"Don't tell Watson."
Mrs. Hudson hadn't realized he was there, and she turned from tidying his mess of a desk to look at him, her mouth turned down in a tight frown. "You…"
"Don't tell Watson," Sherlock Holmes repeated, and there was an earnest intensity in his eyes she'd rarely ever seen. "Please, Mrs. Hudson," he begged.
She looked in between the medal in her hand and the detective. The medal was a handsome one, decorated, like her walls, with the initials "V. R." It also had the name of Victoria, and so there was no doubt of where it had come from before it had been abandoned carelessly under a stack of papers. She examined it again, bewildered. "Mr. Holmes, you're not a knight…" she said slowly.
"Not quite," Holmes said softly, taking the medal from her hand and pocketing it. "You are well aware, I think, that I was offered a knighthood. I refused. That is all Watson knows. That is all anyone knows, and I wish to keep it that way."
"And what is it we don't know?" Mrs. Hudson asked, her voice betraying her confusion.
"That it was less of a refusal and more of a… polite negotiation for a lesser status, and a request to keep the whole thing quiet for the sake of my investigations. I am not a liar, Mrs. Hudson. I have not been granted knighthood... but I am a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian order."
Mrs. Hudson gasped. "Mr. Holmes, that's wonderful!"
"Please, Mrs. Hudson, lower your voice. Watson's just upstairs."
"And why shouldn't he know?" Mrs. Hudson demanded. Her tone was insistent, but she respected his wishes and kept her voice low.
Holmes opened his mouth, hesitated, and then spread his arms wide, shrugging slightly as if that was an answer.
Mrs. Hudson crossed her own arms, waiting with the patience of Job.
Holmes sighed, knowing he wouldn't best the good lady. "Mrs. Hudson, you know I am a man who prides himself on treating all men equally be they rich or poor, noble or humble. I have accepted many awards from foreign powers only because it would have reflected badly on England to refuse them. I have neither bowed to nor flattered any of the foreign kings I've met, nor do I act as a sycophant to any of our own rulers. I honor those who deserve honor, and I revere none but God."
Mrs. Hudson nodded. "Myself and these walls bear witness to the truth of that, Mr. Holmes," she assured him.
Holmes paused at her words and looked around him, his eyes gleaming as if he was remembering all those who had come to Baker Street for his help. "Only once have I broken this rule," he murmured. "Only once have I bowed myself and my will to another on the basis of nothing other than their status. And, in this instance, I feel entirely justified. I have always been a good and loyal Englishman; I would have bowed to her even if she wasn't half as great, for half her greatness would still be double that of any other."
Mrs. Hudson's eyes were wide as saucers, and a smile ghosted across Holmes' lips. He nodded, and Mrs. Hudson gripped the edge of the desk to keep herself upright.
"So you see, Mrs. Hudson, though I initially refused a knighthood, when Queen Victoria herself asked to confer an honor upon me, I could do nothing to refuse."
"You had a meeting with the queen," Mrs. Hudson murmured. "Oh, goodness…" she straightened very suddenly. "What did you wear?" she demanded.
Holmes' face colored, and Mrs. Hudson pressed her fingers into her temples.
"That horrible evening suit," she said. "Mr. Holmes! You should have told me! I would have made sure to have your good one back to you."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Hudson, but I didn't want you to know. Either of you."
"Whyever not? Mr. Holmes, I'm so proud, even if you were a rascal about it for not saying anything."
Holmes hesitated again. "Mrs. Hudson... how can you praise the sun for a cloudless day yet fail to thank the wind and the sky?" he asked.
Mrs. Hudson tilted her head and frowned, letting him know whatever hypothetical he was thinking of was lost on her.
He fidgeted. "Why should I alone be praised and not Watson?" he finally said. "This kind of honor is not one that can be shared, but how could I call Watson my equal colleague and yet leave him behind to take all the praise for myself?"
Mrs. Hudson did something then that Holmes did not expect: she began to cry.
"Oh, please, don't do that," he murmured. "I swear to you there was no malice behind my lie. Don't be upset with me. Please, Mrs. Hudson." He leaned down significantly to be at her eye level, offering her penance and his handkerchief to wipe her eyes. She didn't take his offered handkerchief, however, and instead she took both of his hands in hers and kissed his cheek warmly.
"I'm not upset," she assured him. "I'm proud. I've always known you're a great man, even if you do make a bit of a mess wherever you go."
Holmes' face was bright red, and he shrugged, modestly.
"You should tell him, though, dear," she said seriously.
Holmes blinked in confusion. "You just said I was a great man…"
"A great man who does his friend a disservice," she replied sternly. "John Watson will not be envious of you, he will be glad. It has been he, Mr. Holmes, who has praised your name from the first. It is because of him you are so well known."
"I never wanted to be quite this well known," Holmes mused. "But I will consider telling him if you are quite sure it will not cause him to despair, and, of course, so long as it will not end up in one of his dreadful stories."
Mrs. Hudson sighed in exasperation. "He is your friend, Sherlock Holmes." she said. "If he feels undeserving and unacknowledged, you must correct him. But don't keep this a secret. Especially," she emphasized, patting his arm, "if you're going to leave your medal under the papers on your desk for just anyone to find."
For the prompt from sirensbane: A meeting with Queen Victoria.
The Royal Victorian Order was created by Queen Victoria and the honor of membership was given solely at her discretion. There are several different ranks:
Knight or Dame Grand Cross
Knight or Dame Commander
Commander
Lieutenant
Member
People in the two highest ranks are made knights or dames (though ladies were not part of the order until later). The order still exists today.