That evening, we dined with the Watsons, again in the guise of Mr. and Mrs. Drebber. A clumsy young maid greeted us at the door of their home, which also served as the doctor's practice. She took my coat, and led us into the sitting room, where Dr. and Mrs. Watson were awaiting us. The lady of the house hastily put her embroidery aside as we entered, and they both stood to welcome us.

"Thank you so very much for inviting us!" Irene exclaimed, back in the character of Victoria Drebber. "It's a real pleasure to meet you, Dr. Watson!"

"You are very kind," Mrs. Watson insisted.

"The pleasure is all ours." Dr. Watson shook my hand and greeted Victoria with a cordial nod. "Mary said that you were recently in London?"

"Yes," Victoria replied, overflowing with enthusiasm as ever, "Albert and I never miss a chance to reminisce upon the boulevards where we first courted."

"How lovely," Mrs. Watson said, as the maid came to announce that dinner was ready. As we all filtered into the dining room, she asked, "How have you been? Are you enjoying being back in London?"

"Very much so! It's been a real treat being back. Everyone has been wonderful, you and Mrs. Hudson especially. And I had nearly forgotten how lovely the gardens are. We have Central Park in New York, but it's just not the same."

"They are lovely. There's a park right outside our door and we don't go nearly often enough." Mrs. Watson gave her husband a hopeful glance across the table.

Dr. Watson, however, was preoccupied, his attention instead fixed quizzically on Irene. Only belatedly did he reply, "Yes, certainly my dear."

Mrs. Watson frowned, but Victoria appeared immune to the atmosphere, perhaps mercifully so, and eagerly changed the subject, "I have adored your accounts of your adventures with Mr. Sherlock Holmes. It is truly an honour to meet you in person."

"I am flattered to meet such an admirer, but I am merely the biographer; it is Holmes who makes all of his incredible deductions and solves all the cases." Dr. Watson said with a smile.

"What was it like working with Mr. Holmes?"

"He is a remarkable, brilliant man. I was very lucky to watch his work and be privy to his thoughts - to the extent that he gave them to me. I have never met his equal."

As her husband spoke, glowing, I watched Mrs. Watson's face fall, and she tried to occupy herself with her dinner.

"What of Miss Irene Adler?" Victoria put in with perfect innocence. "She bested Mr. Holmes, didn't she? Do you think he's seen her since?"

Watson frowned a little. "I don't believe so, no."

"Oh. That's so sad."

"I'm afraid my words have caused more speculation than they have quelled." Dr. Watson said firmly. "I meant what I wrote in the introduction to 'A Scandal in Bohemia'; Miss Adler was no more than a curiosity to him, remarkable only in her abilities - especially uncommon as they are in a woman. Holmes has had no personal interest in women for as long as I have known him. He finds romance as relevant to himself as the solar system, and harmful to his intellectual capabilities besides." I could not tell if I had detected or imagined a hint of bitterness in the doctor's tone.


After dinner, I joined Dr. Watson in his study while Irene stayed with Mrs. Watson in the sitting room. We spoke of business for a little while, but a doctor and a lawyer only have so much in common, and so we easily turned back to the topic of Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

Dr. Watson had just finished recounting an unpublished adventure with Mr. Holmes when he remarked with a wistful air, "He truly is brilliant. I love Mary more than anything, but it's easy to miss the thrill of adventure when one is safe and comfortable at home."

"Mr. Holmes is a rather eccentric man, isn't he?" I asked as idly as I could.

Dr. Watson narrowed his eyes and I was about to backpedal, but after a moment he seemed to accept my awkward question. "He was madness to live with, if that's what you mean to ask. Perhaps it's on account of his great intelligence, but he is very unusual in his habits and has some difficulty taking the rest of us seriously."

I let out a laugh before I could stop myself. Dr. Watson looked at me in surprise and I hastily explained, "My dear Victoria can be a little sharper than she seems, in some ways at least. Somehow she never ceases to be amazed that what comes easily to her does not come so easily to the rest of us."

Dr. Watson smiled. "Holmes is the same. He was always incredulous about all the things I failed to deduce."

"You have been seeing less of him of late?"

"Last I have heard, he is in Paris, but he could be halfway around the world and I wouldn't know it. I can only hope he doesn't run into something he can't handle, but in his line of work…" Dr. Watson trailed off.

I nodded along. Even though I had accompanied Irene back to London, there was so little I could actually do if things took a more serious turn, as remote as the possibility seemed in that moment. "When you're so much cleverer than everyone else around you, it is easy to forget that you are not invincible."

"And if someone else dares suggest it… At least Mrs. Drebber does not seem to be too proud."

Irene has her pride, of course, but I knew better than to say anything more that might give away her true identity. Instead, I said as naturally as I could, "It is a shame Mr. Holmes has no wife to look out for him."

Dr. Watson seemed taken aback for an instant, and then he gave a dark chuckle. "Sometimes I wish he did, but it is probably for the best that he has no woman to torment. He can be charming enough when he wishes to be, but he would drive a woman to madness with his moods. I don't know how Mrs. Hudson stands him as a tenant."

I may not be half the actor that my dear Irene is, but I could at least see my opportunity and take it. "How did you stand it?"

Dr. Watson sighed. "At times, I think back and don't know how I lived with him for so long, but truly I could not have been more fortunate. I have known no better friend than Sherlock Holmes - and without him, I would have never met my dear Mary."

After that, Dr. Watson resolutely turned to other matters and we soon rejoined the ladies in the parlour for Irene and myself to depart for the evening.

However, before the maid returned with our coats and hats, Dr. Watson broke out of whatever thoughts had been occupying him and turned resolutely to Irene, "Might I have a brief word with Mrs. Drebber?"

Irene's eyes were wide with Victoria's surprise, but she seemed to have the matter in hand as she replied, "Of course, whatever about?"

With a brief glance at me, Dr. Watson led her back into his study.


Irene said little until we were ensconced once more in the privacy of our Baker Street flat. Only then, when we were comfortably settled in the sitting room, did she declare, "A most successful evening! And I have yet to hear your part, Godfrey; what did you learn from the esteemed Dr. Watson?"

"I ought to ask you the same. He must have had some reason for asking you aside so boldly, and I had taken him for an entirely conventional gentleman."

"It appears even the most respectable gentleman cannot live for seven years with Sherlock Holmes and not acquire some bohemian ways."

"Did he tell you?" I asked, quite astonished.

Irene only smiled impishly and silently shook her head. "First things first; what did you learn from the good doctor?"

Reluctantly, I told my tale as recounted above, pausing only to answer Irene's questions. Finally, when she seemed to have no more I asked, "And what did he have to say to you?"

"While you were in the study with the doctor, I was in the parlour with Mrs. Watson," she reminded me with an air of infinite patience.

Resigned, I bade her continue in her own time. "What of Mrs. Watson then?"

"It took some getting around to; one plainly does not get in her good graces by speaking of Mr. Holmes. However, she has much cause for complaint and is dearly in need of a friendly ear, so when at last I had the opportunity to ask with all of our dear Victoria's tact, 'You've worked with Mr. Sherlock Holmes too, haven't you? What was it like?'

"Mrs. Watson answered willingly, if not happily, 'He was kind enough, I suppose. I only met him as a client and for his part he appeared rather immersed in the case. Though he was not so consumed that he could not flaunt his renowned abilities.'

"That agreed with Dr. Watson's account of the case at least - you did read it on the boat over, didn't you Godfrey?"

I dutifully nodded my affirmation.

"One can only speculate why, on that particular occasion, Mr. Holmes was so intent on showing off his abilities. So, I tried another approach; 'What was it like seeing Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson working together?'

"To that, Mrs. Watson replied, 'I would hesitate to call it working together. Mr. Holmes does not treat John as an equal and at times he is even harsh. I know John admires him so, but as his wife it is difficult to see them together.'

"'Is Mr. Holmes never kind to Dr. Watson?' I asked in Victoria's pleading tones.

"'It's difficult to tell. John rarely seems to mind, but even when Mr. Holmes is being kind, it never seems to be without an undercurrent of mockery, or else he is endeavouring to make some manner of point, and the way he looks at John is like he's making a study of an unusual specimen. But the way John speaks of Mr. Holmes, there could be no better person in the world.'

"'Have you seen much of Mr. Holmes since you married Dr. Watson?'

"'From time to time, but I confess that neither of us pretends to savour the other's company. As he is John's dearest friend, perhaps I should make a greater effort, but it is difficult when I cannot shake the feeling that he resents me somehow, as though I were an intruder. John has said it is merely that he has no interest in women outside the cases they bring, but I do not know...' and with that she trailed off."

At last, Irene succinctly concluded, "I tried a few other lines of questioning, but that is about all I was able to gather."

"And what about Dr. Watson?" I asked once more.

Finally, she capitulated with a wry smile, and recounted:

"He very well knew the liberty he was taking. Once we were in his study, the door closed behind us, he faltered, suddenly reluctant to address the purpose for which he had so boldly taken me aside. However, at last, he regained his resolve and said, 'Miss Adler? What are you doing here?'

"I admit that his deduction startled me after everything we have heard about the man. Dr. Watson has plainly learned more from his acquaintance with Sherlock Holmes than he lets on."

Before Irene could continue, I sheepishly confessed, "I may be as much to blame as Mr. Sherlock Holmes; I fear that I let on more about your identity than I had intended."

"Despite your weaknesses as an actor, it would take quite a leap of logic for Dr. Watson to recognize us - unless you said more to the good doctor than you let on in your account of your interview."

"No, I don't think so."

"In any case, what's done is done," Irene said and resumed her tale: "It took but one look at Dr. Watson to tell that he wasn't going to be convinced that he had been mistaken, so I did the only other thing I could do and answered, 'It's Mrs. Norton, thank you.'

"He was hardly deterred and demanded, 'What do you want with Holmes?'

"I deflected, 'You must be aware that his abilities have won him many admirers. Why could I not be among them?'

"He believed it little more than you do, Godfrey, and insisted, 'Holmes has nothing but respect for you, what could you possibly gain by making such inquiries?'

"'I assure you, Doctor, that I have as little quarrel with Mr. Holmes as you say he has with me.'

"'Then why all of this?' Then he hesitated. "What have you found?' For everything, I could not tell whether he meant the latter question as a challenge, a desperate plea, or an honest inquiry.

"I answered honestly, 'Little of note. Mr. Holmes is a man of few friends - you chief among them - with little regard for women; it seems even I have escaped his notice. He easily lends himself to speculation, but there is little indication of whether it is founded. Now, I have a question of my own for you: who might have such a quarrel with Mr. Holmes?'

"Dr. Watson seemed taken aback by the question. 'It would be impossible not to make enemies in his line of work.'

"I pressed, 'Is there anyone of particular note? You are right, I have no reason to make such an inquiry, but I wonder who might have a reason to commission it.'

"At last, Dr. Watson admitted with some reluctance, 'I know little of Holmes's current activities, but there is a blackmailer of whom he has run afoul in the past, only in the course of his work, you understand, but he has impressed upon me that he is a dangerous man nonetheless: Mr. Charles Augustus Milverton.'

"If Dr. Watson is right," Irene concluded, "then it is a serious matter indeed."