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A Scandal in Bohemia

“THE WOMAN”

 Publication & Dates:Strand, July 1891The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes. (1st story) 1892Illustrations: Sidney Paget (10)Conan Doyle’s 3rd storyHolmes 16th case

 Story Introduction: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, 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 questionable memory.I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first finds himself master of his own establishment were sufficient to absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries, which had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time to time I heard some vague account of his doings, of his summons to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so delicately and successfully for the reigning family of Holland. Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of my former friend and companion.One night—it was on the twentieth of March, 1888----I was returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the Study in Scarlet, I was seized with the keen desire to see Holmes again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw his tall, spare figure pass twice in the dark silhouette against the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head sunk upon his chest, and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told me their own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which had formally been in part my own.His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner. Then he stood before the fire, and looked me over in his singular introspective fashion.A woman outwits HolmesCase Information

 Date:“one night it was on the 20th of March, 1888.”

 Duration:3 Days

 Crime:Fear of blackmail.

 Client:Wilhelm Gottsreich Sigismond von Ormstein, Grand Duke of Cassel-Felstein, hereditary King of Bohemia. Thirty years old at this time.A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of Astrakhan were slashed across the sleeves and fronts of his double-breasted coat, while the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined with flame-coloured silk, and secured at the neck with a brooch which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended half way up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with a rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence which was suggested by the whole appearance. He carried a broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper part of his face, extending down past the cheek-bones, a black vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower part of his face he appeared to be a man of strong character, with a thick, hanging lip, and a long straight chin, suggestive of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy.“You had my note?” he asked with a deep harsh voice and a strongly marked German accent.

 Victim:None

 Crime Scene:Briony Lodge, drawing-room. The furniture was scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and open drawers. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small sliding shutter.

 Criminal:Irene Adler (“the woman”) Irene Norton, nee Adler.“I found her biography sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew Rabbi and that of a staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep sea fishing.”Born in New Jersey in the year 1858. Contralto, La Scala, Prima donna Imperial Opera of Warsaw, Retired from the operatic stage, living in London.“She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the mind of the most resolute of men.”“I only caught a glimpse of her at that moment, but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for.”“What a woman—oh, what a woman!” cried the King of Bohemia, when we had all three read this epistle. “Did I not tell you how quick and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it a pity she was not on my level?”“From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a very different level to your Majesty.”

 Punishment:None.

 Official Police:None.

 Characters:Count Von Kramm, a Bohemian nobleman, alias used by King.Mr. Godfrey Norton, Miss Adler’s husband of the Inner Temple, and a lawyer.John, Irene Adler’s coachman.

 Others Mentioned:Mrs. Turner. Holmes’ landlady. (Only story with her.)Mary Jane, Watson’s housekeeper.Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, 2nd daughter of the King of Scandinavia, and king’s wife-to-be.

 Locations:Baker Street.Briony Lodge, Serpentine Ave. St. John’s Wood, Miss Adler’s home.St. Monica in the Edgeware road. Church Irene Adler and Godfrey Norton married.

 Locations Mentioned:Hotel Langham, where the King was staying under the alias Count Von Kramm.Chambers in the Temple Godfrey. Norton’s home.Gross & Hankey’s in Regent St., where Norton went before the wedding.Charring-cross train Station, where Irene Norton nee Adler left on 5:15 a.m. train with her new husband.Egria, in Bohemia not far from Carlsbad.Prague.USA, Trenton, New Jersey. Irene Adler’s birthplace.

 Evidence & Clues:Holmes and Watson’s Analysis of the Note“But the note itself. What do you deduce from it?”I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was written. “Such paper could not be bought under half-a-crown a packet. It is peculiarly strong and stiff.”“Peculiar—that is the very word,” said Holmes. “It is not an English paper at all. Hold it up to the light.”I did so, and saw a large E with a small g, a P and a large G with a small t woven into the texture of the paper.“What do you make of that?” asked Holmes.“The name of the marker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather.”“Not at all. The G with the small t stands for ‘Gesellschaft,’ which is the German for ‘Company.’ It is a customary contraction like our ‘Co.’ P, of course, stands for ‘paper.’ Now for the Eg. Let us glance at our Continental Gazetteer.” He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. “Eglow, Eglonitz—here we are, Egria. It is in a German-speaking country—in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. ‘Remarkable as being the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for numerous glass factories and paper mills.’ Ha, ha, my boy, what do you think of that?” His eyes sparked, and he sent up a great blue triumphant cloud from his cigarette.“The paper was made in Bohemia,” I said.“Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you note the peculiar construction of the sentence—‘This account of you we have from all quarters received.’ A Frenchman or Russian could not have written that. It is the German who is so uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts.”“The facts are briefly these: Some five years ago, during a lengthy visit to Warsaw (when he was 25 and only the Crown Prince) I made the acquaintance of the well-known adventuress Irene Adler.”“Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled with this young person, wrote her some compromising letters, and is now desirous of getting those letters back.”“Precisely so. But now—”“Was there a secret marriage?”“None.”“No legal papers or certificates?”“None.”“Then I fail to follow Your Majesty. If this young person should produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is she to prove their authenticity?”“There is the writing.”“Pooh, pooh! Forgery.”“My private notepaper.”“Stolen.”“My own seal.”“Imitated.”“My photograph.”“Bought.”“We are both in the photograph.”“Oh dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an indiscretion.”“You have compromised yourself seriously.”“It must be recovered.”“We have tried and failed.”“Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought.”“She will not sell.”“Stolen, then?”“Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice she has been waylaid. There have been no results.”“And what does she propose to do with the photograph?”“To ruin me.”“But how?”“I am about to be married.”“Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it.”“She lives quietly, sings at concerts, drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for dinner.”“Now it was clear to me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious to her than what we are in quest of.”“She responded beautifully. The photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the right-bell pull.”

 Motive:Revenge

 Timeline:Five years earlier at 25, the King, a Crown Prince, had an affair with Irene Adler.Day 1, Friday March 208:00 p.m., the King calls at Baker Street.Day 2, Saturday March 218:00 a.m., Holmes leaves Baker Street, for Briony Lodge.11:35 a.m., Holmes gets a cab at Briony Lodge for a twenty-minute ride to the Church of St. Monica.11:58 a.m., Irene Adler marries Godfrey Norton at St. Monica in the Edgeware road.11:58 a.m., Holmes stands in as witness “come, man, come only three minutes,3:00 p.m., Holmes asks Watson to meet him in Baker Street. “If you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon, at three o’clock. I should like to chat this little matter over with you.”4:00 p.m., (close upon) Holmes returns to Baker Street, disguised as a drunken groom.5:00 p.m., Irene Adler to meet Godfrey in the park.6:15 p.m., Holmes & Watson leave Baker Street, for Briony Lodge.6:50 p.m., Holmes & Watson arrive at Serpentine-avenue, Briony Lodge when Irene Adler returns from her carriage ride.7:00 p.m., Holmes in the disguise of a clergyman tricks Irene Adler to reveal the location of the photo.7:10 p.m., Holmes rejoins Watson outside near the street corner.Day 3, Sunday March 22The day when the betrothal is to be proclaimed, Irene Adler threatens to send the photograph to the King’s future wife.5:15 a.m., train at Charing Cross, Irene Adler & Godfrey leave for the Continent.8:00 a.m., Holmes, Watson, & the King are at Briony Lodge, thinking they would arrive before Irene Adler is up, to get the photo. She is already gone, but left a note for Holmes in place of the photo.

 Story Conclusion:“My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She left this morning with her husband, by the 5:15 train from Charing Cross, for the Continent.”“What!” Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and surprise. “Do you mean that she has left England?”“Never to return.”“And the papers?” asked the King hoarsely. “All is lost.”“We shall see.” He pushed past the servant and rushed into the drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler herself in evening dress, the letter was subscribed to “Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for.” My friend tore it open, and we all three read it together. It was dated at midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way.“My Dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes:“You really did it very well. You took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire I had not a suspicion. But then, when I found I had betrayed myself, I began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had been told that, if the King employed an agent, it would certainly be you. And your address had been given me. Yet with all this, you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind old clergyman. But you know I have been trained as an actress myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to watch you, ran upstairs, got into my walking clothes, as I call them, and came down just as you departed.“Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and started for Temple to see my husband.“We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might take in the future. I leave a photograph which he might care to possess; and I remain. dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes,Very truly yours,Irene Norton, nee Adler.”“What a woman—oh, what a woman!” cried the King of Bohemia, when we had all three read this epistle. “Did I not tell you how quick and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?”“From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a very different level to Your Majesty,” said Holmes coldly. “I am sorry that I have not been able to bring Your Majesty’s business to a more successful conclusion.”“On the contrary, my dear sir,” cried the King; “nothing could be more successful. I know that her word is inviolate. The photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire.”“I am glad to hear Your Majesty say so.”“I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can reward you. This ring—” He slipped an emerald snake ring from his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand.“Your Majesty has something which I should value even more highly,” said Holmes.“You have but to name it.”“This photograph!”The King stared at him in amazement.“Irene’s photograph!” he cried. “Certainly, if you wish it.”“I thank Your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning.” He bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his chambers.And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a woman’s wit. He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honorable title of the woman.

 Weather:Not Mentioned

 Payment / Credit:“I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can reward you. This ring—” He slipped an emerald snake ring from his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand.“Your Majesty has something which I should value even more highly,” said Holmes.“You have but to name it.”“This photograph!”The King stared at him in amazement.“Irene’s photograph!” he cried. “Certainly, if you wish it.”300 in pounds & 700 in notes. From the King.A sovereign to wear on his watch chain, given to Holmes by Irene Adler at her wedding for standing as witness.Picture of Irene Adler.(following is from The Adventure of A Case of Identity)He held out his snuff-box of gold, with a great amethyst in the centre of the lid. Its splendor was on such a contrast to his homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon it.“Ah,” said he, “I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers.”

 Holmes’ Observation of Watson:“Wedlock suits you,” he remarked. “I think, Watson, that you have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you.”“Seven,” I answered.“Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not tell me that you intended to go into harness.”“Then, how do you know?”“I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting yourself very well lately, and that you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl?”“My dear Holmes,” said I, “this is too much. You would certainly have been burned had you lived a few hundred years ago.” It is true that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess, but I have changed my clothes I can’t imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice; but there again, I fail to see how you work it out”He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands together.“It is simplicity itself,” said he; “my eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost paralled cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you have been out in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted his stethoscope, I must be dull indeed, if I do not pronounce him to be an active member of the medical profession.”

 Quotes:“I only caught a glimpse of her at that moment, but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for.”“There’s money in this case, Watson, if there is nothing else.”“the woman.”Holmes’ defeat: “And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a woman. He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late. And when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her photograph, it is always under the honorable title the woman.”“Though it was surrounded by none of the grim and strange features which were associated with the two crimes which I have elsewhere recorded.”Quotes About Crime & Deduction“It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.”“You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.”“It is simplicity itself,” said he, “my eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey.”“You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.”Holmes“It was not that he felt any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that one particularly, 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 doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his.”“It was not merely that Holmes had changed his costume. His expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner. When he became a specialist in crime.”“So accustomed was I to his invariable success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to enter into my head.”“As to your practice, if a gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge on the side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted his stethoscope, I must be dull indeed if I do not pronounce him to be an active member of the medical profession.”“I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.”“Quite so,” he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself down into an armchair. “You see but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.”“Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.Watson“Wedlock suits you,” he remarked. “I think, Watson, that you have put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you.”“Seven,” I answered.“Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not tell me that you intended to go into harness.”“Then, how do you know?”“I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting yourself very well lately, and that you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl?”“This is my friend and colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me in my cases.”“Stay where you are. I am lost without my Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity to miss it.”“It is both, or none,” said he. “You may say before this gentleman anything which you may say to me.”“I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting yourself very well lately, and that you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl?”

 Notes:Holmes knew that it was the King of Bohemia in disguise.Watson married to Mary Morstan and not living at Baker Street.Watson stayed with Holmes at Baker Street the last night of the case.