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"It must be recovered." `
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"We have tried and failed." `
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"Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." `
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"She will not sell." `
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"Stolen, then." `
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"Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked `
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her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice `
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she has been waylaid. There has been no result." `
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"No sign of it?" `
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"Absolutely none." `
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Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. `
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"But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. `
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"Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the `
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photograph?" `
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"To ruin me." `
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"But how?" `
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"I am about to be married." `
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"So I have heard." `
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"To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the `
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King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her `
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family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a `
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doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." `
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"And Irene Adler?" `
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"Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I `
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know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul `
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of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and `
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the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry `
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another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not `
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go--none." `
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"You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" `
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"I am sure." `
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"And why?" `
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"Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the `
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betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." `
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"Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That `
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is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to `
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look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in `
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London for the present?" `
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"Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the `
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Count Von Kramm." `
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"Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." `
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"Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." `
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"Then, as to money?" `
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"You have carte blanche." `
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"Absolutely?" `
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"I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom `
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to have that photograph." `
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"And for present expenses?" `
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The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak `
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and laid it on the table. `
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"There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in `
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notes," he said. `
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Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and `
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handed it to him. `
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"And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. `
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"Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." `
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Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the `
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photograph a cabinet?" `
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"It was." `
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"Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon `
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have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, `
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as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If `
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you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three `
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o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." `
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II. `
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At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had `
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not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the `
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house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down `
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beside the fire, however, with the intention of awaiting him, `
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however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his `
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inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and `
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strange features which were associated with the two crimes which `
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I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the `
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exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. `
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Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my `
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friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of `
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a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a `
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pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the `
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quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most `
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inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable `
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success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to `
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enter into my head. `
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It was close upon four before the door opened, and a `
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drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an `
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inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. `
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Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of `
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disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it `
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was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he `
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emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. `
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Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in `
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front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. `
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"Well, really!" he cried, and then he choked and laughed again `
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until he was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the `
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chair. `
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"What is it?" `
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"It's quite too funny. I am sure you could never guess how I `
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employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." `
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"I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the `
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habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." `
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"Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, `
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however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this `
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morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a `
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wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of `
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them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found `
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Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but `
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built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock `
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to the door. Large sitting-room on the right side, well `
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furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those `
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preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. `
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Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window `
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could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round `
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it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without `
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noting anything else of interest. `
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"I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that `
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there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the `
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garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, `
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and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two `
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fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire `
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about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in `
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the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but `
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whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." `
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"And what of Irene Adler?" I asked. `
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"Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is `
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the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the `
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Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, `
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drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for `
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dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. `
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Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, `
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handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and `
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often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See `
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the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him `
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home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. `
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When I had listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up `
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and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan `
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of campaign. `
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"This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the `
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matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the `
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relation between them, and what the object of his repeated `
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visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the `
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former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his `
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keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this `
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question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony `
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Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the `
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Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my `
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inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to `
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let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the `
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situation." `
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"I am following you closely," I answered. `
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