Irene Adler wasn't dead. Of course not, she didn't drink her tea after all. Irene's gut told her it was poisoned. Well, no. It wasn't just her gut that told her she didn't want to ingest the liquid in her teacup. Irene was afraid of Moriarty and his friend Moran.
Irene was aware that many poisons, and fast acting ones at that, can course bleeding in the lungs. That little fact kept running around in her head. As well as many other facts about how someone can pass as dead yet be alive as she walked into the restaurant.
She knew that something was up since the attempted bombing of Dr Hofmansthal. Especially given that he was so insistent on her staying with him to check the contents.
As she sat at the table, her eyes couldn't help but look for things that could have been poisoned. Irene assumes that while the pot on her table could be poisoned, not every pot in the restaurant was. Seeing George there was comfort for her, a familiar face. That small flicker of comfort left when Moriarty made his presence known.
As soon as Irene heard Moriarty say, "Taken? Now, that is unfortunate." she decided that she was not going to drink any of her tea. It was the way he said it after all. So Irene bit her tongue and her cheeks to cough the blood into her handkerchief if she needed to. She hadn't out smarted Sherlock Holmes multiple times for nothing. When she looked like was drinking her tea to Moran, she was swallowing her own blood.
There was no way Sherlock Holmes was going to happen to come to her aid this time. But then again, how many time now had there been where Irene got herself in an unpleasant situation and successfully gotten herself out of terrible without anyone's help? Actually that ability was kind of the reason she was in this mess in the first place but no matter now.
This may not have been the smartest or the best plan she had, faking her death and hoping that the tea was in fact poisoned, but it was the only one she could use now.
Irene was always looking for a way out. With every venture she took, Irene always kept an eye out for avenues of escape. Admittedly trying to catch a train after that explosion on the docks was not one of her better ideas. But still, Irene was always looking for a way out. Now, she saw only one way out of this situation.
And Moriarty scared her, which lead her to think about the simplest, most conceiving ways to pass for dead. And that is of course why she chose to meet him in her favourite restaurant. A public place would limit the number of things Moriarty could do to her. Did Miss Adler imagine that something would happen to her? No, she KNEW something would happen to her.
She figured that the tea was poisoned and it would properly be a fast acting, so she couldn't tell anyone anything. Also Sebastian Moran kept eyeing her from across the room. That really unnerved her.
Soon as everyone stood up and left, Irene discreetly started to bite her tongue and cheeks a little more often. No mean feat, especially with an expert marksman in the room. And she had to hold her nerve not make her bite too often.
Once Moriarty said that Irene had 'succumbed to your feelings for him ' and that this wasn't the first occasion that Sherlock had inconvenienced him, she knew that he wanted to hurt Sherlock now. She knew that Holmes had feelings for her. Moriarty knew that too. What could one of the best ways to hurt a man in love be?
Irene Adler actually never, never imagined that Moriarty was actually going to let her leave his employment alive. She knew since the attempt to escape of the train that she was going to have to die one way or another. Once more, if Moriarty desired to release her from his service and let her go, why had he emptied the restaurant of all the other patrons and staff? Unless, of course he didn't want any witnesses to what he planned.
When she got up and made her way to the door, she felt Moran's eyes following her and both Moriarty and Moran waiting for something. So she walked like she was drunk, leaning on tables for support, falling over and bring the dishes with her. Then she started coughing into her handkerchief and she hoped that her dying performance was convincing.
Moriarty and Moran didn't check that she was dead after the performance. Well, to be fair Moran did want to check the body but Moriarty was so sure of the poison that he dismissed the corners if his partner in crime. Moriarty didn't entirely get people, maths he got but not people. He should have trusted his experienced marksman friend and have not listened to his pride and arrogance.
Irene, however, was gratefully for the pride and arrogance Moriarty as she caught a train to Scotland where she planned to hide herself for a few years. Well, Moriarty and Moran did scare her and had never had to fake her own death before. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to do it again. The death performance in the restaurant was bloody well undignified.
And whatever Moriarty had planned, sure she would be safe in middle of Scotland. Shouldn't she?