Butterflies flapped in my stomach when I tried to eat. Mrs. Hudson watched over every bite, so I forced myself to finish everything on my plate. I helped her clean up from the meal and collected the trays from her tenants.
Colonel Forest would not meet my gaze, and I hoped the light of day had made him ashamed to remember his words.
When I would have normally been dusting, I changed out of my school uniform. Whoever was coming to visit must be important, and it would not do to meet them in a wrinkled schoolgirl uniform. The only other gown I had was the green walking one I'd purchased secondhand. Not exactly appropriate for receiving visitors, but it would have to do.
Mrs. Hudson provided me with pins to do my hair, and when I looked in the tiny mirror, I thought I looked rather well.
I'd accomplished it so quickly, I was left with time on my hands. For the next half hour, I entertained Mrs. Hudson by singing. She sat and knitted while I sang whatever song came to mind. I even sang a bit of "Les oiseaux dans la charmille" from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann. Even when I practiced, the high notes were beyond me, though mum could sing it with ease.
Maestro would be furious if he ever learned I'd even sang part of the song for fun.
At the end of a lively show tune, I sank into a curtsy as though I were on stage. Two pairs of hands clapped in applause. "I hate to interrupt such fun," Dr Watsons said. "Holmes says you should come up now."
"I'll put tea on." Mrs. Hudson set aside her knitting and stood up.
Breathing out, I nodded and straightened my shoulders. After everything I had faced, a calm visit in the sitting area of 221B should be easy.
So why was I even more nervous about this than I had been for the evening before?
"Do you know who is coming?" I asked Dr. Watson as we made our way up.
"Holmes hasn't said a word to me about it," the doctor said with a mix of exasperation and fond resignation. "He does love the dramatic."
The colonel was just on his way out when we reached the top of the stairs. He glanced at me and then did a double take. "This way, Miss Norton," Dr. Watson said, gesturing to the door. "Oh, good morning, Colonel. We'll be out of your way in a moment."
"The goings-on in this house!" the colonel muttered, continuing on his way.
What must he think? I tried to imagine how this must look from his point of view. The maid, dressed up to the nines going into the rooms at this hour. I bit back a giggle. If he only knew the truth!
"You are exactly on time," Mr. Holmes said as I entered the gestured to a chair in front of the window. "If you will be good enough to take this seat here."
I did as he said, sitting with all the grace my teacher at Miss Hunter's school would have been proud of. I folded my hands in my lap and crossed my ankles delicately under my chair. "Will you wish for me to pour tea?" I asked.
"A fine idea," Mr. Holmes said with a nod. "Though I don't imagine anyone will be of a mind to enjoy their tea."
"Is there any place you want me?" Dr. Watson asked, glancing about the room. "Shall you need me to take notes?"
"Of course, dear Watson," Mr. Holmes said. He gestured to the corner nearest me. "I need a calm observer to keep any would-be assassins away from Miss Aida. She has been threatened enough and I'm sure she would appreciate a guardian."
I smiled at the doctor as he took up his post next to me. "Fear not, Miss Norton," he said, opening up his notebook. "I doubt any of our guests, whoever they may be, will try to harm you in our presence. But if they do, I shall protect you."
There was no time to respond, for there was a knock. Mrs. Hudson opened the door. "There's several gentlemen here to see you, Mr. Holmes. They say they were invited."
"Indeed they were. Show them in," Mr. Holmes said immediately.
Mrs. Hudson stepped aside and the other players for our story entered. I didn't recognize the first man, with his gray hair and stern expression. The second man was fair haired and tall and just as unfamiliar. The last two were Mr. Ware with Keene, who firmly closed the door.
"Good of you to come, your majesty," Mr. Holmes said, focusing on the second gentleman.
The fair haired man simply inclined his head. He was the king of Bohemia? "Mr. Holmes, I was disappointed to learn that you could not assist me again," he said, his accent German. His eyes shifted to me. "But perhaps you changed your mind?"
Manners drilled into me at school compelled me to rise. "Your Majesty," I said, making a curtsy.
"She looks very much like her mother," the king remarked, glancing at Mr. Ware. "That much is obvious."
"She does not like to be spoken about as if she cannot hear or speak for herself," I said, raising my chin.
My impertinence made the king laugh. "Yes. Just as her mother."
It was difficult to tell whether he meant that as a compliment or not. He glanced around. "Will Irene Adler be joining us?"
"What say you, Herr Meyer?" Mr. Holmes asked, raising an eyebrow at the king's counsellor. "Shall Mrs. Norton and her husband be joining us this morning? They are enjoying your hospitality at the moment, are they not?"
The first man who had entered clenched his jaw. "Perhaps you could tell us what this is all about?" he said, ignoring the question. "I believe you had refused to locate Miss Norton for us. We shall take her with us."
"You shall not," Dr. Watson said immediately, stepping between me and the men. "Haven't you tormented her enough?"
"Torment? What torment?" The King demanded.
Mr. Holmes turned to me. Though uncertain why he wanted me to speak up, I did so. "You are not aware that the gentlemen you are with have attempted to kidnap me on multiple occasions over the past few weeks?" I asked, unable to keep the note of challenge from my voice. "And that last night, they sent a man to kill me?"
The King blinked, a frown furrowing his forehead. "A fanciful story," Mr. Ware said with a scoff. "You, young lady, have read too many novels."
"But I have not," Mr. Holmes said. "Though I was not present when they concocted a story to draw her from her school or when they chased her through London, I was on hand when the gentleman behind you held a knife on her in the street. I was also at Briony Lodge when another attempt was made. Not to mention I discovered Mr. Ware trying to coerce her into accompanying him away from Herr Meyer's home just last evening."
"What is this?" The King demanded, looking from one man to the other. "I did not say such things should happen."
"Did you not?" Mr. Holmes asked, raising an eyebrow. "What do you expect to happen when you tell your councillor that there is a problem that must be removed?"
"I expected them to reason with Irene Adler. She has shown herself to be an intelligent and reasonable woman. Did you not prove that yourself so many years ago?"
From Dr. Watson's telling of the story, I knew Mr. Holmes' opinion of the King of Bohemia hadn't been the highest and I was beginning to see why. Did the King not realize how his own words could be interpreted? Did he not understand that a casually spoken word could be taken the wrong way?
Though I knew it was unforgivably rude, I sank back into my seat. Whatever I had expected to hear, excuses that it was not his fault were not something I was prepared to hear.
"Shall we sit?" Mr. Holmes asked, gesturing to the seat in front of the fireplace. "This may take some time to sort out."
Uncertainly, the gentlemen did as they were told. Dr. Watson sat next to me. Only Keene remained on his feet, close to the door, as though he wanted a way out of the room. I didn't blame him. When nobility and royalty were involved, the lowest man involved could expect to take the brunt of things going wrong.
"When you came here in '88, you did not tell me you had married Miss Adler," Mr. Holmes said bluntly. "I thought I had instructed you to tell me the truth. And yet, you did not confess this detail."
Redness creeped up the King's neck. "It was a joke. Neither of us took it seriously," he answered. "It was a single night's amusement. Nothing more than that."
"Marriage is hardly a joke, Your Highness," Holmes said reprovingly. He held up a paper. "If it was such a joke, why did Irene Adler keep the marriage lines? If it were not a real joke, why disrupt the life of her family now? No, I think the matter is much graver than that."
I couldn't help leaning forward. This was the part of the story I wanted to know most. This and where my parents were. I wanted to hear every word. "Did she not marry herself? The barrister, wasn't it?" the king asked defensively. "She would not have done so if she believed herself married to me."
At that moment, the door opened and Mrs. Hudson brought tea in. "Set it next to Miss Aida, if you would," Mr. Holmes said, gesturing to the table next to me. "You may leave us in her capable hands."
Mrs. Hudson sent a concerned look at me and I smiled to reassure her. Somehow, I didn't think anyone in the room wanted the refreshment, but I would do as I was told.
"This is absurd," Herr Meyer burst out as soon as the door closed behind the landlady. "What right do you think you have to demand explanations from a king? You have found the girl and we will be on our way. Compensation will be delivered as soon as it can be arranged."
It was difficult to pinpoint what changed, but I could swear the temperature dropped in the room. "I see you are not acquainted with the details of my previous interaction with His Majesty," Mr. Holmes said in a low voice. "I do not take on these cases solely for compensation."
"Tea, Dr. Watson?" I asked, picking up the teapot.
The doctor kept his eyes on the group even as he nodded. I didn't blame him. I didn't want to miss anything that might be said. I poured his tea and handed it to him since he didn't indicate if he wanted any cream or sugar.
"You should not interfere in matters you do not understand," Herr Meyer said haughtily.
"The girl is a threat to my kingdom," the king added.
"I think I understand it all too well," Mr. Holmes said. "As I have said, Irene Adler kept her copy of the marriage lines. Why would she do so if it was a jest? If it was a joke, it was a poor one and not something a gentleman would do. Irene Adler's claim that she was a wronged woman makes all the more sense."
"I did not know I would be forced to take the throne so soon," King Wilhelm protested. "If there had been time for my family to know her, to be charmed by her, they would have come around. As it was—" He spread his hands. "It was impossible. I said as much when I came to you before."
"Indeed you did." Mr. Holmes gave a nod. "And yet, you never saw fit to have the marriage, joke or not, annulled before you married. You will know, of course, that she did not marry until you did. She may have erroneously believed you had dealt with the situation."
"She gave her word regarding the photograph," the king muttered as though he were a petulant child. He thrust his hand towards Dr. Watson. "And it was reported she had died. The matter had no further relevance."
"Not until you became aware that not only was Irene Adler alive and well, she had a daughter," Mr. Holmes said sharply. "A daughter of an age to be your own? Or, at least, close enough for there to be speculation that you parented a child with Irene Adler."
The king glanced towards me.
"How did it happen?" Mr. Holmes asked, leaning forward. "I assume it was Herr Meyer who reported this news to you. He met a woman—Lady Trestle, was it?—who told him about Irene Adler's daughter. Who suggested the age of Miss Aida? Lady Trestle, who has a gossiping tongue? Herr Meyer? Did you make the connection?"
"It would not be believed!" Herr Meyer exclaimed. "A grasping adventurous like her would be laughed at. What child of hers could hope to be acknowledged as the heir to a throne? It would bring disdain and mocking onto our country!"
How dare he? Adventuress? Grasping? Words like those could not be used to describe my mother! "And yet here you are," Mr. Holmes said calmly. "Despite no such claim being made, you decided it was too big a risk to be allowed. So you kidnap Mr. Norton and his wife and attempt to do so with Miss Aida."
Why did he keep calling me Miss Aida when before he had called me Miss Norton? Did he suspect... The knots in my stomach tightened and twisted. Did he have proof that this stupid king was my father?
"The throne must be preserved!"
"If you have any concern for Britain, you will hand the girl over to us," Mr. Ware spoke up for the first time. "King Edward will have no wish for the beginning of his reign to be marred by any connection to scandal. Surely you see that."
Dr. Watson choked on his sip of tea, and I bit my lip. While he had been the prince of Wales, the new king of Britain had shown no qualms about living in scandal before he became king. It didn't seem likely that his opinion would change.
"Are you attempting to threaten me?" Mr. Holmes asked, his tone offended.
The question made the man pause. "Mr. Holmes, you are a reasonable man," he then said slowly. "I'm sure some arrangement can be made to satisfy us all."
"What do you require to be satisfied, Miss Aida?" Mr. Holmes asked, turning toward me.
"My parents returned to me," I said immediately. I raised the teapot. "Would any of you gentlemen like some tea?"
No one took me up on the offer, so I poured a cup for myself. "Are you prepared to return Miss Aida's parents to her at this moment?" Mr. Holmes asked, staring at Mr. Ware. "It seems a reasonable request, does it not?"
A knock on the door sounded. "Ah, that will be my other guests," Mr. Holmes said, standing up. "Come in, Inspector Gregson."
But when the door opened, it was not a police inspector who stepped through. It wasn't even a man.
It was my mother.