodged down the street
31:02
Speaker 1: and found, as I expected, that there was a news
31:06
Speaker 1: in a lane which runs down by one wall of
31:10
Speaker 1: the garden. I went the ostler's hand in rubbing down
31:14
Speaker 1: their houses, and received in exchange twopence a glass of
31:21
Speaker 1: half and half, two fills of shagged tobacco, and as
31:26
Speaker 1: much information as I could desire about miss Adler, to
31:30
Speaker 1: say nothing of half a dozen other people in the neighborhood,
31:35
Speaker 1: in whom I was not in the least interested by,
31:39
Speaker 1: whose biographies I was compelled to listen to. And what
31:44
Speaker 1: of I Reynattler, I asked, Oh, she has turned all
31:48
Speaker 1: the men's heads down in that part. She is the
31:52
Speaker 1: daintiest thing under a bonage on the planet, So say
31:56
Speaker 1: the suprenteene news to a man. She lives quietly, things
32:03
Speaker 1: at concerts, drives out at five every day and returns
32:08
Speaker 1: at seven shop for dinner. Seldom goes out at other times,
32:13
Speaker 1: except when she sings. Has only one male visitor, but
32:17
Speaker 1: a good deal of him. He is dark, handsome and dashing,
32:23
Speaker 1: never calls less than once a day, and often twice.
32:28
Speaker 1: He is mister Godfrey Norton of the Inner Temple. See
32:34
Speaker 1: the advantages of a cabman as a confident. They have
32:39
Speaker 1: driven him home a dozen of times from Serpentine news,
32:43
Speaker 1: and knew all about him. When I had listened to
32:48
Speaker 1: all they had to tell, I begun to walk up
32:51
Speaker 1: and down near Bryney Lodge once more, and to think
32:56
Speaker 1: over my plan of campaign. This goldfray Nor in was
33:01
Speaker 1: evidently an important factor in the matter. He was a lawyer.
33:07
Speaker 1: That sounded omunous. What was the relation between them? And
33:13
Speaker 1: what the object of his repeated visits? Was she his client,
33:19
Speaker 1: friend or his mistress? If the former, she had probably
33:25
Speaker 1: transferred the photograph to his keeping. If delayter, it was
33:30
Speaker 1: less likely. On the issue of this question deepened whither
33:36
Speaker 1: I should continue my work at Briny Lodge or turned
33:41
Speaker 1: my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the Temple. It
33:46
Speaker 1: was a delicate point, and it waned the field of
33:50
Speaker 1: my inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details,
33:54
Speaker 1: but I have to let you see my little difficulties
33:58
Speaker 1: if you are to understand the situation. I am following
34:02
Speaker 1: you closely, I answered. I was still balancing the matter
34:06
Speaker 1: in my mind when a handsome cab drove up to
34:10
Speaker 1: a briny lodge and a gentleman sprang out. He was
34:15
Speaker 1: a remarkably handsome man, dark aquailine and mustached, evidently the
34:22
Speaker 1: man of whom I have heard. He appeared to be
34:26
Speaker 1: in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait,
34:31
Speaker 1: and brushed past the maid, who opened the door with
34:36
Speaker 1: the air of a man who was thoroughly at home.
34:40
Speaker 1: He was in the house about half an hour, and
34:44
Speaker 1: I could catch glimpses of him in the windows of
34:48
Speaker 1: the sitting room, pacing up and down, talking excitedly, and
34:53
Speaker 1: waving his arms of her I could see nothing. Presently
34:58
Speaker 1: he emerged, looking even more flurried than before. As he
35:03
Speaker 1: stepped up into the cab, he pulled a gold watch
35:07
Speaker 1: from his pocket and looked at it earnestly. Drive like
35:11
Speaker 1: the devil. He shouted first to Cross and Hungreas in
35:15
Speaker 1: Raggatt Street, and then to the Church of Saint Monica
35:19
Speaker 1: in the Edgar road half a guinea if you'd do
35:22
Speaker 1: it in twenty minutes. Away they went, and I was
35:27
Speaker 1: just wondering whether I should not do well to follow them,
35:31
Speaker 1: when up the lane came a neat little Landeau, the
35:35
Speaker 1: coachman with his coat only half buttoned and his tie
35:40
Speaker 1: under his ear, while all the tags of his harness
35:45
Speaker 1: were sticking out of the buckles. It hadn't pulled up
35:50
Speaker 1: before she shot out of the hall door and into it.
35:54
Speaker 1: I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment,
35:57
Speaker 1: but she was a lovely woman with a fire that
36:00
Speaker 1: a man might die for the Church of Saint Monica, John,
36:05
Speaker 1: she cried, and half a sovereign if you reach it
36:08
Speaker 1: in twenty minutes. This was quite too good to lose, Watson.
36:12
Speaker 1: I was just balancing whether I should run for it
36:16
Speaker 1: or whether I should perch behind her Landeau. When a
36:20
Speaker 1: cab came through the street. The driver looked twice at
36:24
Speaker 1: such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he
36:28
Speaker 1: could object. The Church of Saint Monica, said I, and
36:32
Speaker 1: half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.
36:35
Speaker 1: It was twenty five minutes to twelve, and of course
36:38
Speaker 1: it was clear enough what was in the wind. My
36:42
Speaker 1: cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster.
36:47
Speaker 1: But the others were there before us, the cab and
36:50
Speaker 1: the lambew with their steaming horses, or in front of
36:55
Speaker 1: the door. When I arrived, I paid the man and
36:58
Speaker 1: hurried into the church. There was not a soul there
37:03
Speaker 1: save the two whom I had followed, and a surpliced
37:08
Speaker 1: clergyman who seemed to be expostulating with them. They were
37:14
Speaker 1: all three standing in a nod in front of the altar.
37:19
Speaker 1: I longed up the side a stile, like any other
37:22
Speaker 1: idler who has dropped into a church. Suddenly, to my surprise,
37:28
Speaker 1: the three at the altar faced round me, and Golfrey
37:33
Speaker 1: Norton came, running as hard as he could toward me. Heck,
37:39
Speaker 1: he cried, you'll do. Come? Come what? Then? I asked, come, man,
37:44
Speaker 1: come only three minutes, or it won't be legal. I
37:47
Speaker 1: was half dragged up to the altar, and before I
37:50
Speaker 1: knew where I was, I found myself mumbling responses which
37:54
Speaker 1: were whispered in my ear, and vouching for things of
37:58
Speaker 1: which I knew nothing, and generally assisting in the secure
38:03
Speaker 1: tying up of Irene Adler spinster to God fregnant in bachelor.
38:10
Speaker 1: It was all done in an instant, and there was
38:14
Speaker 1: the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the
38:18
Speaker 1: lady on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me
38:22
Speaker 1: in front. It was the most preposterous position in which
38:27
Speaker 1: I ever found in my life, and it was the
38:30
Speaker 1: thought of it that startled me into laughing. Just now
38:35
Speaker 1: it seems that there had been some informality about the license,
38:39
Speaker 1: that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them without a
38:45
Speaker 1: witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance saved
38:49
Speaker 1: the bridegroom from having to sally out into the street
38:54
Speaker 1: in search of a best man. The bride gave me
38:57
Speaker 1: a sovereign and I mean to weigh on my watch
39:02
Speaker 1: chain in memory of the occasion. That is a very
39:06
Speaker 1: unexpected turn of affairs, said I. And what then, Well,
39:11
Speaker 1: I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as
39:16
Speaker 1: if the pair might take an immediate departure, and so
39:20
Speaker 1: necessity very prompt and energetic mentures on my part. At
39:27
Speaker 1: the church door, however, they separated, he driving back to
39:32
Speaker 1: the temple and she to her own house. I shall
39:35
Speaker 1: drive out into the pocket five as usual, she said
39:39
Speaker 1: as she left him. I heard no more. They drove
39:43
Speaker 1: away in different directions, and I went off to make
39:46
Speaker 1: my own arrangements, which are some cold beef and a
39:51
Speaker 1: glass of beer, he answered, ringing the bell. I have
39:55
Speaker 1: been too busy to think of food, and I am
39:59
Speaker 1: likely to be booster still this evening. By the way, doctor,
40:05
Speaker 1: I shall want your co operation. I shall be delighted
40:10
Speaker 1: you don't mind breaking the law, not in the least,
40:13
Speaker 1: nor running a chance of arrest, not in a good cause. Oh,
40:19
Speaker 1: the case is excellent. Then I am your man. I
40:23
Speaker 1: was sure that I might rely on you. But what
40:26
Speaker 1: do you wish? When Miss Turner has brought in the tray?
40:30
Speaker 1: I will make it clear to you now, he said,
40:33
Speaker 1: as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that our
40:37
Speaker 1: landlady had provided. I must discuss it while I eat,
40:42
Speaker 1: for I have not much time. It is nearly five now.
40:46
Speaker 1: In two hours we must be on the scene of action.
40:50
Speaker 1: Miss Irene or Madame rather returns from her drive. At seven,
40:57
Speaker 1: we must be at bryany Vange to meet. And what then?
41:02
Speaker 1: You leave that to me? I have already arranged what
41:05
Speaker 1: is to occur. There is only one point on which
41:08
Speaker 1: I must insist. You must not interfere. Come, what may
41:13
Speaker 1: you understand? I am to be neutral, to do nothing whatever.
41:18
Speaker 1: There will probably be some small unpleasantness. Do not join
41:24
Speaker 1: in it. It will end in my being conveyed into
41:28
Speaker 1: the house. Four or five minutes afterwards, the sitting room
41:32
Speaker 1: window will be open. You are to station yourself close
41:37
Speaker 1: to that open window. Yes, you are to watch me,
41:40
Speaker 1: for I have been visible to you. Yes. I When
41:45
Speaker 1: I raise my hand so you will throw into the
41:49
Speaker 1: room what I give you to throw, and will at
41:53
Speaker 1: the same time raise the cry of fire. You quite
41:57
Speaker 1: follow me entirely. It is nothing more formidable, he said,
42:04
Speaker 1: taking a long cigar shaped row from his pocket. It
42:09
Speaker 1: is an ordinary plumber's smoke rocket, fitted with a cap
42:14
Speaker 1: at either end to make itself lighting. Your task is
42:19
Speaker 1: confined to that when you raise your cry of fire,
42:25
Speaker 1: it will be taken up by quite a number of people.
42:30
Speaker 1: You may then walk to the end of the street,
42:33
Speaker 1: and I will rejoin you in ten minutes. I hope
42:36
Speaker 1: that I have made myself clear. I am to remain neutral,
42:40
Speaker 1: to get near the window to watch you, and at
42:43
Speaker 1: your signal to throw this object than to raise the
42:46
Speaker 1: cry of fire and to wait you at the corner
42:51
Speaker 1: of the street precisely. Then you may entirely rely on me.
42:59
Speaker 1: That is excellent. I think perhaps it is almost time
43:04
Speaker 1: that I prepare for the new role I have to play.
43:09
Speaker 1: He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few
43:13
Speaker 1: minutes in the character of an amiable and simple minded
43:18
Speaker 1: non conformist clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers,
43:26
Speaker 1: his white tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of
43:31
Speaker 1: peering and benevolent curiosity were such as mister John Hare
43:37
Speaker 1: alone could have equalled. It is not merely that Holmes
43:41
Speaker 1: changed his costume, his expression, his manner, his very soul
43:47
Speaker 1: seemed to vary every fresh part that he assumed. The
43:52
Speaker 1: stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an
43:57
Speaker 1: acute reasoner when he became a specialist in crime. It
44:02
Speaker 1: was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street,
44:06
Speaker 1: and it still wanted ten minutes to the hour when
44:10
Speaker 1: we found ourselves in Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk,
44:17
Speaker 1: and the laps were just being lightened as we paced
44:21
Speaker 1: up and down in front of Briny Lodge, waiting for
44:26
Speaker 1: the coming of its occupant. The house was just such
44:31
Speaker 1: as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes's securent description,
44:37
Speaker 1: but the locally appeared to be less private than I expected.
44:43
Speaker 1: On the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighborhood,
44:47
Speaker 1: it was remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily
44:53
Speaker 1: dressed men smoking and laughing in a corner, a scissors
44:59
Speaker 1: grinder with his will, two guardsmen who were flirting with
45:04
Speaker 1: a nurse girl, and several well dressed young men who
45:09
Speaker 1: were laughing up and down with cigars in their mouths.
45:14
Speaker 1: You see, remarked Holmes, as we passed to and fro
45:19
Speaker 1: in front of the house. This marriage rather simplifies matters.
45:23
Speaker 1: The photograph becomes a double edged weapon. Now the chances
45:28
Speaker 1: are that she would be as averse to its being
45:33
Speaker 1: seen by mister Godfrey Norton as our client is to
45:37
Speaker 1: coming to the eyes of his princess. Now the question
45:43
Speaker 1: is where are we to find the photograph where? Indeed,
45:48
Speaker 1: it is most unlikely that she carries it about with her.
45:52
Speaker 1: It is cabinet sized, too large for easy concealment about
45:56
Speaker 1: a woman's dress. She knows that the king is capable
46:00
Speaker 1: of having her waylaid and searched. Two attempts of the
46:05
Speaker 1: sort have already been made. We may take it then,
46:09
Speaker 1: that she does not carry it about with her where
46:11
Speaker 1: then her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility.
46:17
Speaker 1: But I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive,
46:22
Speaker 1: and they like to do their own secreting. Why should
46:27
Speaker 1: she have it over to anyone else? She could trust
46:32
Speaker 1: her own guardsmanship, But she could not tell what indirect
46:37
Speaker 1: or political influence might be brought to bear upon a
46:41
Speaker 1: business man. Besides, remember that she had resolved to use
46:46
Speaker 1: it within a few days. It must be where she
46:49
Speaker 1: can lay her hands upon it. It must be in
46:52
Speaker 1: her own house. But it has twice been burgled. Saw
46:58
Speaker 1: They did not know how to look. But how will
47:02
Speaker 1: you look? I will not look what? Then? I will
47:07
Speaker 1: get her to show me, But she will refuse. She
47:11
Speaker 1: will not be able to. But I hear the rumble
47:15
Speaker 1: of wheels. It is her carriage. Now carry out my
47:19
Speaker 1: orders to the letter. As he spoke, the gleam of
47:23
Speaker 1: the sidelights of a carriage came round the curve of
47:28
Speaker 1: the avenue. It was a smart little lambuu, which rattled
47:34
Speaker 1: up to the door of Brimy Lodge as it pulled up.
47:40
Speaker 1: One of the loafing's men at that corner dashed forward
47:44
Speaker 1: to open the door in the hope of earning a copper,
47:50
Speaker 1: but was elbowed away by another loafer who had rushed
47:54
Speaker 1: up with the same intention. A fierce corarel broke out,
47:59
Speaker 1: which was increased by the two godsmen, who took sides
48:05
Speaker 1: with one of the longers, and by the scissors grinder,
48:10
Speaker 1: who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow
48:15
Speaker 1: was struck, and in an instant the lady, who had
48:18
Speaker 1: stepped from her carriage, was the center of a little
48:22
Speaker 1: knot of flourished and struggling men who struck savagely at
48:27
Speaker 1: each other with their fists and sticks. Homes dashed into
48:32
Speaker 1: the crowd to protect the lady, but just as he
48:36
Speaker 1: reached her, he gave a cry and dropped to the ground,
48:41
Speaker 1: with the blood running freely down his face. At his fall,
48:45
Speaker 1: the guardsmen took their heels in one direction and the
48:50
Speaker 1: longers in the other, while a number of better dressed
48:55
Speaker 1: people who had watched the suffice without taking paw in it,
49:00
Speaker 1: crowded in to help the lady and to attend to
49:04
Speaker 1: the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her,
49:08
Speaker 1: had hurried up the steps, but she stood at the
49:13
Speaker 1: top with her superb figure outlined against the lights of
49:18
Speaker 1: the hall, looking back into the street. Is the poor
49:24
Speaker 1: gentleman much hurt? She asked? He is dead, cried several voices. No, no,
49:30
Speaker 1: there's life in him, shouted another. But he'll be gone
49:33
Speaker 1: before you can get him to hospital. Here's a brave fellow,
49:37
Speaker 1: said a woman. They would have got the lady's person
49:41
Speaker 1: watch if it hadn't been for him. They were again,
49:45
Speaker 1: and a rough one too. Ah, he's breathing now. He
49:49
Speaker 1: can't lie here in the streets. May we bring him in,
49:51
Speaker 1: marm surely bring him into the sitting room. There's a
49:55
Speaker 1: comfortable sofa this way, please slowly and solemnly. He was
50:01
Speaker 1: born into the Rimery Lodge and laid into the principal
50:06
Speaker 1: room while I still observed the proceedings from my post
50:11
Speaker 1: by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the
50:15
Speaker 1: blinds had been drawn so that I could see Holmes
50:20
Speaker 1: as he lay upon the couch. I do not know
50:24
Speaker 1: whether he was seized with compunction at that moment. For
50:28
Speaker 1: the part he was playing But I know that I
50:32
Speaker 1: never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life
50:36
Speaker 1: than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I
50:40
Speaker 1: was conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she
50:46
Speaker 1: waited upon the injured man. And yet it would be
50:50
Speaker 1: the blackest treachery to Holmes to draw back now from
50:55
Speaker 1: the part which he had entrusted to me. I heart
51:00
Speaker 1: my heart and took the smoke rocket from under my ulster.
51:05
Speaker 1: After all, I thought, we are not injuring her, We
51:08
Speaker 1: are but preventing her from injuring another. Holmes had sat
51:13
Speaker 1: up upon the couch, and I saw him mention like
51:16
Speaker 1: a man who is in need of air. A maid
51:19
Speaker 1: rushed across the thrave opened the window. At the same
51:23
Speaker 1: instant I saw him raise his hand, and at the signal,
51:28
Speaker 1: I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry
51:31
Speaker 1: of fire. The word was no sooner out of my
51:36
Speaker 1: mouth than the whole crowd of spectators, well dressed and ill, gentlemen,
51:42
Speaker 1: oysters and servant maids, joined in the general shriek of fire.
51:50
Speaker 1: Thick clouds of smoke curled through the room, and out
51:54
Speaker 1: those open windows. I caught a glimpse of rushing fingers,
51:58
Speaker 1: and a moment later the voice of Holmes from within,
52:02
Speaker 1: assuring them that it was a false alarm. Slipping through
52:05
Speaker 1: the shouting crowd, I made my way to the corner
52:09
Speaker 1: of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to
52:12
Speaker 1: find my friend's arm in mine and to get away
52:16
Speaker 1: from the scene of uproar. He walked swiftly and in
52:20
Speaker 1: silence for some few minutes until we had turned down
52:25
Speaker 1: on one of the quiet streets which led towards the
52:30
Speaker 1: Edguar road. You did it very nicely, doctor, he remarked,
52:36
Speaker 1: Nothing could have been better. It is all right. You
52:40
Speaker 1: have the photograph. I know where it is. And how
52:43
Speaker 1: did you find out? She showed me as I told
52:47
Speaker 1: you she would. I am still in the dark. I
52:51
Speaker 1: do wish to make a mystery, said he, laughing. The
52:55
Speaker 1: matter was perfectly simple. You are, of course, saw that
53:00
Speaker 1: everyone in the street was an accomplice. They were all
53:04
Speaker 1: engaged for the evening. I guessed as much. Then when
53:09
Speaker 1: the row broke out, I had a little moist red
53:13
Speaker 1: paint in the palm of my hand. I rushed forward,
53:17
Speaker 1: fell down, clapped my hand to my face, and became
53:20
Speaker 1: a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick that also
53:26
Speaker 1: I could fathom. Then they carried me in. She was
53:30
Speaker 1: bound to have me in what else could she do?
53:34
Speaker 1: And into her sitting room, which was the very room
53:37
Speaker 1: which I suspected it lay between that and her bedroom,
53:42
Speaker 1: and I was determined to see which They laid me
53:47
Speaker 1: on a couch. I motioned for air. They were compelled
53:51
Speaker 1: to open the window, and you had your chance. How
53:55
Speaker 1: did that help you? It was all important. When a
53:59
Speaker 1: woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct
54:03
Speaker 1: is at once to rush to the thing which she
54:05
Speaker 1: values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I
54:11
Speaker 1: have more than once taken advantage of it. In the
54:15
Speaker 1: case of the Darlington substitution scandal it was of use
54:20
Speaker 1: to me, and also in the Arnsworth Castle business. A
54:26
Speaker 1: married woman grabs at her baby, an unmarried one reaches
54:31
Speaker 1: for her jewelry box. Now twas clear to me that
54:34
Speaker 1: our lady of to day had nothing in the house
54:38
Speaker 1: more precious to her than what we are in quest of.
54:42
Speaker 1: She would rush to secure it. The alarm of the
54:45
Speaker 1: fire was admiringly done. The smoke and shouting were enough
54:50
Speaker 1: to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The photograph
54:56
Speaker 1: is in a recuse behind a slighting panel, just above
55:00
Speaker 1: the right bell pull. She was there in an instant,
55:04
Speaker 1: and I caught a glimpse of it as she half
55:07
Speaker 1: drew it out. When I cried out that it was
55:10
Speaker 1: a false alarm, she replaced it, glancing at the rocket
55:14
Speaker 1: rush from the room, and I have not seen her
55:17
Speaker 1: since I rose, and, making my excuses, escaped from the house.
55:24
Speaker 1: I hesitated whether to attempt to secure the photograph at once,
55:30
Speaker 1: but the coachman had come in, and as he was
55:33
Speaker 1: watching me narrowly, it seemed safer to wait a little
55:37
Speaker 1: over Precipitates may ruin all. And now I asked, our
55:45
Speaker 1: quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King
55:49
Speaker 1: tomorrow and with you, if you care to come with us.
55:54
Speaker 1: We will be showed into the sitting room to wait
55:58
Speaker 1: for the lady. But it is that when she comes
56:02
Speaker 1: she may find neither us nor the photograph. It might
56:06
Speaker 1: be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain it with
56:09
Speaker 1: his own hands. And when will you call at eight
56:13
Speaker 1: in the morning, she will not be up, so that
56:17
Speaker 1: we shall have a clear field. Besides, we must be
56:22
Speaker 1: prompt for this marriage may mean a complete change in
56:26
Speaker 1: her life and habits. I must wire to the king
56:30
Speaker 1: without delay. We had reached Baker Street and had stopped
56:34
Speaker 1: at the door. He was searching his pockets for the
56:38
Speaker 1: key when someone passing said good night, mister Sherlock Holmes.
56:44
Speaker 1: There were several people on the pavement at the time,
56:48
Speaker 1: but the greeting appeared to come from a slim youth
56:52
Speaker 1: in an ulster who had hurried by. I've heard that
56:56
Speaker 1: voice before, said Holmes, starting down the dimly street. No,
57:02
Speaker 1: I wonder who the deuce that could have been? And
57:06
Speaker 1: of section two Section three. I slept up Baker Street
57:11
Speaker 1: that night, and we were engaged upon our toast and
57:14
Speaker 1: coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed
57:18
Speaker 1: into the room. You have really got it, he cried,
57:21
Speaker 1: grasping Sherlock Holmes by either shoulder or looking eagerly into
57:25
Speaker 1: his face. Not yet, but you have hopes. I have hopes.
57:30
Speaker 1: Then come, I am all impatience to be gone. We
57:33
Speaker 1: must have a cab. No, my brogham is waiting. Then
57:38
Speaker 1: that will simplify matters. We descended and started off at
57:42
Speaker 1: once more for Bombay. Lodged Eren Adler is married, remarked
57:47
Speaker 1: Holmes married when yesterday, but to whom, to an English
57:53
Speaker 1: lawyer named Norton. But she could not love him. I
57:57
Speaker 1: am in hopes that she does, and why in home hoopes,
58:00
Speaker 1: because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future annoyance.
58:06
Speaker 1: If the lady loves her husband, she does not love
58:09
Speaker 1: your majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, then
58:13
Speaker 1: there's no reason why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan.
58:18
Speaker 1: It is true, and yet well, I wish she had
58:21
Speaker 1: been of my own station. What a queen she would
58:24
Speaker 1: have made. He relapsed into a mood silence, which was
58:29
Speaker 1: not broken until we drew up in Serpentine Avenue. The
58:34
Speaker 1: door of Primary Lodge was open, and an elderly woman
58:39
Speaker 1: stood up the steps. She watched us with a chardonic
58:43
Speaker 1: eye as we stepped from the brogham. Mister Chola Holmes,
58:49
Speaker 1: I believe, said she. I am, mister Holmes, answered my companion,
58:54
Speaker 1: looking at her with a questioning and rather startled gaze. Indeed,
59:00
Speaker 1: my mistress told me that you were likely to call.
59:04
Speaker 1: She left this morning with her husband by the five
59:07
Speaker 1: point fifteen train from Charington Cross. From the for the continent.
59:13
Speaker 1: What Shockholm staggered back with the charge in and surprise.
59:18
Speaker 1: Do you mean that she has left England never to return?
59:23
Speaker 1: And the papers asked the king hoarsely, all is lost,
59:28
Speaker 1: we shall see. He pushed past the servant and rushed
59:31
Speaker 1: into the drawing room, followed by the King and myself.
59:36
Speaker 1: The furniture was scattered about in every direction, with the
59:41
Speaker 1: dismantled shelves and open drawers, as if the lady had
59:46
Speaker 1: hurriedly ransacked them before her flight. Holmes rushed at the bellpool,
59:52
Speaker 1: tore back a small sliding shutter, and plunging in his hand,
59:58
Speaker 1: pulled out a photograph the letter. The photograph was of
1:00:02
Speaker 1: Irene Adler herself in evening dress. The letter was superseded
1:00:07
Speaker 1: to Sherlock Holmes, Yes q to be left till called for.
1:00:13
Speaker 1: My friend tore it open and we all three read
1:00:17
Speaker 1: it together. It was dated midnight of the preceding night,
1:00:21
Speaker 1: and ran in this way. My dear mister Sheilac Holmes,
1:00:27
Speaker 1: you really did it well. You took me in completely.
1:00:31
Speaker 1: Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a suspicion,
1:00:36
Speaker 1: But then when I found how I had betrayed myself.
1:00:39
Speaker 1: I began to think I had been warned against you
1:00:42
Speaker 1: months ago. I'd been told that if the King employed
1:00:45
Speaker 1: an agent, it would certainly be you, and your a
1:00:49
Speaker 1: tread had been given me. Yet with all this, you
1:00:53
Speaker 1: made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after
1:00:57
Speaker 1: I became suspicious, I found it to think evil of
1:01:01
Speaker 1: such a dear, kind old clergyman. But you know I
1:01:05
Speaker 1: have been trained as an actress myself. Now costoon is
1:01:10
Speaker 1: nothing new to me. I often take advantage of the
1:01:14
Speaker 1: freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to
1:01:19
Speaker 1: watch you, ran upstairs, got into my walking clothes, as
1:01:24
Speaker 1: I called them, and came down just as you departed. Well,
1:01:29
Speaker 1: I followed you to your door, and so made sure
1:01:32
Speaker 1: that I was really an object of interest to the
1:01:36
Speaker 1: celebrated mister Schrlocolmbe's. Then I rather imprudently wished you good
1:01:42
Speaker 1: night and started for the temple to see my husband.
1:01:47
Speaker 1: We thought the best resource was flight when we pursued
1:01:52
Speaker 1: by so formidable an antagonists. So you will find the
1:01:57
Speaker 1: nest empty when you called as to the photograph, your
1:02:02
Speaker 1: client may rest in peace. I love and am loved
1:02:05
Speaker 1: by a better man than he. The King may do
1:02:10
Speaker 1: what he will without hindrance from one who he has
1:02:14
Speaker 1: cruelly wronged. I can keep it only to safeguard myself
1:02:19
Speaker 1: and to preserve a weapon which will always secure me
1:02:23
Speaker 1: from any steps which he might take in the future.
1:02:28
Speaker 1: I leave a photograph which he might care to possess,
1:02:31
Speaker 1: and I remain dear mister Sherlock Holmes, very truly yours,
1:02:37
Speaker 1: Irene Norton nay Adler. What a woman, Oh, what a woman,
1:02:44
Speaker 1: cried the King of Bohemia, when we had all three
1:02:47
Speaker 1: read this epistle. Did I not tell you how quick
1:02:51
Speaker 1: and resolute she was? Would she not have made an
1:02:54
Speaker 1: admirable queen? Is it not a pity that she was
1:02:57
Speaker 1: not on my level? From what I have seen of
1:03:00
Speaker 1: the lady, she seems indeed to be on a very
1:03:03
Speaker 1: different level to you, Majesty, said Holmes coldly. I am
1:03:07
Speaker 1: sorry that I have not been able to bring your
1:03:10
Speaker 1: Majesty's business to a more successful conclusion. On the contrary,
1:03:15
Speaker 1: my dear sir, cried the King, nothing could be more successful.
1:03:20
Speaker 1: I know that her word is inviolate. The photograph is
1:03:23
Speaker 1: now as safe as if it were in the fire.
1:03:27
Speaker 1: I am glad to hear your majesty, say so. I
1:03:30
Speaker 1: am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what
1:03:35
Speaker 1: way I can reward you this ring. He slipped an
1:03:38
Speaker 1: emerald snake ringed from his finger and held it out
1:03:43
Speaker 1: upon the palm of his hand. Your Majesty has something
1:03:47
Speaker 1: which I should value even more highly, said Holmes. You
1:03:52
Speaker 1: have but to name it the photograph. The king stared
1:03:56
Speaker 1: at him in amazement. Irene's photograph. He cried, certainly, if
1:04:01
Speaker 1: you wish it, I thank your majesty, then there is
1:04:05
Speaker 1: no more to be done in the matter. I have
1:04:09
Speaker 1: the honor to wish you very good morning. He bowed
1:04:13
Speaker 1: and turned away, without observing the hand which the King
1:04:16
Speaker 1: had stretched out to him. He set off in my
1:04:21
Speaker 1: company for his chambers. And that was how a great
1:04:25
Speaker 1: scandal threatened to affect the Kingdom of Bohemia, and how
1:04:30
Speaker 1: the best plans of mister Sherlock Holmes were beaten by
1:04:33
Speaker 1: a woman's wit. He used to make mary over the
1:04:36
Speaker 1: cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do
1:04:41
Speaker 1: it of late, And when he speaks of Irene Adler,
1:04:44
Speaker 1: or when he refers to her photograph, it is always
1:04:48
Speaker 1: under the honorable title of the woman end of section three,
1:04:55
Speaker 1: end of the scandal in Bohemia. This is a TB
1:04:58
Speaker 1: O three production