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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle Public domain text from Project Gutenberg. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle Contents I. A Scandal in Bohemia II. The Red-Headed League III. A Case of Identity IV. The Boscombe Valley Mystery V. The Five Orange Pips VI. The Man with the Twisted Lip VII. The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle VIII. The Adventure of the Speckled Band IX. The Adventure of the Engineer s Thumb X. The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor XI. The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet XII. The Adventure of the Copper Beeches I. A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA I. To Sherlock Holmes she is always _the_ woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, 1 were abhorrent to his cold, precise but admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They were admirable things for the observer excellent for drawing the veil from men s motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and that woman was the late Irene Adler, of dubious and questi…

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Page 240 of 299, printed 240

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Lord St. Simon, said he allow me to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I think, you have already met. At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was one which it was hard to resist. You re angry, Robert, said she. Well, I guess you have every cause to be. Pray make no apology to me, said Lord St. Simon bitterly. Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just didn t know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn t fall down and do a faint right there before the altar. Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave the room while you explain this matter? If I may give an opinion, remarked the strange gentleman, we ve had just a little too much secrecy over this business already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to hear the rights of it. He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. Then I ll tell our story right away, said the lady. Frank here and I met in 84, in McQuire s camp, near the Rockies, where Pa was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to nothing. The richer Pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last Pa wouldn t hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took me away to Frisco. Frank wouldn t throw up his hand, though; so he followed me there, and he saw me without Pa knowing anything about it. It would only have made him mad to know, so we just fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and make his 240

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The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes