a/n 1:refers to events in "A Case of Identity", and contains spoilers for that story.
A terza rima
Any mistakes are mine
Feedback, as always, is very welcome.
First section (italics) is POV of Holmes, rest is POV of Watson.
A Family Affair
Life is often stranger than you think;
More complex than the stories we invent,
As motives, past and present, interlink.
~o~
Coincidence, cross-purpose and event
Form wonderful and complicated chains;
Delightful in the challenge they present.
~o~
No work of fiction truly entertains;
As plots seem quite predictable and stale;
Bereft of all the twists real life contains.
~o~
Commonplace encounters never fail
To demonstrate this truth beyond all doubt.
The simplest things can leave the kind of trail
Requiring care and skill to work things out.
A case, perhaps, would help to illustrate
Precisely what is meant by all of that;
And how the simplest tale can stimulate.
~o~
A client in a broad-brimmed feather hat;
Who oscillates quite nervously outside,
Then purposefully, heads towards our flat.
~o~
She enters like a ship upon the tide;
A lady troubled by l'affaire de coeur;
A puzzled and unhappy would-be bride.
~o~
Her groom, one Hosmer Angel, is no more;
He disappeared upon their wedding day
His large and loyal bride left at the door,
Without a reason why he went away.
She tells us of her independent means;
With mother and step father to support,
Till fate (one Hosmer Angel) intervenes.
~o~
A Ball: although she's quite the homely sort;
In purple plush, she's eager for romance;
And thus a Mr Angel's eye is caught.
~o~
Our heroine decides to seize her chance;
They dance, they walk and talk, they meet again.
(Her disapproving father is in France.)
~o~
Her father then returns and makes it plain
That she should stick to home and hearth instead.
She does not have the courage to explain,
That plans are being made for them to wed.
When father heads across to France once more,
Her shy and gentle suitor's quickly there.
He whispers, (as his throat is weak and sore)
~o~
He takes a bible out, and makes her swear;
Regardless of events she'll still be true.
And then, a hasty wedding to prepare.
~o~
And now, she's left alone, what should she do?
What reason could he have to disappear?
She'll wait and watch for him her whole life through.
~o~
My partner seems to think the answer's clear;
She's destined not to be his happy wife.
"Your Mr Angel won't return, I fear.
Erase him from your heart and from your life."
Our client leaves some letters Hosmer sent;
Holmes picks them up to study carefully.
He knows precisely where her bridegroom went.
~o~
I look, but cannot see what Holmes can see;
"The case," he says, "is quite a simple one.
I think it's time her father talked to me."
~o~
Her father wants to know what's going on;
I've rarely seen my partner so enraged.
"I'm now quite certain where that man has gone."
~o~
"It's really quite a nasty war you've waged,
You saw your daughter's money as your prize.
The man to whom your daughter got engaged
Was you, as Mr Angel, in disguise."
"You thought your plan was really rather smart;
To keep her trapped at home by love and grief.
A cynical attempt to break her heart"
~o~
"Your callous disregard's beyond belief;
You used her, to your everlasting shame;
You acted worse than any common thief."
~o~
Her father sneers, "No court will spoil my name,
No action here has broken any law;
I've simply played a harmless little game."
~o~
Holmes stands, unlocks, and opens up the door.
Then steps towards a handy hunting crop.
Her father is not sneering any more;
He runs down Baker Street and doesn't stop.
I cry, "This villain should not get away;
That girl should know he isn't as he seems!"
Holmes smiles, "There's nothing I'm prepared to say;
I'd rather take a tiger cub than spoil a woman's dreams."
~o~
a/n 2: a terza rima (Italian, late 13th century) has 3 line stanzas, with the middle line end rhyme of the first verse being used as the end rhyme in the first and third lines of the next verse, and so on. The last stanza of each section has an additional line to balance the rhyme in the second line, or can be a rhyming couplet. Can be any number of verses.