Latest / Classic Adventure Books - Daily / A Scandal in Bohemia - Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Transcript

A Scandal in Bohemia - Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · Classic Adventure Books - Daily

0:00
Speaker 1: A scandal in Bohemia, Sections one through three. Section one,
0:07
Speaker 1: to Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman. I have
0:12
Speaker 1: seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In
0:16
Speaker 1: her eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.
0:22
Speaker 1: It was not that he felt any emotion akin to
0:25
Speaker 1: love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly
0:32
Speaker 1: were abhorrent to his cold, precise, but admirably balanced mind.
0:39
Speaker 1: He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and
0:43
Speaker 1: observing machine that the world has seen. But as a
0:48
Speaker 1: lover he would have placed himself in a false position.
0:52
Speaker 1: He never spoke of the softer passions, save with the
0:56
Speaker 1: gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer,
1:01
Speaker 1: excellent for drawing the veil from men's motives and actions.
1:07
Speaker 1: But for the trained reasoner, to admit such intrusions into
1:11
Speaker 1: his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce
1:17
Speaker 1: a distracting factor which might throw a doubt on all
1:21
Speaker 1: his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument or a
1:27
Speaker 1: crack in one of his own high power lenses would
1:31
Speaker 1: not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a
1:36
Speaker 1: nature such as his, And yet there was but one
1:40
Speaker 1: woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler,
1:44
Speaker 1: of dubious and questionable memory. I have seen little of
1:50
Speaker 1: Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us away from each other.
1:55
Speaker 1: My own complete happiness and the home centered interests which
2:00
Speaker 1: up around the man who first finds himself master of
2:04
Speaker 1: his own establishment, were sufficient to absorb all my attentions.
2:10
Speaker 1: While Holmes, who loosed every form of society with his
2:15
Speaker 1: whole bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street,
2:22
Speaker 1: buried among his old books, and altering from weak tweak
2:26
Speaker 1: between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug and
2:32
Speaker 1: the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still,
2:37
Speaker 1: as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and
2:42
Speaker 1: occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in
2:48
Speaker 1: following out these clues and clearing up those mysteries which
2:53
Speaker 1: had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From
2:58
Speaker 1: time to time I heard some vague account of his doings,
3:03
Speaker 1: of his summons to Odessa in the case of the
3:06
Speaker 1: trip Off murder, of his clearing up of the singular
3:11
Speaker 1: tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Tricomalae, and finally, of
3:17
Speaker 1: the mission which he had accomplished so delicately and successfully
3:23
Speaker 1: for the reigning family of Holland. Beyond these signs of
3:28
Speaker 1: his activity, however, which I merely shared with all the
3:32
Speaker 1: readers of the Daily Press, I knew little of my
3:36
Speaker 1: former friend and companion. One night, it was on the
3:42
Speaker 1: twentieth of March eighteen eighty eight, I was returning from
3:47
Speaker 1: a journey to a patient, for I had now returned
3:50
Speaker 1: to civil practice. When my way led me through Baker Street.
3:55
Speaker 1: As I passed the well remembered door, which must all
3:59
Speaker 1: ways be associated in my mind with my woeing and
4:04
Speaker 1: with the dark incidents of the Stoty Scarlet, I was
4:08
Speaker 1: seized with a keen desire to see Holmes again and
4:12
Speaker 1: to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. His
4:17
Speaker 1: rooms were brilliantly lit, and even as I looked up,
4:21
Speaker 1: I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in a
4:26
Speaker 1: dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly,
4:34
Speaker 1: with his head sunk upon his chest and his hands
4:38
Speaker 1: clasped behind him. To me, who knew his every mood,
4:42
Speaker 1: and habit. His attitude and manner told their own story.
4:47
Speaker 1: He was at work again, he had risen out of
4:51
Speaker 1: his drug created dreams, and was hot upon the scent
4:55
Speaker 1: of some new problem. I rang the bell and was
4:58
Speaker 1: shown up to the chamber which had formerly been in
5:02
Speaker 1: part my own. His manner was not effusive, it seldom was,
5:08
Speaker 1: but he was glad I think to see me, with
5:12
Speaker 1: hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye. He
5:16
Speaker 1: waved me an armchair, threw across his case of cigars,
5:20
Speaker 1: and indicated a spirit case and a guess a gene
5:25
Speaker 1: in the corner. Then he stood before the fire and
5:28
Speaker 1: looked me over in his singular introspective fashion. Wedlock suits you,
5:36
Speaker 1: He remarked, I think, Watson, that you have put on
5:40
Speaker 1: seven and a half pounds since I saw you seven.
5:45
Speaker 1: I answered, indeed, I should have thought a little more,
5:49
Speaker 1: just a trifle more. I fancy Watson, And in practice
5:53
Speaker 1: again I observed. You did not tell me that you
5:56
Speaker 1: intended to go into harness. Then how do you know
6:00
Speaker 1: I see it? I deduce it. How do I know
6:03
Speaker 1: that you have been getting yourself very wet lately and
6:07
Speaker 1: that you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl.
6:11
Speaker 1: My dear Holmes, said I, this is too much. You
6:15
Speaker 1: would certainly have been burned had you lived a few
6:19
Speaker 1: centuries ago. It is true that I had a country
6:22
Speaker 1: walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess.
6:26
Speaker 1: But as I have changed my clothes, I can't imagine
6:29
Speaker 1: how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incourrigible,
6:34
Speaker 1: and my wife has given her notice. But there again
6:38
Speaker 1: I felt to see how you work it out. He
6:42
Speaker 1: chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands together.
6:46
Speaker 1: It is simplicity itself, said he. My eyes tell me
6:50
Speaker 1: that on the inside of your left shoe, just where
6:54
Speaker 1: the firelight strikes it, the leather is scourged by six
6:59
Speaker 1: almost cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who
7:05
Speaker 1: has very careless scraped around the edges of the souls
7:09
Speaker 1: in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you
7:14
Speaker 1: see my double deduction that you have been out in
7:19
Speaker 1: vile weather, and that you have a particularly malignant boot
7:24
Speaker 1: slitting specimen of the London slave. As to your practice,
7:29
Speaker 1: if a gentleman walks into my room smelling of iodorn,
7:35
Speaker 1: with a black mark of nitrate of silver, upon his
7:39
Speaker 1: right forefinger, and a budge on the right side of
7:44
Speaker 1: his top hat to show where he has secreted his stethoscope.
7:50
Speaker 1: I must be dull. Indeed, if I did not pronounce
7:53
Speaker 1: him to be an active member of the medical profession,
7:57
Speaker 1: I could not help laughing at the e with which
8:00
Speaker 1: he examined his process of deduction. When I hear you
8:06
Speaker 1: give your reasons, I remarked, the thing always appears to
8:09
Speaker 1: me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily
8:13
Speaker 1: do it myself. Though at each successive instance of your reasoning,
8:19
Speaker 1: I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet
8:23
Speaker 1: I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.
8:26
Speaker 1: Quite so, he answered, lighting a cigarette and throwing himself
8:31
Speaker 1: down into an armchair. You see, but you do not observe.
8:35
Speaker 1: The distinction is here. For example, you have frequently seen
8:39
Speaker 1: the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.
8:43
Speaker 1: Frequently how often, well, some hundreds of times. Then how
8:48
Speaker 1: many are there? How many? I don't know. Quite so
8:53
Speaker 1: you have not observed, and yet you have seen. That
8:57
Speaker 1: is just my point. Now I know that there are
9:01
Speaker 1: seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed by
9:07
Speaker 1: the way, Since you are interested in these little problems,
9:12
Speaker 1: and since you have been good enough to chronicle one
9:14
Speaker 1: or two of my trifling experiences, you may be interested
9:19
Speaker 1: in this. He threw over a sheet of thick, pink
9:22
Speaker 1: tinted notepaper which had been lying upon the table. It
9:28
Speaker 1: came by the last post, said. He read it aloud.
9:32
Speaker 1: The note was undated, and without either signature or address.
9:38
Speaker 1: There will call upon you tonight at a quarter to
9:42
Speaker 1: eight o'clock, it said, a gentleman who desires to consult
9:46
Speaker 1: you upon a matter of the very deepest moment. Your
9:51
Speaker 1: recent services to one of the royal houses of Europe
9:56
Speaker 1: have shown that you are one who may safely be
10:00
Speaker 1: trusted with matters which are of an importance which can
10:06
Speaker 1: hardly be exaggerated. This account of you will have from
10:11
Speaker 1: all quarters received, But in it your chamber then at
10:16
Speaker 1: that hour, and do not take it amiss if your
10:19
Speaker 1: visitor wears a mask. This is indeed a mystery, I remarked,
10:25
Speaker 1: What do you imagine that it means? I have no data? Yet?
10:29
Speaker 1: It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.
10:34
Speaker 1: Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead
10:39
Speaker 1: of theories to suit facts, But the note itself, What
10:44
Speaker 1: do you deduce from it? I certainly examine the writing
10:47
Speaker 1: and the paper upon which it was written. The man
10:50
Speaker 1: who wrote it was presumably well to do, I remarked,
10:53
Speaker 1: endeavoring to imitate my companion's process. Such paper could not
10:58
Speaker 1: be bought under half a crown a packet. It is
11:02
Speaker 1: peculiarly strong and stiff. Peculiar, that is the very word,
11:08
Speaker 1: said Holmes. It is not an English paper at all.
11:12
Speaker 1: Hold it up to the light. I did sew and
11:15
Speaker 1: saw a large E with a small G, a P
11:19
Speaker 1: and a large G with the small T woven into
11:23
Speaker 1: the texture of the paper. What do you make of that?
11:28
Speaker 1: Asked Holmes. The name of the maker, no doubt, or
11:32
Speaker 1: his monogram, rather not at all. The G with the
11:36
Speaker 1: small T stands for Gesselchaft, which is German for company.
11:42
Speaker 1: It is a customary contraction like our co. P, of
11:48
Speaker 1: course stands for paper. Now for the EG, let us
11:53
Speaker 1: glance at our continual gazetteer. He took down a heavy
11:59
Speaker 1: brown volume from his shelves Eglos. Here we are Igoria.
12:07
Speaker 1: It is in a German speaking country in Bohemia, not
12:12
Speaker 1: far from Carlsbad, remarkably as being the scene of the
12:18
Speaker 1: death of Waenstein, and for its numerous glass factories and
12:24
Speaker 1: paper mills. Ha ha, my boy, what do you make
12:27
Speaker 1: of that? His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a
12:31
Speaker 1: great blue, triumphant cloud from his cigarette. The paper was
12:36
Speaker 1: made in Bohemia, I said, precisely. And the man who
12:41
Speaker 1: wrote the note is a German. Do you know the
12:43
Speaker 1: particular contraction of the sentence? This account of you we
12:48
Speaker 1: have from all quarters received. A Frenchman or Russian could
12:53
Speaker 1: not have written that. It is the German who is
12:55
Speaker 1: so uncounterrous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to
13:02
Speaker 1: discover what is wanted by this German who writes upon
13:07
Speaker 1: Bohemian paper and prefers wearing a mask to showing his face.
13:12
Speaker 1: And here he comes, if I am not mistaken, to
13:15
Speaker 1: resolve all our doubts. As he spoke, there's the sharp
13:18
Speaker 1: sound of horses hoofs, and the grating wheels against the curb,
13:22
Speaker 1: followed by a sharp pull at the bell. Holmes whistled
13:27
Speaker 1: a pair by the sound, said he yes, He continued,
13:30
Speaker 1: glancing out of the window. A nice little bragman and
13:35
Speaker 1: a pair of beauties, A hundred and fifty guineas apiece.
13:39
Speaker 1: There's money in this case, Watson. If there is nothing else,
13:44
Speaker 1: I think that I had better go, Holmes, not a bit, doctor,
13:49
Speaker 1: stay where you are. I am lost without my boswell,
13:53
Speaker 1: and that promises to be interesting. It would be a
13:57
Speaker 1: pity to miss it. But your client never mind him.
14:01
Speaker 1: I may want your help, and so may he. Here
14:04
Speaker 1: he comes, Sit down in that armchair, doctor, and give
14:09
Speaker 1: us your best attention. A slow and heavy step which
14:14
Speaker 1: had been heard upon the stairs and in the passage,
14:18
Speaker 1: paused immediately outside the door. Then there was a loud
14:23
Speaker 1: and authoritative step come in, said Holmes. A man entered,
14:30
Speaker 1: who could hardly have been less than six feet six
14:33
Speaker 1: inches in height, with the chest and limbers of a Hercules.
14:39
Speaker 1: His dress was rich with a richness which would in
14:44
Speaker 1: England be looked upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy
14:50
Speaker 1: bands of astrachan were slashed across the sleeves and fronts
14:57
Speaker 1: of his double breasted coat, while the deep blue coat
15:02
Speaker 1: which was thrown over his shoulders was lined with flame
15:07
Speaker 1: colored silk and secured at the neck with a brooch
15:12
Speaker 1: which consisted of a single flaming barrel. Boots which extended
15:18
Speaker 1: halfway up his calls, and which were trimmed at the
15:23
Speaker 1: tops with rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence,
15:31
Speaker 1: which was suggested by the whole appearance. He carried a
15:37
Speaker 1: broad brimmed hat in his hand while he wore across
15:42
Speaker 1: the upper part of his face, extending down the past
15:46
Speaker 1: the cheekbones, a black vizard mask, which he had apparently
15:52
Speaker 1: adjusted that very moment, for his hand was still raised
15:57
Speaker 1: to it as he entered from the lower part of
16:01
Speaker 1: the face. He appeared to be a man of strong character,
16:06
Speaker 1: with a thick, hanging lip and a long, straight chin,
16:12
Speaker 1: suggestive of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. You
16:19
Speaker 1: had my note, he asked, with a deep, harsh voice
16:22
Speaker 1: and a strongly marked German accent. I told you that
16:26
Speaker 1: I would call. He looked from one to the other
16:30
Speaker 1: of us, as if uncertain which to address. Pray, take
16:34
Speaker 1: a seat, said Holmes. This is my friend and calling
16:38
Speaker 1: doctor Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me
16:42
Speaker 1: in my tases, whom have I the honor to address.
16:47
Speaker 1: You may address me as Count von Cram, a Bohemian nobleman.
16:52
Speaker 1: I understand that this gentleman, your friend is a man
16:55
Speaker 1: of honor and discretion whom I may trust with a
16:59
Speaker 1: matter of the most extreme importance. If not, I should
17:02
Speaker 1: much prefer to communicate with you alone. I rose to go,
17:07
Speaker 1: but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me
17:10
Speaker 1: back into my chair. It is both or none, said he.
17:15
Speaker 1: You may see before this, gentleman, anything which you may
17:19
Speaker 1: say to me. The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. Then
17:23
Speaker 1: I must begin, said he, by finding you both through
17:27
Speaker 1: absolute secrecy for two years. At the end of that time,
17:30
Speaker 1: the matter will be of no importance at present. It
17:33
Speaker 1: is too much to say that it is of such
17:36
Speaker 1: weight it may have an influence upon European history, I promise,
17:42
Speaker 1: said Holmes. And I you may excuse this mask, counted
17:47
Speaker 1: our strange visitor. The august person who employs me wishes
17:51
Speaker 1: his agent to be unknown to you. And I may
17:54
Speaker 1: confess at once that the title by which I have
17:57
Speaker 1: just called myself is not exactly my own. I was
18:01
Speaker 1: aware of it, said Holmes dryly. The circumstances are of
18:05
Speaker 1: great delicacy, and every precaution has to be taken to
18:09
Speaker 1: quench what might grow to be an immense scandal. And
18:13
Speaker 1: seriously compromise one of the ranging families of Europe to
18:18
Speaker 1: speak plainly, the matter implicates the Great House of Armstein,
18:23
Speaker 1: hereditary Kings of Bohemia. I was also aware of that,
18:27
Speaker 1: murmured Holmes, setting himself down in his armchair, closing his eyes.
18:33
Speaker 1: Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the leugid,
18:39
Speaker 1: longing figure of the man who had been, no doubt
18:44
Speaker 1: depicted to him as the most insensitive reasoner, a most
18:50
Speaker 1: energetic agent in Europe. Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and
18:55
Speaker 1: looked impatiently at his gigantic client. If your Majesty would
19:01
Speaker 1: condescend to state your case, he remarked, I should be
19:05
Speaker 1: better able to advise you. The man sprang from his
19:08
Speaker 1: chair and paced up and down the room in uncontrollable agitation. Then,
19:14
Speaker 1: with a gesture of desperation, he tore the mask from
19:19
Speaker 1: his face and hurled it upon the ground. You are right,
19:23
Speaker 1: he cried, I am the king. Why should I attempt
19:25
Speaker 1: to conceal it? Why? Indeed, murmured Holmes, your Majesty had
19:30
Speaker 1: not spoken before I was aware that I was addressing
19:35
Speaker 1: William Gotstrich Sigmund van Armstrong, Grand Duke of castel Flatsine
19:44
Speaker 1: and hereditary king of Bohemia. But you can understand, said
19:50
Speaker 1: our strange visitor, sitting down once more, and passing his
19:55
Speaker 1: hand over his high white forehead. You can understand that
19:59
Speaker 1: I I am not accustomed to doing such business in
20:03
Speaker 1: my own person, that I could not confide it to
20:07
Speaker 1: an agent without putting myself in his power. I have
20:11
Speaker 1: come incognito from Pragou, from the purpose of consulting you.
20:18
Speaker 1: Then pray consult said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more.
20:23
Speaker 1: The facts are briefly these. Some five years ago, during
20:26
Speaker 1: a lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of
20:30
Speaker 1: the well known adventuress, Irene Adler. The name is no
20:34
Speaker 1: doubt familiar to you. Kindly look her up in my index,
20:38
Speaker 1: doctor murmured Holmes, without opening his eyes. For many years
20:43
Speaker 1: he had adopted a system of docking all paragraphs concerning
20:48
Speaker 1: men and things, so that it was difficult to name
20:53
Speaker 1: a subject or a person on which he could not
20:56
Speaker 1: at once furnish information. In this case, I found her
21:01
Speaker 1: biography sandwiched in between that of Hebrew rabbi and that
21:07
Speaker 1: of staff commander, who had written a monograph upon the
21:13
Speaker 1: deep sea fishes. Let me see, said Holmes hum born
21:18
Speaker 1: in New Jersey in the year in eighteen fifty eight
21:22
Speaker 1: Contrito hum Let's Calm Prima Donna, Imperial Opera of Warsaw
21:29
Speaker 1: Yes retired from the operatic stage. Ha living in London.
21:35
Speaker 1: Quite so, your Majesty, as I understand, become entangled with
21:40
Speaker 1: this young person, wrote her some comprising letters and is
21:46
Speaker 1: now desirous of getting these letters back pcisely so. But
21:50
Speaker 1: how was there a secret marriage? None? No legal papers
21:55
Speaker 1: or certificates. None. Then I failed to follow your majesty.
21:59
Speaker 1: If this young person should produce her letters from blackmailing
22:04
Speaker 1: or other purposes, how is she to prove their authenticity?
22:09
Speaker 1: There is writing po pooh forgery, my private notepaper, stolen,
22:16
Speaker 1: my own seal, imitated my photograph, but we were both
22:22
Speaker 1: in the photograph. Oh dear, that is very bad. Your
22:26
Speaker 1: Majesty has indeed committed an indiscretion. I was mad, insane.
22:34
Speaker 1: You have compromised yourself. Seriously. I was only Crown Prince then,
22:40
Speaker 1: I was young. I am but thirty now it must
22:44
Speaker 1: be recovered. We have tried and failed. Your Majesty must pay.
22:50
Speaker 1: It must be bought. She will not sell stolen. Then
22:54
Speaker 1: five attempts have been made, twice burglars in my pay,
22:58
Speaker 1: ransacked or house. Once we diverted her luggage when she
23:03
Speaker 1: traveled twice she had been waylaid. There has been no result,
23:09
Speaker 1: no sign of it, absolutely none. Holmes laughed. It is
23:14
Speaker 1: quite a pretty little problem, said he, but a very
23:17
Speaker 1: serious one to me, returned the king reproachfully, very indeed,
23:23
Speaker 1: what does she propose to do with the photograph to
23:26
Speaker 1: ruin me? But how I am about to be married?
23:30
Speaker 1: So I have heard to Claudia Loorman Vuln Saxe Monteguem,
23:36
Speaker 1: second daughter of the King of Scandinavia. You may know
23:40
Speaker 1: that strict principles of her family, she is herself the
23:45
Speaker 1: very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a doubt as
23:48
Speaker 1: to my conduct would bring the matter to an end.
23:53
Speaker 1: And Irene Attler threatens to send him a photograph, and
23:57
Speaker 1: she will do it. I know that she will do it.
24:01
Speaker 1: You do not know her, but she has a sore
24:04
Speaker 1: of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful
24:07
Speaker 1: of woman and the mind of the most resolute of men.
24:11
Speaker 1: Rather than I should marry another woman, there are no
24:15
Speaker 1: lengths to which she would not go none. You are
24:19
Speaker 1: sure that she has not sent it yet. I am sure,
24:22
Speaker 1: and why because she has said that she would send
24:25
Speaker 1: it on the day when the betrothal was publicly proclaimed.
24:29
Speaker 1: That would be next Monday. Oh, then we have three
24:33
Speaker 1: days yet, said Holmes with yawn. That is very fortunate,
24:37
Speaker 1: as I have one or two matters of importance to
24:41
Speaker 1: look into just at present. Your majesty will of course
24:45
Speaker 1: stay in London for the present. Certainly you will find
24:50
Speaker 1: me at the long Ram under the name of the
24:54
Speaker 1: Count van Kram. Then I shall drop you a line
24:58
Speaker 1: to let you know. Oh we progress, pray do so
25:03
Speaker 1: I shall be all anxiety. Then, as too many you
25:07
Speaker 1: have carte blanche. Absolutely, I tell you that I would
25:12
Speaker 1: give one of the provinces of my kingdom to have
25:15
Speaker 1: that photograph, and for the present expenses. The King took
25:21
Speaker 1: a heavy chambos leather bag from under his cloak and
25:25
Speaker 1: laid it on the table. There are three hundred pounds
25:29
Speaker 1: in a gold and seven hundred in notes, he said.
25:32
Speaker 1: Holmes gribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his notebook
25:36
Speaker 1: and handed it to him and mademoiselle's address, He asked,
25:42
Speaker 1: is Browney lodge saw pritimee Avenue, Saint John's Wood. Holmes
25:47
Speaker 1: took a note of it. What other question said? He
25:51
Speaker 1: was the photograph a cabinet. It was then good night,
25:56
Speaker 1: your majesty, and I trust that we shall soon have
26:00
Speaker 1: some good news for you. And good night Watson, he added,
26:06
Speaker 1: as the wheels of the Royal Brogham rolled down the street.
26:11
Speaker 1: If you will be good enough to call tomorrow afternoon
26:14
Speaker 1: at three o'clock, I should like to chat this little
26:18
Speaker 1: matter over with you. End of Section one, Section two.
26:27
Speaker 1: At three o'clock precisely, I was at Baker Street, but
26:30
Speaker 1: Holmes had not yet returned. The landlady informed me that
26:35
Speaker 1: he had left the house shortly after eight o'clock in
26:38
Speaker 1: the morning. I sat down beside the fire, however, with
26:44
Speaker 1: the intention of awaiting him, however long he might be.
26:49
Speaker 1: I was already deeply interested in his inquiry, for though
26:54
Speaker 1: it was surrounded by none of the grim and strange
26:59
Speaker 1: feet which were associated with the two crimes which I
27:04
Speaker 1: have already recorded, still the nature of the case and
27:09
Speaker 1: the exaltant station of his client gave it a character
27:14
Speaker 1: of its own. Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation,
27:19
Speaker 1: which my friend had on hand. There was something in
27:23
Speaker 1: his masterly grasp of a situation and his keen, incisive reasoning,
27:30
Speaker 1: which made it a pleasure to me to study his
27:34
Speaker 1: system of work and to follow the quick, subtle methods
27:39
Speaker 1: by which he distinguished the most inextractable mysteries. So accustomed
27:46
Speaker 1: was I to his invariable success, that the very possibility
27:51
Speaker 1: of his felling had ceased to enter into my head.
27:57
Speaker 1: It was close upon four before the door opened, and
28:01
Speaker 1: a drunken looking groom, ill kept and sighed, whiskered, with
28:07
Speaker 1: an inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room.
28:15
Speaker 1: Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in
28:19
Speaker 1: the use of disguises, I had to look three times
28:24
Speaker 1: before I was certain that it was indeed he. With
28:27
Speaker 1: a nod, he vanished into the bedroom. Whence he emerged
28:32
Speaker 1: in five minutes, two suited and respectable as of old.
28:38
Speaker 1: Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his
28:43
Speaker 1: legs in front of the fire, and laughing heartily for
28:48
Speaker 1: some minutes. Well really, he cried, and then he choked
28:53
Speaker 1: and laughed again, until he was obliged to lie back,
28:56
Speaker 1: limp and helpless in the chair. What is it? It's
29:00
Speaker 1: why too funny? I am sure you could never guess
29:03
Speaker 1: how I employed my morning or what I ended by doing.
29:08
Speaker 1: I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching
29:11
Speaker 1: the habits, and perhaps the house of Miss Irene Adler
29:16
Speaker 1: quite so, but the sequel was rather unusual. I will
29:21
Speaker 1: tell you, however. I left the house a little after
29:24
Speaker 1: eight o'clock this morning in the character of a groom
29:29
Speaker 1: out of walk. There is a wonderful sympathy and freemasonry
29:36
Speaker 1: among horsey men. But one of them and you will
29:40
Speaker 1: know all that there is to know. I soon found
29:44
Speaker 1: brought me launch. It is a Bazieu villa with a
29:49
Speaker 1: garden at the back, but built on it front right
29:54
Speaker 1: up to the road, two stories chub lock to the door,
29:59
Speaker 1: large city room on the right side, well furnished with
30:04
Speaker 1: long windows almost to the floor, and those prosperous English
30:09
Speaker 1: window fasteners which a child could open behind. There was
30:15
Speaker 1: nothing remarkable save the passage window could be reached from
30:21
Speaker 1: the top of the cook hill. I walked round it
30:25
Speaker 1: and examined it closely from every point of view, but
30:30
Speaker 1: without nothing anything else of interest. I then lodged down
30:35
Speaker 1: the street and found as I expected that there was
30:39
Speaker 1: a news in a lane which runs down by one
30:43
Speaker 1: wall of the garden. I went the ostler's hand in
30:47
Speaker 1: rubbing down their houses, and received in exchange two pence
30:53
Speaker 1: a glass of half and half, two fills of shagged tobacco,
30:59
Speaker 1: and as much information as I could desire about miss Adler,
31:04
Speaker 1: to say nothing of half a dozen other people in
31:07
Speaker 1: the neighborhood, in whom I was not in the least
31:12
Speaker 1: interested by, whose biographies I was compelled to listen to.
31:17
Speaker 1: And what of I rey Nadler, I asked, Oh, she
31:20
Speaker 1: has turned all the man's heads down in that part.
31:24
Speaker 1: She is the daintiest thing under a bonage on the planet,
31:29
Speaker 1: So say the suprenteine news to a man. She lives quietly,
31:36
Speaker 1: sings at concerts, drives out at five every day, and
31:41
Speaker 1: returns at seven shop for dinner. Seldom goes out at
31:46
Speaker 1: other times except when she sings. Has only one male visitor,
31:51
Speaker 1: but a good deal of him. He is dark, handsome
31:55
Speaker 1: and dashing. Never calls less than once a day, and
31:59
Speaker 1: often twice. He is mister Godfrey Norton of the Inner Temple.
32:07
Speaker 1: See the advantages of a cabman as a confident. They
32:12
Speaker 1: have driven him home a dozen of times from Serpentine
32:16
Speaker 1: News and knew all about him. When I had listened
32:21
Speaker 1: to all they had to tell, I begun to walk
32:24
Speaker 1: up and down near Bryany Lodge once more, and to
32:29
Speaker 1: think over my plan of campaign. This goldfray nor In
32:34
Speaker 1: was evidently an important factor in the matter. He was
32:39
Speaker 1: a lawyer. That sounded omunous. What was the relation between them,
32:47
Speaker 1: and what the object of his repeated visits. Was she
32:52
Speaker 1: his client friend or his mistress. If the former, she
32:57
Speaker 1: had probably transferred the photograph to his keeping. If the later,
33:03
Speaker 1: it was less likely. On the issue of this question
33:08
Speaker 1: deepened whither I should continue my work at Briny Lodge
33:14
Speaker 1: or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the Temple.
33:19
Speaker 1: It was a delicate point, and it winded the field
33:23
Speaker 1: of my inquiry. I fear that I bore you with
33:27
Speaker 1: these details, but I have to let you see my
33:30
Speaker 1: little difficulties if you are to understand the situation. I
33:35
Speaker 1: am following you closely, I answered. I was still balancing
33:39
Speaker 1: the matter in my mind when a handsome cab drove
33:44
Speaker 1: up to Briny Lodge and a gentleman sprang out. He
33:48
Speaker 1: was a remarkably handsome man, dark aquiline and mustached, evidently
33:56
Speaker 1: the man of whom I have heard. He appeared to
33:59
Speaker 1: be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait,
34:05
Speaker 1: and brushed past the maid, who opened the door with
34:09
Speaker 1: the air of a man who was thoroughly at home.
34:14
Speaker 1: He was in the house about half an hour, and
34:17
Speaker 1: I could catch glimpses of him in the windows of
34:21
Speaker 1: the sitting room, pacing up and down, talking excitedly, and
34:27
Speaker 1: waving his arms of her. I could see nothing. Presently
34:32
Speaker 1: he emerged, looking even more flurried than before. As he
34:37
Speaker 1: stepped up into the cab, he pulled a gold watch
34:41
Speaker 1: from his pocket and looked at it earnestly. Drive like
34:45
Speaker 1: the devil, he shouted, first to Cross and Hungrees in
34:49
Speaker 1: Ragged Street, and then to the Church of Saint Monica
34:53
Speaker 1: in Edgar Road. Half a guinea if you do it
34:56
Speaker 1: in twenty minutes Away they went, and I was just
35:01
Speaker 1: wondering whether I should not do well to follow them,
35:04
Speaker 1: when up the lane came a neat little Landeau, the coachman,
35:10
Speaker 1: with his coat only half buttoned and his tie under
35:14
Speaker 1: his ear, while all the tags of his harness were
35:19
Speaker 1: sticking out of the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before
35:24
Speaker 1: she shot out of the hall door and into it.
35:28
Speaker 1: I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment,
35:31
Speaker 1: but she was a lovely woman with a face that
35:34
Speaker 1: a man might die for the Church of Saint Monica, John,
35:39
Speaker 1: she cried, and half a sovereign if you reach it
35:41
Speaker 1: in twenty minutes. This was quite too good to lose, Watson.
35:46
Speaker 1: I was just balancing whether I should run for it
35:50
Speaker 1: or whether I should perch behind her landeaux. When a
35:54
Speaker 1: cab came through the street. The driver looked twice at
35:58
Speaker 1: such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he
36:02
Speaker 1: could object. The Church of Saint Monica, said I, and
36:06
Speaker 1: half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.
36:09
Speaker 1: It was twenty five minutes to twelve, and of course
36:12
Speaker 1: it was clear enough what was in the wind. My
36:16
Speaker 1: cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster.
36:20
Speaker 1: But the others were there before us, the cab and
36:24
Speaker 1: the landew with their steaming horses, or in front of
36:29
Speaker 1: the door. When I arrived, I paid the man and
36:32
Speaker 1: hurried into the church. There was not a swire. There,
36:36
Speaker 1: save the two whom I had followed, and a surpliced
36:41
Speaker 1: clergyman who seemed to be expostulating with them. They were
36:48
Speaker 1: all three standing in a nod in front of the altar.
36:52
Speaker 1: I longed up the side a stile, like any other
36:56
Speaker 1: idler who has dropped into a church. Suddenly, to my surprise,
37:02
Speaker 1: the three at the altar faced round me, and Gordfrey
37:07
Speaker 1: nor In came running as hard as he could toward me. Heck,
37:12
Speaker 1: he cried, you'll do Come? Come what? Then? I asked,
37:17
Speaker 1: come on, come, only three minutes or it won't be legal.
37:21
Speaker 1: I was half dragged up to the altar, and before
37:24
Speaker 1: I knew where I was, I found myself mumbling responses
37:28
Speaker 1: which were whispered in my ear, and vouching for things
37:32
Speaker 1: of which I knew nothing, and generally assisting in the
37:36
Speaker 1: secure tying up of Irene Adler Spinster to Godfrey nor
37:42
Speaker 1: In Bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and
37:48
Speaker 1: there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side
37:51
Speaker 1: and the lady on the other, while the clergyman beamed
37:55
Speaker 1: on me in front. It was the most preposterous possition
38:00
Speaker 1: in which I ever found in my life, and it
38:03
Speaker 1: was the thought of it that startled me into laughing.
38:07
Speaker 1: Just now seems that there had been some informality about
38:12
Speaker 1: the license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them
38:18
Speaker 1: without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky
38:22
Speaker 1: appearance saved the bridegroom from having to sell me out
38:27
Speaker 1: into the street in search of the best man. The
38:30
Speaker 1: bride gave me a sovereign and I mean to weigh
38:34
Speaker 1: on my watch chain in memory of the occasion. That
38:39
Speaker 1: is a very unexpected turn of affairs, said I. And
38:43
Speaker 1: what then, well, I found my plans very seriously menaced.
38:49
Speaker 1: It looked as if the pair might take an immediate departure,
38:53
Speaker 1: and so necessity very prompt and energetic mentures on my part.
39:01
Speaker 1: At the church door, however, they separated, he driving back
39:06
Speaker 1: to the temple, and she to her own house. I
39:09
Speaker 1: shall drive out into the pocket five as usual, she said,
39:13
Speaker 1: as she left him. I heard no more. They drove
39:17
Speaker 1: away in different directions, and I went off to make
39:20
Speaker 1: my own arrangements, which are some cold beef and a
39:25
Speaker 1: glass of beer, he answered, ringing the bell. I have
39:29
Speaker 1: been too busy to think of food, and I am
39:33
Speaker 1: likely to be booster still this evening. By the way, doctor,
39:39
Speaker 1: I shall want your co operation. I shall be delighted
39:44
Speaker 1: you don't mind breaking the law, not in the least,
39:47
Speaker 1: nor running a chance of arrest, not in a good cause. Oh,
39:52
Speaker 1: the case is excellent. Then I am your man. I
39:56
Speaker 1: was sure that I might rely on you. But what
39:59
Speaker 1: do you wish? When Miss Turner has brought in the tray?
40:04
Speaker 1: I will make it clear to you now, he said,
40:07
Speaker 1: as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that our
40:11
Speaker 1: landlady had provided. I must discuss it while I eat,
40:15
Speaker 1: for I have not much time. It is nearly five now.
40:20
Speaker 1: In two hours we must be on the scene of action.
40:23
Speaker 1: Miss Irene or Madame rather returns from her drive at seven.
40:30
Speaker 1: We must be at bryany Vange to meet her. And
40:35
Speaker 1: what then? You leave that to me? I have already
40:38
Speaker 1: arranged what is to occur. There is only one point
40:41
Speaker 1: on which I must insist. You must not interfere. Come,
40:46
Speaker 1: what may you understand? I am to be neutral, to
40:50
Speaker 1: do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small unpleasantness.
40:57
Speaker 1: Do not join in it. It will end in my
41:00
Speaker 1: being conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards,
41:05
Speaker 1: the sitting room window will be open. You are to
41:09
Speaker 1: station yourself close to that open window. Yes, you ought
41:13
Speaker 1: to watch me, for I have been visible to you. Yes,
41:18
Speaker 1: I when I raise my hand, so you will throw
41:22
Speaker 1: into the room what I give you to throw, and
41:26
Speaker 1: will at the same time raise the cry of fire.
41:30
Speaker 1: You quite follow me entirely. It is nothing more formidable,
41:37
Speaker 1: he said, taking a long cigar shaped raw from his pocket.
41:42
Speaker 1: It is an ordinary plumber's smoke rocket, fitted with a
41:47
Speaker 1: cap at either end to make it self lighting. Your
41:51
Speaker 1: task is confined to that when you raise your cry
41:57
Speaker 1: of fire, and it will be taken up by quite
42:01
Speaker 1: a number of people. You may then walk to the
42:06
Speaker 1: end of the street, and I will rejoin you in
42:09
Speaker 1: ten minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear.
42:13
Speaker 1: I am to remain neutral, to get near the window,
42:16
Speaker 1: to watch you, and at your signal to throw this object,
42:19
Speaker 1: then to raise the cry of fire, and to wait
42:23
Speaker 1: you at the corner of the street precisely. Then you
42:29
Speaker 1: may entirely rely on me. That is excellent. I think
42:35
Speaker 1: perhaps it is almost time that I prepare for the
42:40
Speaker 1: new role I have to play. He disappeared into his
42:44
Speaker 1: bedroom and returned in a few minutes in the character
42:49
Speaker 1: of an amiable and simple minded non conformist and clergyman.
42:55
Speaker 1: His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white tie,
43:01
Speaker 1: his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and benevolent
43:07
Speaker 1: curiosity were such as mister John Hare alone could have equalled.
43:13
Speaker 1: It is not merely that Holmes changed his costume, his expression,
43:19
Speaker 1: his manner, his very soul seemed to vary every fresh
43:23
Speaker 1: part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor,
43:28
Speaker 1: even as science lost an acute reasoner when he became
43:33
Speaker 1: a specialist in crime. It was a quarta past six
43:38
Speaker 1: when we left Baker Street, and it still wanted ten
43:42
Speaker 1: minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in Serpentine Avenue.
43:49
Speaker 1: It was already dusk, and the laps were just being
43:53
Speaker 1: lightened as we paced up and down in front of
43:57
Speaker 1: Briny Lodge, waiting the coming of its occupant. The house
44:03
Speaker 1: was just such as I had pictured it from Sherlock
44:07
Speaker 1: Holmes's securent description, but the locally appeared to be less
44:15
Speaker 1: private than I expected. On the contrary, for a small
44:19
Speaker 1: street in a quiet neighborhood, it was remarkably animated. There
44:24
Speaker 1: was a group of shabbily dressed men smoking and laughing
44:29
Speaker 1: in a corner, a scissors grinder with his will, two
44:35
Speaker 1: guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse girl, and several
44:41
Speaker 1: well dressed young men who were laughing up and down
44:45
Speaker 1: with cigars in their mouths. You see, remarked Holmes, as
44:50
Speaker 1: we passed to and fro in front of the house.
44:54
Speaker 1: This marriage rather simplifies matters. The photograph becomes a double
44:59
Speaker 1: edged web. And now the chances are that she would
45:03
Speaker 1: be as averse to its being seen by mister Godfrey
45:08
Speaker 1: Norton as our client is to coming to the eyes
45:13
Speaker 1: of his princess. Now the question is where are we
45:18
Speaker 1: to find the photograph where? Indeed, it is most unlikely
45:23
Speaker 1: that she carries it about with her. It is cabinet sized,
45:27
Speaker 1: too large for easy concealment about a woman's dress. She
45:31
Speaker 1: knows that the king is capable of having her waylaid
45:35
Speaker 1: and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made.
45:41
Speaker 1: We may take it, then, that she does not carry
45:43
Speaker 1: it about with her. Where then her banker or her lawyer.
45:49
Speaker 1: There is that double possibility. But I am inclined to
45:53
Speaker 1: think neither. Women are naturally secretive, and they like to
45:57
Speaker 1: do their own secreting. Why should she have it over
46:03
Speaker 1: to any one else. She could trust her own guardsmanship,
46:08
Speaker 1: But she could not tell what indirect or political influence
46:13
Speaker 1: might be brought to bear upon a business man. Besides,
46:17
Speaker 1: remember that she had resolved to use it within a
46:20
Speaker 1: few days. It must be where she can lay her
46:23
Speaker 1: hands upon it. It must be in her own house.
46:28
Speaker 1: But it has twice been burgled, sair. They did not
46:33
Speaker 1: know how to look. But how will you look? I
46:37
Speaker 1: will not look what? Then? I will get her to
46:41
Speaker 1: show me, But she will refuse. She will not be
46:46
Speaker 1: able to. But I hear the rumble of wills. It
46:50
Speaker 1: is her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter.
46:55
Speaker 1: As he spoke, the gleam of the side lights of
46:58
Speaker 1: a carriage came round the curve of the avenue. It
47:04
Speaker 1: was a smart little lambueu, which rattled up to the
47:09
Speaker 1: door of Brimy Lodge. As it pulled up, one of
47:14
Speaker 1: the loafing's men at that corner dashed forward to open
47:19
Speaker 1: the door in the hope of earning a copper, but
47:24
Speaker 1: was elbowed away by another loafer who had rushed up
47:28
Speaker 1: with the same intention. A fierce quarrel broke out, which
47:33
Speaker 1: was increased by the two godsmen, who took sides with
47:39
Speaker 1: one of the longers, and by the scissors grinder, who
47:44
Speaker 1: was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck,
47:49
Speaker 1: and in an instant the lady, who had stepped from
47:53
Speaker 1: her carriage, was the center of a little knot of
47:56
Speaker 1: flourished and struggling men whose drek savagely at each other
48:02
Speaker 1: with their fists and sticks. Holmes dashed into the crowd
48:07
Speaker 1: to protect the lady, but just as he reached her,
48:11
Speaker 1: he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with
48:15
Speaker 1: the blood running freely down his face. At his fall,
48:19
Speaker 1: the guardsmen took their heels in one direction and the
48:24
Speaker 1: longers in the other, while a number of better dressed
48:28
Speaker 1: people who had watched the suffice without taking paw in it,
48:34
Speaker 1: crowded in to help the lady and to attend to
48:37
Speaker 1: the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her,
48:42
Speaker 1: had hurried up the steps, but she stood at the
48:47
Speaker 1: top with her superb figure outlined against the lights of
48:52
Speaker 1: the hall, looking back into the street. Is the poor
48:58
Speaker 1: gentleman much hurt? He asked? He is dead? Cried several voices. No, no,
49:04
Speaker 1: there's life in him, shouted another. But he'll be gone
49:07
Speaker 1: before you can get him to hospital. Here's a brave fellow,
49:11
Speaker 1: said a woman. They would have got the lady's person
49:15
Speaker 1: watch if it hadn't been for him. They were a gang,
49:19
Speaker 1: and a rough one too. Ah, he's breathing now. He
49:22
Speaker 1: can't lie here in the streets. May we bring him in,
49:25
Speaker 1: marm surely bring him into the sitting room. There's a
49:29
Speaker 1: comfortable sofa. This way, please, slowly and solemnly. He was
49:35
Speaker 1: born into the primary lodge and laid into the principal
49:40
Speaker 1: room while I still observed the proceedings from my post
49:45
Speaker 1: by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the
49:49
Speaker 1: blinds had been drawn so that I could see Holmes
49:54
Speaker 1: as he lay upon the couch. I do not know
49:57
Speaker 1: whether he was seized with compunction at that moment for
50:02
Speaker 1: the part he was playing. But I know that I
50:05
Speaker 1: never felt more heartily ashamed of myself in my life
50:10
Speaker 1: than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I
50:14
Speaker 1: was conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she
50:20
Speaker 1: waited upon the injured man. And yet it would be
50:24
Speaker 1: the blackest treachery to Holmes to draw back now from
50:28
Speaker 1: the part which he had entrusted to me. I hardened
50:34
Speaker 1: my heart and took the smoke rocket from under my ulster.
50:39
Speaker 1: After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We
50:42
Speaker 1: are but preventing her from injuring another. Holmes had sat
50:46
Speaker 1: up upon the couch, and I saw him mention like
50:50
Speaker 1: a man who is in need of air. A maid
50:53
Speaker 1: rushed across the thrave opened the window. At the same
50:57
Speaker 1: instant I saw him raise his hand, and at the signal,
51:02
Speaker 1: I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry
51:05
Speaker 1: of fire. The word was no sooner out of my
51:10
Speaker 1: mouth than the whole crowd of spectators, well dressed and ill, gentlemen,
51:16
Speaker 1: oysters and servant maids, joined in the general shriek of fire.
51:23
Speaker 1: Thick clouds of smoke curled through the room and out
51:27
Speaker 1: those open windows. I caught a glimpse of rushing fingers,
51:32
Speaker 1: and a moment later the voice of Holmes from within,
51:35
Speaker 1: assuring them that it was a false alarm. Slipping through
51:39
Speaker 1: the shouting crowd, I made my way to the corner
51:43
Speaker 1: of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to
51:46
Speaker 1: find my friend's arm in mine. And to get away
51:49
Speaker 1: from the scene of uproar. He walked swiftly and in
51:53
Speaker 1: silence for some few minutes, until we had turned down
51:59
Speaker 1: on one of the quiet streets which led towards the
52:04
Speaker 1: Edguar road. You did it very nicely, doctor, he remarked,
52:10
Speaker 1: Nothing could have been better. It is all right. You
52:13
Speaker 1: have the photograph. I know where it is. And how
52:17
Speaker 1: did you find out? She showed me as I told
52:21
Speaker 1: you she would. I am still in the dark. I
52:25
Speaker 1: do wish to make a mystery, said he, laughing. The
52:29
Speaker 1: matter was perfectly simple. You are, of course, saw that
52:33
Speaker 1: everyone in the street was not accomplice. They were all
52:38
Speaker 1: engaged for the evening. I guessed as much. Then when
52:43
Speaker 1: the row broke out, I had a little moist red
52:47
Speaker 1: paint in the palm of my hand. I rushed forward,
52:51
Speaker 1: fell down, clapped my hand to my face, and became
52:54
Speaker 1: a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick that also
52:59
Speaker 1: I could fathom. Then they carried me in. She was
53:04
Speaker 1: bound to have me in what else could she do,
53:07
Speaker 1: and into her sitting room, which was the very room
53:11
Speaker 1: which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom,
53:16
Speaker 1: and I was determined to see which they laid me
53:21
Speaker 1: on a couch. I motioned for air. They were compelled
53:25
Speaker 1: to open the window, and you had your chance. How
53:29
Speaker 1: did that help you? It was all important. When a
53:32
Speaker 1: woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct
53:36
Speaker 1: is at once to rush to the thing which she
53:39
Speaker 1: values most. It is a perfectly overpowering impulse, and I
53:45
Speaker 1: have more than once taken advantage of it. In the
53:48
Speaker 1: case of the Darlington substitution scandal it was of use
53:54
Speaker 1: to me, and also in the Arnsworth Castle business. A
54:00
Speaker 1: married woman grabs at her baby, an unmarried one reaches
54:04
Speaker 1: for her jewelry box. Now it was clear to me
54:08
Speaker 1: that our lady of today had nothing in the house
54:12
Speaker 1: more precious to her than what we are in quest of.
54:16
Speaker 1: She would rush to secure it. The alarm of the
54:19
Speaker 1: fire was admiringly done. The smoke and shouting were enough
54:24
Speaker 1: to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The photograph
54:29
Speaker 1: is in a recuse behind a slighting panel just above
54:34
Speaker 1: the right bell pole. She was there in an instant,
54:38
Speaker 1: and I caught a glimpse of it as she half
54:41
Speaker 1: drew it out. When I cried out that it was
54:43
Speaker 1: a false alarm, she replaced it glancing at the rocket,
54:48
Speaker 1: rushed from the room, and I have not seen her
54:51
Speaker 1: since I rose, and, making my excuses, escaped from the house.
54:58
Speaker 1: I hesitated to attempt to secure the photograph at once,
55:03
Speaker 1: but the coachman had come in, and as he was
55:06
Speaker 1: watching me narrowly, it seemed safer to wait a little over.
55:12
Speaker 1: Precipitates may ruin all. And now I asked, our quest
55:19
Speaker 1: is practically finished. I shall call with the King tomorrow,
55:23
Speaker 1: and with you, if you care to come with us.
55:27
Speaker 1: We will be showed into the sitting room to wait
55:32
Speaker 1: for the lady. But it is probable that when she
55:35
Speaker 1: comes she may find neither us nor the photograph. It
55:39
Speaker 1: might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain it
55:43
Speaker 1: with his own hands. And when will you call? At
55:47
Speaker 1: eight in the morning, She will both be up, so
55:50
Speaker 1: that we shall have a clear field. Besides, we must
55:55
Speaker 1: be prompt, for this marriage may mean a complete change
56:00
Speaker 1: in her life and habits. I must wire to the
56:03
Speaker 1: King without delay. We had reached Baker Street and had
56:08
Speaker 1: stopped at the door. He was searching his pockets for
56:11
Speaker 1: the key, when someone passing said good night, mister Sherlock Holmes.
56:17
Speaker 1: There were several people on the pavement at the time,
56:22
Speaker 1: but the greeting appeared to come from a slim youth
56:26
Speaker 1: in an ulster who had hurried by. I've heard that
56:30
Speaker 1: voice before, said Holmes, starting down the dimly street. No,
56:35
Speaker 1: I wonder who the deuce that could have been? And
56:40
Speaker 1: of section two section three. I slept at Baker Street
56:45
Speaker 1: that night and we were engaged upon our toast and
56:48
Speaker 1: coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed
56:52
Speaker 1: into the room. You have really got it, he cried,
56:55
Speaker 1: grasping Sherlock Holmes by either shoulder or looking eagerly into
56:59
Speaker 1: his face. Not yet, but you have hopes. I have hopes.
57:04
Speaker 1: Then come, I am all impatience to be gone. We
57:07
Speaker 1: must have a cab. No, my Brogham is waiting. Then
57:12
Speaker 1: that will simplify matters. We descended and started off at
57:16
Speaker 1: once more for Brombay Lodge. Ireen Adler is married, remarked Holmes,
57:21
Speaker 1: married when yesterday, but to whom to an English lawyer
57:27
Speaker 1: named Norton. But she could not love him. I am
57:31
Speaker 1: in hopes that she does. And why in hopes because
57:35
Speaker 1: it would spare your majesty all fear of future annoyance
57:39
Speaker 1: if the lady loves her husband, she does not love
57:43
Speaker 1: your majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, then
57:47
Speaker 1: there is no reason why she should interfere with your
57:50
Speaker 1: Majesty's plan. It is true, and yet well, I wish
57:54
Speaker 1: she had been of my own station. What a queen
57:57
Speaker 1: she would have made. He relapsed into a mood silence,
58:02
Speaker 1: which was not broken until we drew up in Serpentine Avenue.
58:08
Speaker 1: The door of primary Lodge was opened, and an elderly
58:12
Speaker 1: woman stood up the steps. She watched us with a
58:16
Speaker 1: chardonic eye as we stepped from the brogham. Mister Schackholmes,
58:22
Speaker 1: I believe, said she I am. Mister Holmes, answered my companion,
58:28
Speaker 1: looking at her with a questioning and rather startled gaze. Indeed,
58:34
Speaker 1: my mistress told me that you were likely to call.
58:37
Speaker 1: She left this morning with her husband by the five
58:41
Speaker 1: point fifteen train from Charington Cross from the for the Continent.
58:47
Speaker 1: What Shockholms staggered back with the charge in a swerprise.
58:52
Speaker 1: Do you mean that she has left England? Never to return?
58:57
Speaker 1: And the papers asked the king hoarsely, all is lost?
59:01
Speaker 1: We shall see. He pushed past the servant and rushed
59:05
Speaker 1: into the drawing room, followed by the King and myself.
59:10
Speaker 1: The furniture was scattered about in every direction, with the
59:15
Speaker 1: dismantled shelves and open drawers, as if the lady had
59:20
Speaker 1: hurriedly ransacked them before her flight. Holmes rushed at the bellpool,
59:26
Speaker 1: tore back a small sliding shutter, and plunging in his hand,
59:31
Speaker 1: pulled out a photograph and a letter. The photograph was
59:35
Speaker 1: of Irene Adler herself in evening dress. The letter was
59:40
Speaker 1: superseded to Sherlock Holmes e s Q. To be left
59:45
Speaker 1: till called for my friend tore it open and we
59:50
Speaker 1: all three read together. It was dated midnight of the
59:53
Speaker 1: preceding night, and ran in this way. Mighty mister Sheila Holmbs,
1:00:01
Speaker 1: you really did it well. You took me in completely.
1:00:05
Speaker 1: Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a suspicion.
1:00:09
Speaker 1: But then when I found how I had betrayed myself,
1:00:12
Speaker 1: I began to think. I had been warned against you
1:00:16
Speaker 1: months ago. I'd been told that if the King employed
1:00:19
Speaker 1: an ancient, it would certainly be you, and your adread
1:00:23
Speaker 1: had been given me. Yet with all this, you made
1:00:27
Speaker 1: me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I
1:00:31
Speaker 1: became suspicious. I found it to think evil of such
1:00:35
Speaker 1: a dear, kind old clergyman. But you know I have
1:00:39
Speaker 1: been trained as an actress myself. Now costoon is nothing
1:00:44
Speaker 1: new to me. I often take advantage of the freedom
1:00:49
Speaker 1: which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to watch you,
1:00:53
Speaker 1: ran upstairs, got into my walking clothes, as I called them,
1:00:59
Speaker 1: and came down just as you departed. Well, I followed
1:01:03
Speaker 1: you to your door, and so made sure that I
1:01:07
Speaker 1: was really an object of interest to the celebrated mister Schrlocolm's.
1:01:12
Speaker 1: Then I rather imprudently wished you good night and started
1:01:17
Speaker 1: for the temple to see my husband. We thought the
1:01:22
Speaker 1: best resource was flight when we pursued by so formidable
1:01:27
Speaker 1: an antagonists. So you will find the nest empty when
1:01:32
Speaker 1: you call tomorrow. As to the photograph, your client may
1:01:37
Speaker 1: rest in peace. I love and am loved by a
1:01:39
Speaker 1: better man than he. The King may do what he
1:01:44
Speaker 1: will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly wronged.
1:01:49
Speaker 1: I keep it only to safeguard myself and to preserve
1:01:54
Speaker 1: a weapon which will always secure me from any steps
1:01:58
Speaker 1: which he might in the future. I leave a photograph
1:02:03
Speaker 1: which he might care to possess, and I remain dear
1:02:07
Speaker 1: mister Sherlock Holmes, very truly yours Irene Norton nee Adler.
1:02:15
Speaker 1: What a woman, Oh, what a woman, cried the King
1:02:18
Speaker 1: of Bohemia, when we had all three read this epistle?
1:02:23
Speaker 1: Did I not tell you how quick and resolute she was?
1:02:26
Speaker 1: Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it
1:02:29
Speaker 1: not a pity that she was not on my level?
1:02:33
Speaker 1: From what I have seen of the lady, she seems
1:02:35
Speaker 1: indeed to be on a very different level to you, Majesty,
1:02:39
Speaker 1: said Holmes coldly. I am sorry that I have not
1:02:43
Speaker 1: been able to bring your Majesty's business to a more
1:02:46
Speaker 1: successful conclusion. On the contrary, my dear sir, cried the King,
1:02:51
Speaker 1: nothing could be more successful. I know that her word
1:02:55
Speaker 1: is inviolate. The photograph is now as safe as if
1:02:59
Speaker 1: it were in the fire. I am glad to hear
1:03:01
Speaker 1: your Majesty say so. I am immensely inbetted to you.
1:03:06
Speaker 1: Pray tell me in what way I can reward you
1:03:10
Speaker 1: this ring? He slipped an emerald snake ringed from his
1:03:15
Speaker 1: finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand.
1:03:20
Speaker 1: Your Majesty has something which I should value even more highly,
1:03:24
Speaker 1: said Holmes, you have but to name it the photograph.
1:03:29
Speaker 1: The King stared at him in amazement. Irene's photograph. He cried, certainly,
1:03:34
Speaker 1: if you wish it, I thank your majesty, then there
1:03:39
Speaker 1: is no more to be done in the matter. I
1:03:42
Speaker 1: have the honor to wish you very good morning. He
1:03:46
Speaker 1: bowed and turned away, without observing the hand which the
1:03:50
Speaker 1: King had stretched out to him. He set off in
1:03:54
Speaker 1: my company for his chambers. And that was how a
1:03:58
Speaker 1: great scandal threatened to affect the Kingdom of Bohemia, and
1:04:03
Speaker 1: how the best plans of mister Sherlock Holmes were beaten
1:04:07
Speaker 1: by a woman's wit. He used to make Mary over
1:04:10
Speaker 1: the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him
1:04:14
Speaker 1: do it of late, And when he speaks of Irene Adler,
1:04:18
Speaker 1: or when he refers to her photograph, it is always
1:04:22
Speaker 1: under the honorable title of the woman.