~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Oh, Mycroft, it works, it works!" His older brother murmured something sleepily back. Sherlock had been up all night, writing out what was forming in his mind for many years. He and Mycroft had often played mind games, puzzles, and had tried very often to wit each other out. He had never thought that this process of child's play could be integrated into real- life situations. However, his brother, who will be leaving for Cambridge by train first thing in the morning, was asleep when this amazing step was taken.
Two days later, he appeared at the doorstep of Lord Wilkins' residence with a stack of paper in hand. "Hello, my boy, I see that you have a present for me!" he showed the papers to the amiable old man, whose face brightened continuously as he read. "This is extraordinary! Not quite completed and tested, but indeed extraordinary!" he turned away from the young author, "Aline! Aline! Come over here! Go send for Lady Alinere!" 'What?! Well! She's a girl. She has no place in this scientific breakthrough.' Holmes was insulted that she was the first one to be informed of it. 'Lord Wilkins was treating this like a joke,' he thought bitterly, 'I'll never come here again even if my father pays me to come.'
"Alinere, read what Mr. Holmes had wrote." She actually read it, word for word, then she glanced up. "Well, what do you think of it? Isn't it extraordinary?"
"It will suffice," she said nonchalantly, throwing a cold glance at the author "however, it needs mass improvement. Mr. Holmes, you have left out a major component in your study."
"Whatever do you mean?" he couldn't help but ask.
"You have given examples of old and young, rich and poor, even smart and stupid men, however, it lacks the component of half of the world's population- women."
"Well, she's right, Sherlock. You did not write a single word on women. What is it, John?" a servant came in, "excuse me for a moment." He left the two alone.
He grinned in a awkward side-way fashion at her after her uncle left, "how can I write about women? I'm not one of them."
"But I am."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite that he had known Lady Alinere for basically two months now, he had believed her to be an empty-headed, officer-loving, and luxury-depending girl like the rest of the "Lot." That night by the bar was wiped entirely out of his head. Her flirting with Mycroft had done most of erasing. His brother had called her the "prettiest, sweetest-tempered thing on the surface of the world." Why don't you just marry her? He almost said to him, but this was Mycroft's description for every girl he had ever met. He believed she must have gone there out of sheer boredom and nothing more. How wrong he was! Females are by far the more obscure of the two sexes.
"A paper on females serves little purpose in my study but as an analogy to my article," he said indignantly.
"Is that what you think of the female kinds, nothing but appendixes to the males?" she started breathing hard, with her face scarlet, "so I see that the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. Following your pater's example like a good little boy."
He looked at her, dumbfounded, "how dare you? I shall not have to endure this impudence from you."
"Yes, because I'm a girl, right? Because my hair is long and I have to wear dresses, because I am weak, because I am not strong enough, because I'm not smart enough for anything!" she closed her eyes and swallowed, "that's what you think, right? Answer me! Right?"
"I have no disrespect for the female sex, I assured you, Lady Aline." He voice was firm and furious, "and I definitely do not follow my father's footsteps. I have uppermost respect and affection for my mother. Although I do not show much devotion to you, Lady Aline, it is because we are not on very good terms, as acquaintances. Also, what my father does or any member of my family do doubtlessly will not concern you."
"Defending your father, I see."
"I am not defending my father! In fact, I don't care what you say of him! If you call him a hundred hideous things, I won't care a shred. He deserves it. On the plus side, I'll even help you to come up with all kinds of 'colorful metaphors' to describe him. He treats my mother badly, and anyone can see that. But only my brothers and I have the pains of seeing it repeated day after day after day!" he took a deep breath, "You cannot judge me by what you make of me, because you don't know my circumstances or me well enough. You don't have the slightest idea of the hell I live through everyday all my life. I hate that man for all the misery he brought us, I shall not and will not defend him, ever." He expected her to cry or apologize after his disgraceful outburst, but she just stood there and looked at him as if she had never seen him before.
"You say that I don't know your circumstances well enough. I know exactly what you had lived through." She sank into a nearby chair limblessly, "why do you think that I live with my uncle?" she sniffed, but no tear came out, "my father abandoned me, he abandoned me because I wasn't the child he wanted, and what did he do? He sent my mother to a mental ward and married another woman," she laughed, "who gave him the son he wanted. And he sent me to England to his brother-in-law when I was three months old. I never met him since. He cares nothing about me or my mother, and I have to live with that."
"I, I'm sorry. What happened to your mother?" he was afraid to know.
"She hanged herself. She actually went crazy in the nut house." Her laughter was vibrant and bitter.
"I, I didn't know. I'm- "
She waved the rest of his sentence away, "now you know why I was so angry. I just thought you might be. you know, like your father. My uncle thinks highly of you, I just don't want him to regret his choice. Now, I don't think he will, I certainly won't."
His voice shook, "Than--- thank you," then he thought for a moment in silence, "my father was never kind to any of us. It was like he had this anger toward us, for no reason. There wasn't a day came by that I didn't feel hate for him and sympathy for my mother. Sometimes, I thought that having no parents at all would be much better than this. Sometimes, I wish I could just die." He didn't want to cry. Not here, not in front of her. He shouldn't have said what he said, either. That streak of devil sometimes ran him free, he couldn't control it anymore.
She smiled at him, "it'll be all right." It will be how he'll remember her for the rest of his life, bitter and sweet, sad and brave.
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What made you do that, Alinere?" her uncle looked displeased. He had gotten an explicit account of the conversation that was passed between the two from a servant. She was to be shown to the world as an empty-headed, officer-loving, and luxury-depending girl like the rest of the lot. Intelligence and passion from a girl brings suspicions, and in their case, suspicions and danger.
She shrugged in a very unladylike fashion, and said, "he revealed to me what he would never have said under any other circumstances. He probably told me more about his feelings than he ever told his mother or brothers," she lifted the white satin curtain a bit and saw the subject of their conversation stepping into a carriage his mother sent.
The old man's eyebrows tightened, "so you thought it was all right to tell him what he ought not to know." He disliked the way that she still could not control her zealous emotions. 'Her time is coming soon, and she still lets her heart to rule over her head.'
"No," she turned her face to him, eyes glaring, "that is not what I think. I think that secrets bind people together, don't you? We need him to be on our side, this was what you told me. He'll learn the truth sooner or later, so why not give him part of the truth now."
Lord Wilkins first grinned, then started laughing. Before he left the room, he told the skinny girl who stood in front of the window, "as the student excels the master, the cycle of the world is complete."
"Oh, Mycroft, it works, it works!" His older brother murmured something sleepily back. Sherlock had been up all night, writing out what was forming in his mind for many years. He and Mycroft had often played mind games, puzzles, and had tried very often to wit each other out. He had never thought that this process of child's play could be integrated into real- life situations. However, his brother, who will be leaving for Cambridge by train first thing in the morning, was asleep when this amazing step was taken.
Two days later, he appeared at the doorstep of Lord Wilkins' residence with a stack of paper in hand. "Hello, my boy, I see that you have a present for me!" he showed the papers to the amiable old man, whose face brightened continuously as he read. "This is extraordinary! Not quite completed and tested, but indeed extraordinary!" he turned away from the young author, "Aline! Aline! Come over here! Go send for Lady Alinere!" 'What?! Well! She's a girl. She has no place in this scientific breakthrough.' Holmes was insulted that she was the first one to be informed of it. 'Lord Wilkins was treating this like a joke,' he thought bitterly, 'I'll never come here again even if my father pays me to come.'
"Alinere, read what Mr. Holmes had wrote." She actually read it, word for word, then she glanced up. "Well, what do you think of it? Isn't it extraordinary?"
"It will suffice," she said nonchalantly, throwing a cold glance at the author "however, it needs mass improvement. Mr. Holmes, you have left out a major component in your study."
"Whatever do you mean?" he couldn't help but ask.
"You have given examples of old and young, rich and poor, even smart and stupid men, however, it lacks the component of half of the world's population- women."
"Well, she's right, Sherlock. You did not write a single word on women. What is it, John?" a servant came in, "excuse me for a moment." He left the two alone.
He grinned in a awkward side-way fashion at her after her uncle left, "how can I write about women? I'm not one of them."
"But I am."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite that he had known Lady Alinere for basically two months now, he had believed her to be an empty-headed, officer-loving, and luxury-depending girl like the rest of the "Lot." That night by the bar was wiped entirely out of his head. Her flirting with Mycroft had done most of erasing. His brother had called her the "prettiest, sweetest-tempered thing on the surface of the world." Why don't you just marry her? He almost said to him, but this was Mycroft's description for every girl he had ever met. He believed she must have gone there out of sheer boredom and nothing more. How wrong he was! Females are by far the more obscure of the two sexes.
"A paper on females serves little purpose in my study but as an analogy to my article," he said indignantly.
"Is that what you think of the female kinds, nothing but appendixes to the males?" she started breathing hard, with her face scarlet, "so I see that the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. Following your pater's example like a good little boy."
He looked at her, dumbfounded, "how dare you? I shall not have to endure this impudence from you."
"Yes, because I'm a girl, right? Because my hair is long and I have to wear dresses, because I am weak, because I am not strong enough, because I'm not smart enough for anything!" she closed her eyes and swallowed, "that's what you think, right? Answer me! Right?"
"I have no disrespect for the female sex, I assured you, Lady Aline." He voice was firm and furious, "and I definitely do not follow my father's footsteps. I have uppermost respect and affection for my mother. Although I do not show much devotion to you, Lady Aline, it is because we are not on very good terms, as acquaintances. Also, what my father does or any member of my family do doubtlessly will not concern you."
"Defending your father, I see."
"I am not defending my father! In fact, I don't care what you say of him! If you call him a hundred hideous things, I won't care a shred. He deserves it. On the plus side, I'll even help you to come up with all kinds of 'colorful metaphors' to describe him. He treats my mother badly, and anyone can see that. But only my brothers and I have the pains of seeing it repeated day after day after day!" he took a deep breath, "You cannot judge me by what you make of me, because you don't know my circumstances or me well enough. You don't have the slightest idea of the hell I live through everyday all my life. I hate that man for all the misery he brought us, I shall not and will not defend him, ever." He expected her to cry or apologize after his disgraceful outburst, but she just stood there and looked at him as if she had never seen him before.
"You say that I don't know your circumstances well enough. I know exactly what you had lived through." She sank into a nearby chair limblessly, "why do you think that I live with my uncle?" she sniffed, but no tear came out, "my father abandoned me, he abandoned me because I wasn't the child he wanted, and what did he do? He sent my mother to a mental ward and married another woman," she laughed, "who gave him the son he wanted. And he sent me to England to his brother-in-law when I was three months old. I never met him since. He cares nothing about me or my mother, and I have to live with that."
"I, I'm sorry. What happened to your mother?" he was afraid to know.
"She hanged herself. She actually went crazy in the nut house." Her laughter was vibrant and bitter.
"I, I didn't know. I'm- "
She waved the rest of his sentence away, "now you know why I was so angry. I just thought you might be. you know, like your father. My uncle thinks highly of you, I just don't want him to regret his choice. Now, I don't think he will, I certainly won't."
His voice shook, "Than--- thank you," then he thought for a moment in silence, "my father was never kind to any of us. It was like he had this anger toward us, for no reason. There wasn't a day came by that I didn't feel hate for him and sympathy for my mother. Sometimes, I thought that having no parents at all would be much better than this. Sometimes, I wish I could just die." He didn't want to cry. Not here, not in front of her. He shouldn't have said what he said, either. That streak of devil sometimes ran him free, he couldn't control it anymore.
She smiled at him, "it'll be all right." It will be how he'll remember her for the rest of his life, bitter and sweet, sad and brave.
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What made you do that, Alinere?" her uncle looked displeased. He had gotten an explicit account of the conversation that was passed between the two from a servant. She was to be shown to the world as an empty-headed, officer-loving, and luxury-depending girl like the rest of the lot. Intelligence and passion from a girl brings suspicions, and in their case, suspicions and danger.
She shrugged in a very unladylike fashion, and said, "he revealed to me what he would never have said under any other circumstances. He probably told me more about his feelings than he ever told his mother or brothers," she lifted the white satin curtain a bit and saw the subject of their conversation stepping into a carriage his mother sent.
The old man's eyebrows tightened, "so you thought it was all right to tell him what he ought not to know." He disliked the way that she still could not control her zealous emotions. 'Her time is coming soon, and she still lets her heart to rule over her head.'
"No," she turned her face to him, eyes glaring, "that is not what I think. I think that secrets bind people together, don't you? We need him to be on our side, this was what you told me. He'll learn the truth sooner or later, so why not give him part of the truth now."
Lord Wilkins first grinned, then started laughing. Before he left the room, he told the skinny girl who stood in front of the window, "as the student excels the master, the cycle of the world is complete."