第1章

A Scandal in Bohemia

To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman.

I have seldomheard him mention her under any other name.

In his eyes sheeclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.

It was not thathe felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler.

All emotions,and that one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise butadmirably balanced mind.

He was, I take it, the most perfectreasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but asa lover he would have placed himself in a false position.

Henever spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer.They were admirable things for the observer --excellent for draw-ing the veil from men's motives and actions.

But for the trainedteasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finelyadjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor whichmight throw a doubt upon all his mental results.

Grit in asensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-powerlenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in anature such as his.

And yet there was but one woman to him,and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and ques-tionable memory.

I had seen little of Holmes lately.

My marriage had drifted usaway from each other.

My own complete happiness, and thehome-centred interests which rise up around the man who firstfinds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient toabsorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every formof society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodg-ings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternatingfrom week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsi-ness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature.He was still, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, andoccupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers ofobservation in following out those clues, and clearing up thosemysteries which had been abandoned as hopeless by the officialpolice.

From time to time I heard some vague account of hisdoings: of his summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoffmurder, of his clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinsonbrothers at Trincomalee, and finally of the mission which he hadaccomplished so delicately and successfully for the reigningfamily of Holland.

Beyond these signs of his activity, however,which I merely shared with all the readers of the daily press, Iknew little of my former friend and companion.

One night --it was on the twentieth of March, 1888 --I wasreturning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned tocivil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street.

As Ipassed the well-remembered door, which must always be associ-ated in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents ofthe Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to seeHolmes again, and to know how he was employing his extraordi-nary powers.

His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as Ilooked up, I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in a darksilhouette against the blind.

He was pacing the room swiftly,eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest and his hands claspedbehind him.

To me, who knew his every mood and habit, hisattitude and manner told their own story.

He was at work again.He had risen out of his drug-created dreams and was hot uponthe scent of some new problem.

I rang the bell and was shownup to the chamber which had formerly been in part my own.

His manner was not effusive.

It seldom was; but he was glad,I think, to see me.

With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindlyeye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case ofcigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner.Then he stood before the fire and looked me over in his singularintrospective fashion.

"Wedlock suits you," he remarked.

"I think, Watson, thatyou have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." "Seven!" I answered.

"Indeed, I should have thought a little more.

Just a triflemore, I fancy, Watson.

And in practice again, I observe.

Youdid not tell me that you intended to go into harness." "Then, how do you know?" "I see it, I deduce it.

How do I know that you have beengetting yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsyand careless servant girl?" "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much.

You wouldcertainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago.

Itis true that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in adreadful mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imaginehow you deduce it.

As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and mywife has given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how youwork it out." He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous handstogether.

"It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on theinside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, theleather is scored by six almost parallel cuts.

Obviously they havebeen caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped roundthe edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it.Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out invile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey.

As to your practice, if agentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with ablack mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and abulge on the right side of his top-hat to show where he hassecreted his stethoscope, I must be dull, indeed, if I do notpronounce him to be an active member of the medical profession." I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explainedhis process of deduction.

"When I hear you give your reasons,"I remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridicu-lously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at eachsuccessive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until youexplain your process.

And yet I believe that my eyes are as goodas yours." "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwinghimself down into an armchair.

"You see, but you do notobserve.

The distinction is clear.

For example, you have fre-quently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." "Frequently." "How often?" "Well, some hundreds of times." "Then how many are there?" "How many? I don't know." "Quite so! You have not observed.

And yet you have seen.That is just my point.

Now, I know that there are seventeensteps, because I have both seen and observed.

By the way,since you are interested in these little problems, and since youare good enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experi-ences, you may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet ofthick, pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open uponthe table.

"It came by the last post," said he.

"Read it aloud." The note was undated, and without either signature or address.

"There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight o'clock [it said], a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a matter of the very deepest moment.

Your recent services to one of the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which can hardly be exagger-ated.

This account of you we have from all quarters re-ceived.

Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask.

"This is indeed a mystery," I remarked.

"What do youimagine that it means?" "I have no data yet.

It is a capital mistake to theorize beforeone has data.

Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories,instead of theories to suit facts.

But the note itself.

What do youdeduce from it?" I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which itwas written.

"The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," Iremarked, endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes."Such paper could not be bought under half a crown a packet.

Itis peculiarly strong and stiff." "Peculiar --that is the very word," said Holmes.

"It is not anEnglish paper at all.

Hold it up to the light." I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and alarge "G" with a small "f" woven into the texture of the paper.

"What do you make of that?" asked Holmes.

"The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." "Not at all.

The 'G' with the small 't' stands for 'Gesell-schaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a customarycontraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for 'Papier.'Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental Gazetteer."He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves.

"Eglow,Eglonitz --here we are, Egria.

It is in a German-speakingcountry --in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad.

'Remarkable asbeing the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerousglass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do youmake of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great bluetriumphant cloud from his cigarette.

"The paper was made in Bohemia," I said.

"Precisely.

And the man who wrote the note is a German.

Doyou note the peculiar construction of the sentence --'This ac-count of you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchmanor Russian could not have written that.

It is the German who isso uncourteous to his verbs.

It only remains, therefore, to dis-cover what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemianpaper and prefers wearing a mask to showing his face.

And herehe comes, if I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs andgrating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at thebell.

Holmes whistled.

"A pair, by the sound," said he.

"Yes," he continued,glancing out of the window.

"A nice little brougham and a pairof beauties.

A hundred and fifty guineas apiece.

There's moneyin this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." "I think that I had better go, Holmes." "Not a bit, Doctor.

Stay where you are.

I am lost without myBoswell.

And this promises to be interesting.

It would be a pityto miss it." "But your client --" "Never mind him.

I may want your help, and so may he.Here he comes.

Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give usyour best attention." A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairsand in the passage, paused immediately outside the door.

Thenthere was a loud and authoritative tap.

"Come in!" said Holmes.

A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feetsix inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules.

Hisdress was rich with a richness which would, in England, belooked upon as akin to bad taste.

Heavy bands of astrakhan wereslashed across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat,while the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulderswas lined with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with abrooch which consisted of a single flaming beryl.

Boots whichextended halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at thetops with rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaricopulence which was suggested by his whole appearance.

Hecarried a broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore acrossthe upper part of his face, extending down past the cheekbones,a black vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that verymoment, for his hand was still raised to it as he entered.

Fromthe lower part of the face he appeared to be a man of strongcharacter, with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chinsuggestive of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy.

"You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and astrongly marked German accent.

"I told you that I would call."He looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which toaddress.

"Pray take a seat," said Holmes.

"This is my friend andcolleague, Dr.

Watson, who is occasionally good enough to helpme in my cases.

Whom have I the honour to address?" "You may address me as the Count Von Kramm, a Bohemiannobleman.

I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is aman of honour and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter ofthe most extreme importance.

If not, I should much prefer tocommunicate with you alone." I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushedme back into my chair.

"It is both, or none," said he.

"Youmay say before this gentleman anything which you may say tome." The Count shrugged his broad shoulders.

"Then I must be-gin," said he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for twoyears; at the end of that time the matter will be of no importance.At present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight itmay have an influence upon European history." "I promise," said Holmes.

"And I." "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor."The august person who employs me wishes his agent to beunknown to you, and I may confess at once that the title bywhich I have just called myself is not exactly my own." "I was aware of it," said Holmes drily.

"The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precau-tion has to be taken to quench what might grow to be animmense scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigningfamilies of Europe.

To speak plainly, the matter implicates thegreat House of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling him-self down in his armchair and closing his eyes.

Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid,lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted tohim as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent inEurope.