Today's Prompt: Everyone's got their secrets- what's the hidden side of Mrs. Hudson never written? (from ThatSassyCaptain)
"It's the second time this month," Watson remarked as he was sitting down to breakfast.
Holmes glanced up from the paper with a noncommittal noise of acknowledgement. He had already moved on to the sitting room and was curled up in his usual chair by the fireplace. After a moment of the quick scrutiny for which he was so well known, he said, "Yes, Mrs. Hudson has been traveling more frequently of late."
"Do you happen to know where she's been going?" Watson asked, with a touch of suspicion that he was the only one left out of the loop.
Holmes laughed. "Not off hand, no, but it shouldn't be difficult to deduce where our esteemed landlady goes, abandoning us to the care of her obliging neighbors. What do you make of it Watson? Clearly you've made some observations of your own."
"Well," Watson answered hesitantly, "She hasn't given much advance notice, perhaps it's some urgent family trouble. The unusual packages I've seen her carrying might be gifts."
"Excellent!" Holmes declared. "Very reasonable conclusions. The odd hours of her departure are well in line with your theory. One could even guess it to be something embarrassing or otherwise best kept quiet. However, I hope your estimation of Mrs. Hudson's character is not so poor as to think that her recent good mood would coincide with such misfortune."
"What do you make of it then?" Watson asked with a bit of a challenge in his voice.
"I would suppose a more lighthearted affair. In that light, her stealth suggests a rendez-vous; a secret romance perhaps, the package a gift for her suitor. It is not so unlikely, Watson. In fact, there are many smaller, more subtle points that confirm my supposition."
"Why, that's wonderful!"
"We will see what changes this gentleman brings to our little sanctum."
Mrs. Hudson soon returned and life on Baker Street continued as usual.
However, one evening, Holmes remarked, standing by the window with his back to Watson, "I fear we may be without our landlady again for a few days."
"Oh, is she visiting her suitor again?" Watson asked from his usual place by the fireplace.
"It appears so."
"Mrs. Hudson at least deserves some happiness," Watson protested.
"Have you observed her to be particularly happy today?"
"I suppose not."
"I likewise have not seen any evidence of the anticipation one might expect before such a visit. And she glanced around rather furtively upon her departure just now."
"You're sure she's going to see him?"
"She could be going nowhere else dressed as she is. I wonder…" Holmes trailed off.
"What is it?"
Holmes waved off Watson's concern. "It's probably nothing, but we ought to keep an eye on our dear landlady nonetheless."
Some time later, Watson returned home from a quick outing. Holmes was away on an investigation and would not return for several hours.
The door swung open and inside stood Mrs. Hudson, frozen as though caught red handed. For a long moment they stared at each other in stunned silence, waiting for the other to break it.
Finally, Mrs. Hudson brushed off her dress and said as though she has been doing nothing more than attempting to bring some order to the chaos of their flat, "Good afternoon, Doctor, welcome back. Well, if there's nothing you need, I best be going. There's mending and cooking to be done." With that she curtsied and took her leave.
Of course, this strange encounter left an uneasy impression on the doctor, but by the time Holmes returned he had other things to think about and without any concrete suspicions it was soon forgotten.
"Holmes, I believe you have a new client," Watson remarked.
Holmes joined him at the window and Watson pointed to a man standing outside their door.
"Perhaps," Holmes said, but he did not sound convinced. "Let us wait and see what he does."
To their surprise, Mrs. Hudson soon came to the door, but instead of waving him in, she shooed him away. He snapped at her and she snapped back, vehemently enough that he ran off in a huff.
"I wonder what he wanted," Watson said with a resigned shrug. He made to return to his chair, but Holmes detained him with a hand on his arm.
"This may be a deeper matter than it appears. I believe a word with our landlady may be in order."
Holmes called for Mrs. Hudson and she appeared, clearly still shaken from the altercation.
"I would be a poor agent of justice in deed if I allowed my own landlady to be mistreated," Holmes said.
She flushed. "You don't need to worry about me, Mr. Holmes. He hasn't done me any harm, but- Well, I didn't want to tell you until I had something more solid, but I suppose I owe you an explanation and it probably is for the best."
Holmes waved Mrs. Hudson onto the settee, and leaned forward with intense interest, his fingers steepled in front of him, as she began her tale.
"I've been seeing a gentleman for a few months now," she explained with a little reluctance. "It was he who was at the door just now. He rather took me by surprise, but in truth I should have been expecting it for some time now. You see, at first he seemed very propper and kind. Few men take an interest in the life of women, especially not a boring old hen like myself, so I couldn't but appreciate the way he listened so intently to me. He asked a lot of questions, and at first I was flattered, but it didn't take long for me to notice he was more curious about my tenants than was right, you especially, Mr. Holmes. That was when I first suspected it wasn't me he was interested in.
"I didn't dare break things off, not if he was the kind of man who may wish Mr. Holmes ill, and I thought I had been thrown into the perfect position to learn who he really was and what it was he wanted. So I started asking him a lot of questions too. He told me a lot of lies that didn't quite come together, which confirmed my suspicions that he was up to no good. But I did get some real information out of him. I saw his real name and address on some papers. I don't think he has any proper employment, but he's clearly getting a lot of money from somewhere,"
"Excellent, Mrs. Hudson! You've truly outdone yourself!" Holmes exclaimed. "I believe that will be more than enough to catch our man. Rest assured, he won't be troubling you again." Even as he spoke, there was no doubt he would succeed; his eyes gleamed with the thrill of the hunt.