sherlock holmes | Page 6

had
listened to all they had to tell, I began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge
once more, and to think over my plan of campaign.
“This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the matter. He was
a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the relation between them, and what
the object of his repeated visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If
the former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his keeping. If the latter,
it was less likely. On the issue of this question depended whether I should continue
my work at Briony Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the
Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the eld of my inquiry. I fear that
I bore you with these details, but I have to let you see my little difculties, if you
are to understand the situation.” “I am following you closely,” I answered.
“I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab drove up
to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a remarkably handsome
man, dark, aquiline, and moustached—evidently the man of whom I had heard. He

ADVENTURE I. A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA
12
appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past
the maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly at home. “He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch glimpses of him
in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and down, talking excitedly, and
waving his arms. Of her I could see nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even
more urried than before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch
from his pocket and looked at it earnestly, `Drive like the devil,' he shouted, `rst
to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to the Church of St. Monica in the
Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if you do it in twenty minutes!' “Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do well to
follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, the coachman with his coat
only half-buttoned, and his tie under his ear, while all the tags of his harness were
sticking out of the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall door
and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, but she was a lovely
woman, with a face that a man might die for.
“ `The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, `and half a sovereign if you reach
it in twenty minutes.' “This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing whether I should
run for it, or whether I should perch behind her landau when a cab came through
the street. The driver looked twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he
could object. `The Church of St. Monica,' said I, `and half a sovereign if you reach
it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-ve minutes to twelve, and of course it was
clear enough what was in the wind. “My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the others were
there before us. The cab and the landau with their steaming horses were in front
of the door when I arrived. I paid the man and hurried into the church. There was
not a soul there save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who
seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three standing in a knot in
front of the altar. I lounged up the side aisle like any other idler who has dropped
into a church. Suddenly, to my surprise, the three at the altar faced round to me,
and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards me.
“ `Thank God,' he cried. `You'll do. Come! Come!'
“ `What then?' I asked.
“ `Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.'
“I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was I found
myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, and vouching for
things of which I knew nothing, and generally assisting in the secure tying up of
Irene Adler, spinster, to Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant,
and there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady on the other,
while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was the most preposterous position
in which I ever found myself in my life, and it was the thought of it that started
me laughing just now. It seems that there had been some informality about their
license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them without a witness of
some sort, and that my lucky appearance saved the bridegroom from having to sally

ADVENTURE I. A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA
13
out into the streets in search of a best man. The bride gave