Reading Help The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Ch.IX-XII
time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. `
` 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and `
` then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your `
` husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had `
` fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, `
` that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek `
` his fortune, and I went back to pa. `
` `
` "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then `
` he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New `
` Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a `
` miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was `
` my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was `
` very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took `
` me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a `
` year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really `
` dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, `
` and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt `
` all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place `
` in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. `
` `
` "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done `
` my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our `
` actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make `
` him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may `
` imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I `
` glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the `
` first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked `
` again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as `
` if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I `
` didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the `
` words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my `
` ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make `
` a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to `
` know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to `
` tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, `
` and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on `
` the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the `
` note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a `
` line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. `
` Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now `
` to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. `
` `
` "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, `
` and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but `
` to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to `
` have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before `
` his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to `
` run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten `
` minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of `
` the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. `
` I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman `
` came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to `
` me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little `
` secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away `
` from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and `
` away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and `
` that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank `
` had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to `
` 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to `
` England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the `
` very morning of my second wedding." `
` `
` "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name `
` and the church but not where the lady lived." `
` `
` "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all `
` for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I `
` should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just `
` sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It `
` was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting `
` round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So `
` Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of `
` them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away `
` somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we `
` should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good `
` gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how `
` he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very `
` clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and `
` that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so `
` secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord `
` St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at `
` once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if `
` I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very `
` meanly of me." `
` `
` Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but `
` had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this `
` long narrative. `
` `
` "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most `
` intimate personal affairs in this public manner." `
` `
` "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" `
` `
` "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out `
` his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. `
` `
` "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us `
` in a friendly supper." `
` `
` "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his `
` Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent `
` developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over `
` them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a `
` very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and `
` stalked out of the room. `
` `
` "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your `
` company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an `
` American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the `
` folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone `
` years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens `
` of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a `
` quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." `
` `
` "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our `
` visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how `
` simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight `
` seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural `
` than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing `
` stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. `
` Lestrade of Scotland Yard." `
` `
` "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" `
` `
` "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that `
` the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, `
` the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of `
` returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the `
` morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that `
` something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was `
` out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she `
` seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America `
` because she had spent so short a time in this country that she `
` could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence `
` over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change `
` her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a `
` process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an `
` American. Then who could this American be, and why should he `
` possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might `
` be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in `
` rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got `
` before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us `
` of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so `
` transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a `
` bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very `
` significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance `
` means taking possession of that which another person has a prior `
` claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had `
` gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a `
` previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." `
` `
` "And how in the world did you find them?" `
` `
` "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held `
` information in his hands the value of which he did not himself `
` know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, `
` but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had `
` settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." `
` `
` "How did you deduce the select?" `
` `
` "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence `
` for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive `
` hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. `
` In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I `
` learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an `
` American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking `
` over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I `
` had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded `
` to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate `
` enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them `
` some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be `
` better in every way that they should make their position a little `
` clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in `
` particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I `
` made him keep the appointment." `
` `
` "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was `
` certainly not very gracious." `
` `
` "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be `
` very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and `
` wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of `
` fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully `
` and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in `
` the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for `
` the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away `
` these bleak autumnal evenings." `
` `
` `
` `
` XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET `
` `
` "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking `
` down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather `
` sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." `
` `
` My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands `
` in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It `
`
` 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and `
` then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your `
` husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had `
` fixed it all up so nicely, with a clergyman all ready in waiting, `
` that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek `
` his fortune, and I went back to pa. `
` `
` "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then `
` he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New `
` Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a `
` miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was `
` my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was `
` very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a decline and took `
` me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a `
` year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really `
` dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, `
` and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt `
` all the time that no man on this earth would ever take the place `
` in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. `
` `
` "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done `
` my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our `
` actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make `
` him just as good a wife as it was in me to be. But you may `
` imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I `
` glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the `
` first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked `
` again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as `
` if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I `
` didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the `
` words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my `
` ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make `
` a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to `
` know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to `
` tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, `
` and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on `
` the way out I dropped my bouquet over to him, and he slipped the `
` note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a `
` line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. `
` Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now `
` to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. `
` `
` "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, `
` and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but `
` to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to `
` have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before `
` his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to `
` run away and explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten `
` minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of `
` the road. He beckoned to me and then began walking into the Park. `
` I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman `
` came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to `
` me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little `
` secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away `
` from her and soon overtook Frank. We got into a cab together, and `
` away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and `
` that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank `
` had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to `
` 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to `
` England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the `
` very morning of my second wedding." `
` `
` "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name `
` and the church but not where the lady lived." `
` `
` "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all `
` for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I `
` should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just `
` sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It `
` was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting `
` round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So `
` Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of `
` them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away `
` somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we `
` should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good `
` gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how `
` he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very `
` clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and `
` that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so `
` secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord `
` St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at `
` once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if `
` I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very `
` meanly of me." `
` `
` Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but `
` had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this `
` long narrative. `
` `
` "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most `
` intimate personal affairs in this public manner." `
` `
` "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" `
` `
` "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out `
` his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. `
` `
` "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us `
` in a friendly supper." `
` `
` "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his `
` Lordship. "I may be forced to acquiesce in these recent `
` developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over `
` them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a `
` very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and `
` stalked out of the room. `
` `
` "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your `
` company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an `
` American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the `
` folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone `
` years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens `
` of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a `
` quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." `
` `
` "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our `
` visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how `
` simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight `
` seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural `
` than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing `
` stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. `
` Lestrade of Scotland Yard." `
` `
` "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" `
` `
` "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that `
` the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, `
` the other that she had repented of it within a few minutes of `
` returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the `
` morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that `
` something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was `
` out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she `
` seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America `
` because she had spent so short a time in this country that she `
` could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence `
` over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change `
` her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a `
` process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an `
` American. Then who could this American be, and why should he `
` possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might `
` be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in `
` rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got `
` before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us `
` of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so `
` transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a `
` bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very `
` significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance `
` means taking possession of that which another person has a prior `
` claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had `
` gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a `
` previous husband--the chances being in favour of the latter." `
` `
` "And how in the world did you find them?" `
` `
` "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held `
` information in his hands the value of which he did not himself `
` know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, `
` but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had `
` settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." `
` `
` "How did you deduce the select?" `
` `
` "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence `
` for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive `
` hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. `
` In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I `
` learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an `
` American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking `
` over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I `
` had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded `
` to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate `
` enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them `
` some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be `
` better in every way that they should make their position a little `
` clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in `
` particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I `
` made him keep the appointment." `
` `
` "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was `
` certainly not very gracious." `
` `
` "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be `
` very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and `
` wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of `
` fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully `
` and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in `
` the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for `
` the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away `
` these bleak autumnal evenings." `
` `
` `
` `
` XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET `
` `
` "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking `
` down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather `
` sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." `
` `
` My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands `
` in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It `
`