第 16 页

In the 1800s, high-society weddings, like St. Simon’s, were lavish affairs, with brides wearing white—a new fashion made popular by Queen Victoria.

THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR 95

My whole examination served to turn my conjecture into a certainty.

Sherlock Holmes

An awkward situation

As usual, Lestrade is fixated on the first solution that presents itself: he thinks Flora lured Hatty away from her guests and then ambushed her. The discovery of a sodden wedding dress in Hyde Park’s lake, with a note written by someone with the initials F. H. M. in its pocket, seems to prove his theory. Holmes is more interested in the fact that it was scribbled on an expensive hotel bill.

As Lestrade becomes ever more confused, Holmes announces that he has already solved the case. To him, two things are obvious: Hatty had been content to go through with the wedding but something had occurred immediately afterwards that made her regret it. She must have seen someone—given her origins, this was probably an American—and whoever it was must have been important to her, most likely a man. These clues enable Holmes to orchestrate a resolution to a story that began years earlier, in the gold fields of California.

Hatty Doran is, in fact, already married—to an American gold miner named Francis (“Frank”) Hay Moulton. She thought he had been killed during an Apache Indian attack, but he escaped and has since made his fortune. Tracking her down on the morning of her second wedding, Frank sneaked into the service and passed Hatty a note, signed with his initials. Shocked and confused to see her first husband alive, Hatty ran to him; Flora accosted her en route, but she ignored her. And, in an attempt to conceal Hatty’s tracks, Frank tossed her wedding outfit in the lake.

Holmes locates the hotel that Frank had just left, and obtains his new address. There he finds the couple and, after hearing their story, encourages them to make peace with St. Simon. Faced with Hatty’s request for forgiveness, the nobleman agrees to shake hands, albeit peevishly.

Holmes as mouthpiece

Among Holmes’s socially diverse clientele, the upper classes do not always emerge particularly well. Lord St. Simon is fussy to the point of “foppishness” about his looks, and he is self-important and not very bright. Holmes takes evident enjoyment in gently mocking his intellect and exposing his various upper-class hypocrisies. However, the duke’s son has escaped lightly compared to Flora. Holmes’s worst characteristic in this story is arguably his careless snobbery in casting off the dancer so unfeelingly.

The story is also an opportunity for Conan Doyle to express his feelings about America. Although it is not always evident from his American villains, he was a great admirer of the US and toured there several times. In 1896, he penned a letter to The Times advocating closer ties with the country. In this story, Holmes gives a voice to his creator’s vision of a future in which Britons and Americans are “citizens of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes.” ■

American heiresses

Britain’s historic country estates were ruinously costly to run, and in the late 1800s the nobility were increasingly trading their titles for money from across the Atlantic. Just as television’s fictional Earl of Grantham saved Downton Abbey through his wealthy American bride, so the real-life Duke of Marlborough secured Blenheim Palace’s future by marrying Consuelo Vanderbilt (pictured) from New York. There was even a quarterly periodical called Titled Americans, listing all the ladies of America who had married old-world aristocrats, along with notable bachelors still on the market.

The American society ladies made their mark in political matters, too. Mary Leiter from Chicago became Vicereine of India and an early conservationist; Nancy Witcher Langhorne from Virginia (whose husband was US-born but ended up a hereditary peer) was later Viscountess Astor, the first woman to sit as an MP; and Jennie Jerome from Brooklyn became Lady Randolph Churchill and Winston Churchill’s mother.

IN CONTEXT

TYPE

Short story

FIRST PUBLICATION

UK: May 1892

COLLECTION

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1892

CHARACTERS Alexander Holder Prominent banker, who lives with his son and niece in Streatham.

Arthur Holder Son of Alexander, and a gambler in serious debt.

Mary Holder

Niece and adopted daughter of Alexander.

Sir George Burnwell

Disreputable friend of Arthur and lover of Mary.

THERE ARE WOMEN IN

WHOM THE LOVE OF A

LOVER EXTINGUISHES

ALL OTHER LOVES

THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET (1892)

T

his story is an excellent exemplar of Holmes and his methodology: logical but instinctive, methodical yet fearless. While those directly embroiled in the case find themselves blinded by suspicion and mistrust, Holmes is able to swiftly apply his ingenious logic and identify the true criminals in a masterful show of deductive superiority. And yet, while the crime is successfully solved, this is one of the few Holmes cases in which the perpetrators escape before they are brought to justice.

The client in question is an eminent banker, Alexander Holder, who has been entrusted with a precious beryl coronet to act as

It appeared to you to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex.

Sherlock Holmes

a guarantee against a substantial loan that is required by one of the “most exalted names in England”— Burdened by the responsibility, Holder takes the coronet back to his house in Streatham. That night, he is disturbed by a noise and wakes to see his son Arthur standing in his dressing room, holding the slightly mangled coronet. Crucially, three of its beryls are missing.

The Holder household

Holder is demented with anxiety and can only conclude that Arthur, an irresponsible gambler, is guilty. Holder is a widower who has overindulged his only child and now has little love for him. Holder reserves his affection for his adopted niece, Mary, an orphan with a loving, discreet, and loyal nature. Arthur is also devoted to Mary, and it is Holder’s dearest wish that son and niece should marry, but Mary has twice refused Arthur’s hand. It also transpires that a handsome and charismatic friend of Arthur’s, Sir George Burnwell, is a frequent visitor to the Holder home.

Holmes is immediately skeptical about Arthur’s guilt; why would he refuse to exonerate himself or give

THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET 97

The Beryl Coronet was one of the 47 silent films (45 shorts and two features) of the Holmes stories made by Stoll Pictures between 1921–23; all starred Eille Norwood as Holmes.

any explanation for the events of the night? How did he break the coronet without any audible noise? And where are the three beryls concealed?

A classic Holmes investigation ensues—various false clues are presented to him, but Holmes refuses to be thrown off the scent. He scrutinizes a windowsill with his magnifying glass, questions Mary, and observes a set of tracks in the snow that tell a complex tale.

Culprit revealed

Matters grow more complicated when Holder discovers a note from Mary telling him that she is leaving. Holmes soon reveals the truth behind her decision—and the crime. The true culprit is Sir George, “one of the most dangerous men in England—a ruined gambler, an absolutely desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience.” The scoundrel has inveigled himself into the household and

The coronet

Coronets are simple crowns worn by the various ranks of the British peerage as well as minor royalty, each rank distinguished by a different configuration of strawberry leaves and silver balls. Beryl is a colorless gemstone that is often tinted by impurities to appear yellow (known as heliodor), green (emerald), red (scarlet emerald), or blue (aquamarine).

The gold coronet that features in this story, adorned with 39 “enormous” beryls, is

become Mary’s lover. He persuaded her to steal the coronet and pass it to him through a window. Arthur had witnessed the theft, pursued Sir George and grappled him for the coronet, leaving evidence of their struggle in the snow. The coronet had been damaged in the skirmish, and Arthur was trying to straighten it before returning it to his father’s

unusually elaborate. The man who entrusts Holder with the coronet estimates that it is worth around £100,000 ($12 million today), at least twice the value of the loan drawn on it. The reader does not learn the identity of the coronet’s owner, only that “his name… is a household word all over the earth,” which has led many to speculate that he is a member of the British royal family, probably the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII).

bureau when he was caught. Out of love and loyalty for Mary, he refused to reveal the truth and her role in it.

During this fast-paced case, Holmes plays the part of a true action hero, disguising himself to glean information, accosting Sir George over the theft, threatening him with a gun, and buying the missing beryls back from a third party (to whom Sir George had already sold them) for £3,000.

Holder had let his love for Mary cloud his judgment, and decided wrongly that his son’s lifestyle was a sign of his guilt. In fact, Arthur is unfailingly loyal to both his cousin, Mary, and his father. Mary, for her part, has foolishly abandoned the protection of her devoted stepfather and cousin for that of her dubious lover, and is likely to receive her retribution at Sir George’s own cruel hand. “Whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than sufficient punishment,” are Holmes’s final, ominous words on the case. ■

IN CONTEXT

TYPE

Short story

FIRST PUBLICATION

UK: June 1892

COLLECTION

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1892

CHARACTERS

Violet Hunter

Young governess.

Jephro Rucastle

Middle-aged landowner.

Mrs. Rucastle

Jephro’s second wife.

Alice Rucastle

Jephro’s daughter by his first wife.

Toller and Mrs. Toller

The Rucastles’ servants.

Mr. Fowler

Alice’s fiancé.

CRIME IS

COMMON.

LOGIC IS RARE

THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES (1892)

A

long and unusually revealing scene about Holmes’s and Watson’s relationship opens “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.” Holmes takes Watson to task about the way he writes about him in his memoirs, accusing the doctor of embellishing his reports with literary flourishes rather than simply detailing the detective’s skill, and turning “a course of lectures into a series of tales.” Indeed, it seems that the legendarily inscrutable Holmes is in a bad mood—and the famously placid Watson is quite offended and “repelled by the egotism” of his friend.

In a playful, self-referential manner, Conan Doyle has fun with the reader, and even has Holmes criticize the quality of the writing. It is so adroitly done that the reader almost forgets that Watson and Holmes are fictional characters, and Watson is not a real person writing about a real detective.

Holmes in a bad mood

Conan Doyle is clearly setting up the idea that something is preying on Holmes’s mind. After the spat with Watson, Holmes rues the decline in the quality of the criminal mind, complaining sardonically, “As to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an agency for recovering lead pencils and giving advice to young ladies from boarding-schools.”

For the coolly logical Holmes, this seems strangely like an emotional outburst. It has all been triggered, it transpires, by a letter from a young woman named Violet Hunter, asking for advice on whether to take up a post as a governess, which he tosses to Watson to read. But is Holmes actually rather intrigued by this

The days of the great cases are past. Man, or at least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality.

Sherlock Holmes

THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES 99

Violet Hunter, played by Natasha Richardson in the 1985 ITV adaptation, reads Holmes (Jeremy Brett) and Watson (David Burke) the letter from Mr. Rucastle imploring her to accept his job offer.

letter, instead of outraged? He has crumpled up the letter, but it is still in his hand to give to Watson. Does he suspect, as Watson reminds him of “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” (pp.82–3), that what may appear at first to be “a mere whim” may turn out to be about something much more interesting?

A peculiar request

Just as Holmes has concluded his rant about the triviality of Miss Hunter’s letter, Violet herself arrives at 221B Baker Street. Watson observes that his friend is immediately attentive and that he is “favourably impressed by the manner and speech of his new client.” This observation may be intended to tantalize the reader into believing that Holmes might become romantically involved with the young woman. Violet confirms that she wants his advice on whether to take up a post as governess for a man named Jephro Rucastle at a house near Winchester called Copper Beeches. But, as Holmes sees at once, there is something more to this case than mere employment advice.

The pay is very good, but Mr. Rucastle has made some strange requests, including that she should cut off her long hair and wear any dress that he or his wife might ask her to put on. She initially rejects the offer, but needs the money and is curious about the situation, so she decides to accept it after all. Although Violet’s mind is made up, she wants Holmes’s opinion on the matter, and is checking whether she can contact him later should anything untoward take place once she starts her new job. Fascinated by this enigmatic scenario, Holmes agrees to her request.

Two weeks after Violet has taken up the position, she telegraphs Holmes, imploring him to meet her in Winchester. The next morning, Holmes and Watson catch the train to see her, and she informs them of the strange progress of events.

Gothic setting

Copper Beeches, it seems, is a strange, rather eerie place. It is clearly Conan Doyle’s intention to ramp up the atmosphere and sense of expectation by bringing all the familiar elements of the classic Gothic horror story into play—a remote location, a gloomy, decaying house, shadowy trees, a savage dog, a morose housekeeper, and— most dramatic of all—a locked room containing a terrible secret.

The late Victorian era was a golden age for Gothic fiction and tales of the supernatural, with novels such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897) capturing the public imagination, and stories of encounters with ghosts and spirits receiving attention as never before. However, in stories such as “The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge” (pp.222–25) and “The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire” (pp.260–61), Conan Doyle takes the tropes of Gothic literature and allows Holmes to show that there is a perfectly rational explanation for each crime. That is why Holmes leads so neatly from the superstitions of the Victorian age to the rationality ❯❯