Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to
me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards me
It was all done in an instant, and there was the gentleman
thanking me on the one side and the lady on the other, while the
clergyman beamed on me in front
It was the most preposterous position
in which I ever found myself in my life, and it was the thought of it
that started me laughing just now
It looked as if the
pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate very prompt
and energetic measures on my part
At the church door, however, they
separated, he driving back to the Temple, and she to her own house
‘I
shall drive out in the park at five as usual,’ she said as she left
him
They drove away in different directions, and I
went off to make my own arrangements.”

“Which are?”

“Some cold beef and a glass of beer,” he answered, ringing the bell
“I
have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to be busier still
this evening
Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to you
Now,” he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that our
landlady had provided, “I must discuss it while I eat, for I have not
much time
In two hours we must be on the scene
of action
Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns from her drive at
seven
We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her.”

“And what then?”

“You must leave that to me
I have already arranged what is to occur
There is only one point on which I must insist
You must not interfere,
come what may
You understand?”

“I am to be neutral?”

“To do nothing whatever
There will probably be some small
unpleasantness
It will end in my being conveyed
into the house
Four or five minutes afterwards the sitting-room window
will open
You
quite follow me?”

“Entirely.”

“It is nothing very formidable,” he said, taking a long cigar-shaped
roll from his pocket
“It is an ordinary plumber’s smoke-rocket, fitted
with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting
When you raise your cry of fire, it will be taken up
by quite a number of people
You may then walk to the end of the
street, and I will rejoin you in ten minutes
His
broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white tie, his sympathetic
smile, and general look of peering and benevolent curiosity were such
as Mr
John Hare alone could have equalled
It was not merely that
Holmes changed his costume
His expression, his manner, his very soul
seemed to vary with every fresh part that he assumed
The stage lost a
fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a
specialist in crime
It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still
wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in Serpentine
Avenue
It was already dusk, and the lamps were just being lighted as
we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, waiting for the coming
of its occupant
The house was just such as I had pictured it from
Sherlock Holmes’ succinct description, but the locality appeared to be
less private than I expected
On the contrary, for a small street in a
quiet neighbourhood, it was remarkably animated
“You see,” remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of the
house, “this marriage rather simplifies matters
The photograph becomes
a double-edged weapon now
The chances are that she would be as averse
to its being seen by Mr
Godfrey Norton, as our client is to its coming
to the eyes of his princess
Now the question is, Where are we to find
the photograph?”

“Where, indeed?”

“It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her
Too large for easy concealment about a woman’s dress
She knows
that the King is capable of having her waylaid and searched
Two
attempts of the sort have already been made
We may take it, then, that
she does not carry it about with her.”

“Where, then?”

“Her banker or her lawyer
There is that double possibility
But I am
inclined to think neither
Women are naturally secretive, and they like
to do their own secreting
Why should she hand it over to anyone else
She could trust her own guardianship, but she could not tell what
indirect or political influence might be brought to bear upon a
business man
Besides, remember that she had resolved to use it within
a few days
It must be where she can lay her hands upon it
It must be
in her own house.”

“But it has twice been burgled.”

“Pshaw