With a nod he
vanished into the bedroom, whence he emerged in five minutes
tweed-suited and respectable, as of old
Putting his hands into his
pockets, he stretched out his legs in front of the fire and laughed
heartily for some minutes
“Well, really!” he cried, and then he choked and laughed again until he
was obliged to lie back, limp and helpless, in the chair
“What is it?”

“It’s quite too funny
I am sure you could never guess how I employed
my morning, or what I ended by doing.”

“I can’t imagine
I suppose that you have been watching the habits, and
perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler.”

“Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual
I left the house a little after eight o’clock this morning in the
character of a groom out of work
There is a wonderful sympathy and
freemasonry among horsey men
Be one of them, and you will know all
that there is to know
It is a _bijou_
villa, with a garden at the back, but built out in front right up to
the road, two stories
Large sitting-room on
the right side, well furnished, with long windows almost to the floor,
and those preposterous English window fasteners which a child could
open
Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window
could be reached from the top of the coach-house
I walked round it and
examined it closely from every point of view, but without noting
anything else of interest
“I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that there
was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the garden
“Oh, she has turned all the men’s heads down in that part
She is the
daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet
So say the
Serpentine-mews, to a man
She lives quietly, sings at concerts, drives
out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for dinner
Seldom
goes out at other times, except when she sings
Has only one male
visitor, but a good deal of him
He is dark, handsome, and dashing,
never calls less than once a day, and often twice
Godfrey
Norton, of the Inner Temple
See the advantages of a cabman as a
confidant
They had driven him home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews,
and knew all about him
When I had listened to all they had to tell, I
began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think
over my plan of campaign
“This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the matter
What was the relation between
them, and what the object of his repeated visits
Was she his client,
his friend, or his mistress
If the former, she had probably
transferred the photograph to his keeping
If the latter, it was less
likely
On the issue of this question depended whether I should
continue my work at Briony Lodge, or turn my attention to the
gentleman’s chambers in the Temple
It was a delicate point, and it
widened the field of my inquiry
I fear that I bore you with these
details, but I have to let you see my little difficulties, if you are
to understand the situation.”

“I am following you closely,” I answered
“I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab drove up
to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out
He was a remarkably
handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached—evidently the man of whom
I had heard
He appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman
to wait, and brushed past the maid who opened the door with the air of
a man who was thoroughly at home
“He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch glimpses of
him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and down, talking
excitedly, and waving his arms
Presently
he emerged, looking even more flurried than before
It hadn’t
pulled up before she shot out of the hall door and into it
I only
caught a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was a lovely woman, with
a face that a man might die for
Monica, John,’ she cried, ‘and half a sovereign if
you reach it in twenty minutes.’

“This was quite too good to lose, Watson
I was just balancing whether
I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her landau when a
cab came through the street
The driver looked twice at such a shabby
fare, but I jumped in before he could object
Monica,’ said I, ‘and half a sovereign if you reach it in twenty
minutes.’ It was twenty-five minutes to twelve, and of course it was
clear enough what was in the wind
I don’t think I ever drove faster, but the others
were there before us
The cab and the landau with their steaming horses
were in front of the door when I arrived
I paid the man and hurried
into the church
There was not a soul there save the two whom I had
followed and a surpliced clergyman, who seemed to be expostulating with
them
They were all three standing in a knot in front of the altar
I
lounged up the side aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a
church