"What do you think of Billy's story?" I asked as we turned back from the windows overlooking Baker Street. "I am afraid that the young man has simply been jilted."
He nodded. "Possibly. However, one visit to the young lady's home will do no harm. We may find that the story presents more features of interest than we now know." Finally, I thought, Holmes is beginning to take an interest in his work again. If the past few months had not been easy for me, they must have been intolerable for my friend. Whereas Holmes had always been inexhaustably keen on what he called "the game," the last case he had handled was the delicate matter I mentioned earlier for the King of Bohemia, for which he was exceptionally well paid. It is a lucky thing that he was not needful of money in the next few months, for after that case he seemed to lose his interest in sleuthing. In all the time I have known Sherlock Holmes, he has never had his head turned by a woman - never but once.
Irene Adler, the American operatic singer who threatened the comfortable propriety of European nobility through her dalliance with the King, was a beauty, but it was not her physical aspect that fascinated Holmes. In fact, he did not seem to notice her at all other than as a figure in a case he was solving, until the last. At the King's urgent plea, he had observed her actions and constructed an elaborate trick, in which I was recruited to play a part, to impel her to reveal the whereabouts of a photograph of her with the King. The trick worked, as Holmes' schemes usually do, and he was prepared to return the next morning to her lodgings to spirit away the photograph. To his utter astonishment, and mine, when we arrived we found she had seen through the ruse and fled with her new husband, and the photograph, to the continent. For Holmes she left a letter which said, in part:
As to the photograph, your client may rest in peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to possess; and I remain, dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes,
Very truly yours,
Irene Norton, nee Adler.'
Holmes had kept this letter, and the accompagnying portrait of Irene. He was cold to the King from that moment with no explanation then or ever. I believe he had recognized the superior worth of Miss Adler, whom the King had cast away in favor of a young woman he found more suitable as a Queen. Holmes had only rarely referred to the case since then, and Irene was always spoken of as the woman. I had only once made the mistake of speaking of her lightly, jokingly calling her his "lost love." He'd nearly bitten my head off for that, and then not spoken to me or anyone else for a week. He was a dissatisfied man. Most alarmingly, since then he had not seemed interested in any other cases. I was concerned that the one situation capable of bringing him back into good spirits revolved somehow around the Bohemian King, but his positive reaction to the more mundane problems of Billy the stablehand reassured me that indeed he was awakening from his hibernation.
A moment later Nanny came back into the room. "She's fast asleep." Nanny looked around the room as if for the first time, her mouth pursing slightly as she took in the general disorder. Holmes had continued to drop newspapers on the floor by his chair and his desk, and the Times lay in a growing heap with the Daily Chronicle, St. James and the Pall Mall Gazette. I had made an attempt to bring all our used dishes into the kitchen, though I admit once I got them there I just left them lying about. Exactly what to do with dirty dishes was something Mrs. Hudson had not had time to explain, therefore I continued to put it out of my mind as I found new places to stack them.
Under Holmes' gaze, Nanny began bundling up the pile of newspapers. In a very short time the room looked much improved. She continued, rearranging the chairs around our dining table and picking up some silverware which had unaccountably found its way onto the floor. Holmes scowled ominously when she started putting his reference books, left wherever they had been used, back on the shelves, but when she next fixed a disapproving eye on the chemistry set he could keep silent no longer.
"Would you stop that infernal cleaning? Everything in the room is exactly where I would like it to be right now." Nanny straightened and brushed back a stray wisp of hair.
"Why don't I fix us all a nice cup of tea?" Holmes and I nodded assent, I a bit more enthusiastically than he. She disappeared into the kitchen, and I cringed to think of the state in which she found that room.
To my astonishment, Holmes said, "I think I'll just go have a small look at Madeleine."
"Holmes, can it possibly be that you are becoming attached to that infant?"
"Don't be absurd. We simply have a responsibility to see that she is well cared for and safe until we can determine whom she belongs to." He tiptoed from the room in the direction of my chamber.
Presently Nanny reappeared with the teapot on a tray with some cups and a tin of sweet biscuits she had found.
"After the baby is awake and has had her lunch, I'll go out to the park with her," said Nanny.
Holmes was just emerging from my chamber. "Watson will accompany you."
Nanny started to protest, but I spoke first. "I had planned to go up to Crooked Branch Lane to see Billy's fiancee's mother," I said.
"That will have to wait until tomorrow. I do not feel I can leave the flat now, as a communication relating to Madeleine may come at any moment. Therefore you must go with Nanny. Excuse me," he continued, disappearing out our front door.
"Yes, why don't you come along with me," agreed Nanny in a sudden change of heart.
"So, it is settled," Holmes said, reappearing in the doorway. I really did not understand his insistence, as Nanny seemed to me to be more than capable of handling Madeleine on her own. Nevertheless he was insisting, and the idea of spending an afternoon in the company of a charming young woman was not entirely disagreeable to me. Thus there was nothing left for me to do but agree, and address myself to the toothsome biscuits before me.
"What a glorious day!" I hooked my thumbs in my vest pockets as I strolled along beside Nanny through Hyde Park. The vendors were out in great numbers, selling all manner of delicacies. The odors of hot eels mingled with those of fried fish, gingerbread nuts and saloop, that mixture of sassafras, sugar and milk children love. Though we had recently finished lunch I was nearly tempted by an old woman selling Coventries from a wooden box.
"You really don't want that right now," I reminded myself. Turning away from the view, I took in the sights of the park. Green lawns stretched before us, intersected by tree-lined paths. Horseback riders clopped down these paths, carefully avoiding the more populated areas. Families and pairs of people sauntered along, the ladies dressed in a riot of ruffles, flounces and frills of all shapes and colors. I regarded Nanny as she pushed along the pram and thought that her simple dress seemed more lovely than all the elegant creations of the others. I felt we made a fine looking family, and indeed more than one head turned our way as we walked. I did not credit this to any special qualities in myself, but was aware that both Nanny, proud in her plumed hat, and Madeleine, with her lace-trimmed white bonnet monogrammed M S N, were extremely pleasant to look at. In fact, I thought ruefully, the people looking at us were probably wondering how an average man like myself had managed to persuade such a charming young lady to marry me and produce this exquisite child. Despite this, I was so pleased by my daydream that Nanny had to speak twice to get my attention.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"They are selling ices over there at the Pavillion, wouldn't you like to try one?"
At Nanny's request my resolve melted instantly. I'd never had an ice before, the day was warm and it seemed quite the thing for a family man to do. "Shall we go over and see?"
"Why don't you go and we'll wait here. It's something of a crush over there, anyway."
I made my way through the throngs of people around the Pavillion, aiming for a large, colorfully painted sign advertising ices in various flavors. Lemon, chestnut, rhubarb or clove? They all looked good to me, but perhaps Nanny had a preference. I looked back to where I had left her with Madeleine, hoping to catch her attention and signal to the sign listing the flavors. I did not see her right away, but after a moment I caught sight of her with the pram some little distance away from where we had been standing. She was walking, not quickly but purposefully, down a path leading toward the Serpentine. With a sudden foreboding I began pushing through the crowd, not noticing the people I carelessly shoved or knocked into, trying to break through to where I could increase my pace. Finally I reached the edge of the knot of humanity and began hurrying in Nanny's direction, calling after her. Where could she be going? We had not told her of the danger Madeleine might be in, but she could have overheard us talking about the case when she was putting the baby down for a nap that morning. I had noticed that she had stayed in my room for a much longer time than would have been necessary simply to place Madeleine in her bed. At the time, I ascribed her action to simple courtesy, as Billy had shown up and we were discussing his case in the sitting room. But perhaps she had seen something, or read something in my chamber - what could it be? She must have sensed some danger in the Park and, unable to call to me surrounded as I was by a hive of activity, she was acting on her own to protect the baby. Although I could not see anyone chasing her, she was running as best she could, plume bobbing in the breeze, and I followed without regard for what would happen next. Remembering now, it is still an embarrassment to me to think of how trusting I was of that young woman simply because she looked too young and charming to do evil.
I stumbled over a branch, and by the time I had regained my balance Nanny had disappeared around a bend behind a stand of trees. Craning my neck to try to catch sight of her, I broke into a run and succeeded only in losing my hat to the wind. Foliage, horses and people flew past my vision as I careened along, praying that I wouldn't trip, for now to do so would mean serious injury. Finally I rounded the bend myself, nearly knocking over a fried fish cart, and was rewarded by a view of Nanny pushing the perambulator over a wooden bridge ahead. The distance between us was less than it had been, thanks not to any speed on my part but simply to the fact that she was pushing a heavy carriage. Past the bridge, she reached a fork in the path, and from where I was I could suddenly see a figure dressed in black waiting behind a high hedge a short distance down the path on the left.
"Nanny! Go to the right. To the RIGHT!" I yelled, but she either did not hear or did not heed, for she chose the left fork and rolled the pram right up to the hedge. The figure stepped calmly out onto the path, and though at that distance I could not discern his features, but I could see that in profile he had the look of a hawk about him. Nanny looked up questioningly into his dark face, for he stood blocking her path with his imposing form. Hoping to close the distance between us I dashed across the bridge, its wooden planks clattering under my boots. But before I could reach them, to my complete shock and horror, instead of trying to get away Nanny lifted Madeleine from the perambulator and willingly handed her to the man. He grasped her firmly in his arms and began a swift retreat down the path as Nanny hastened back along the other direction pushing the pram before her.
She had tricked us. That sweet, lovely young woman was an agent of the enemy. Though my ankle was beginning to ache badly, I continued running after the sailing black cloak of the hawk faced man. I was no longer interested in following Nanny. She clearly had fulfilled her purpose, and I was sure we would never see her again. Now it was the mysterious man in black I had to chase. Unfortunately, even though he was carrying the child he was a swifter runner than I. My ankle has never been completely whole since I took the Jezail bullet at the battle of Maiwand, and though normally it does not hamper my mobility, now I found myself falling some distance behind. He knocked down a strolling couple in his mad rush, not even pausing for a moment to see if he'd hurt them. My chest felt like it was going to burst and my breath came in wheezes, but I pushed myself to continue. I could never return home if I lost this baby, whom Holmes had entrusted to my care. The gap between us had increased still more, and I felt my chances of recovering Madeleine slipping away. But just as I was beginning to truly despair, the wonder occurred.
The man I was chasing was heading for a brougham I could see waiting some distance ahead. He never reached it. For as he passed a couple on horseback, a figure suddenly emerged from behind one of the horses to block his path. It was Holmes. With his long coat and top hat, he seemed for an instant to wait politely, even elegantly, for his adversary to arrive. This appearance was drastically altered when, as the man in black approached him, Holmes suddenly dropped into the stance familiar to me from baritsu, the Japanese form of wrestling Holmes had learned and found useful in the past.
Limping up the last few yards which separated me from the two men, I stopped short as if by an invisible barrier. I did not attempt to assist Holmes in any way, knowing that the best aid I could give was to stand by ready for any orders he might shout at me. However, none were forthcoming. Instead, Holmes performed one of the neatest tricks of wrestling I have seen. The man in black rushed at Holmes as if to knock him out of the way, lowering one shoulder as a battering ram. With the collision imminent, Holmes stretched out one foot, hooking it around the other man's ankle, and yanked it toward him, at the same time thrusting the heel of his hand against the man's shoulder. Losing his balance, his foe flung out one arm to steady himself. This arm Holmes grabbed and twisted round the man's back, scooping Madeleine out of his other arm as pain caused him to loosen his grip. It happened so fast that it almost appeared to me, as it must have to the gawking couple on the horses, that he simply reached out and plucked the baby from the other man's arms.
With Madeleine safe in his own grasp, Holmes flung the other man to the ground by the arm he still held twisted behind his adversary's back. The black cape fluttered down over the aquiline face and its owner pawed at it to get it away as he struggled to his feet. But Holmes was not waiting for him. He leaped back, ignoring my presence completely, and jumped into a hansom which had materialized at that moment. The door swung shut behind him and the carriage sped away down the path. I stood, nonplussed, staring at the spot where Holmes had been a second ago. The man in black did not wait for me to recover my senses, but took to his heels and disappeared down the path, leaving me standing alone in the middle of Hyde Park feeling inane. I looked around and saw to my dismay that a small crowd had gathered in curiosity, drawn from the Pavillion area by the sight of a grown man giving chase to a young woman with a perambulator.
"Go on," I said, waving at the air with both hands. "There is nothing to see." Once again, I thought exasperatedly, Sherlock Holmes has left me looking the dolt. He must have known, somehow, that Nanny was more than she appeared to be. As I slowly made my way through the crowd, I wondered how he had known. She must have said something, done something to arouse his curiosity. Whatever it was, I had missed it entirely. Limping along on my aching ankle, I headed back home the way I had come, stopping along the route to retrieve my hat.