Sherlock Holmes gave his royal client a piercing look. "Are you sure that Irene Adler has not yet sent your photograph to the Scandinavian royal family?"
"I am certain about that." The king of Bohemia nodded gravely to Holmes and me. "She said that she would send the photograph on the day the engagement was announced, and that will be next Monday."
"Oh, then we have three days," said Holmes with a yawn. "That's fortunate because I have one or two other important cases right now. Your Majesty will, of course, remain in London?"
"Certainly. You'll find me at the Langham Hotel under the name of Count Von Kramm. Let me know as soon as you have made any progress." The king sighed. "I would gladly surrender part of my kingdom for that photograph."
"That's very well, but what should I use for expenses?" asked Holmes.
The king laid a heavy cloth bag on the table. "Here are three-hundred pounds in gold and seven-hundred pounds in notes."
Holmes then asked for Irene Adler's address. "I trust that we'll soon have some good news for you, Your Majesty."
After the king left, Holmes said that we would discuss the case again tomorrow at three o'clock.
The next afternoon I was in our rooms at Baker Street at three o'clock, but Holmes had not yet returned. Our landlady, Mrs. Hudson, informed me that he had left the house at eight o'clock that morning. I sat down by the fire to wait for him.
It was almost four o'clock when a disheveled stable groom with a red face and side-whiskers entered the room. I was used to my friend's amazing powers of disguise, but I still had to look three times to be sure it was Holmes. He vanished into his bedroom and soon returned, looking as respectable as ever in a tweed suit. Taking a seat by the fire, he dissolved into laughter.
"Well, really!" he finally said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"It's too funny. I'm sure you'll never guess how I spent my morning."
"I suppose you've been out to Miss Adler's house."
"Quite so, but what happened afterward was rather unusual."
Disguised as an unemployed stable groom, Holmes had quickly found Miss Adler's house, Briony Lodge. Although there was a large walled garden at the back, the front of the house was close to the road. From the street, it was easy to see into the spacious, well-furnished sitting room on the ground floor.
"I wandered down the street," said Holmes, "and found a stable in a lane that runs alongside the garden. I lent the stablemen a hand in rubbing down their horses. In return I received a few coins, some tobacco, and more information than I could use about Miss Adler and half a dozen other neighbors that I didn't care about."
"And what did they say about Irene Adler?" I asked.
"She is the daintiest thing under a bonnet, according to every man there," said Holmes. "She lives quietly, sings at concerts, drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for dinner. She has only one male visitor, but sees a great deal of him. He is Mr. Godfrey Norton, a dark and handsome lawyer, who calls once a day and sometimes twice."
After Holmes had heard everything the men had to tell, he began to walk up and down near Briony Lodge while he thought over his plan.
"I realized that this Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the matter," Holmes said to me. "The fact that he was a lawyer sounded ominous. What was his relationship with Miss Adler and what was the object of his repeated visits? Was she his client, his friend or his mistress? If she was a client, she had probably already transferred the photograph to him for safekeeping."
While Holmes was trying to decide whether to remain at Briony Lodge or to visit the gentleman's office, a hansom cab arrived and a man sprang out. Holmes noted that he was a dark and remarkably handsome man, and so assumed that he was Godfrey Norton.
"He appeared to be in a great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the maid who opened the door," said Holmes. "I caught glimpses of him through the sitting-room window, pacing up and down, waving his arms, and talking excitedly. I saw nothing of Miss Adler."
Soon Norton emerged from the house, looking even more agitated than before. As he approached the cab, he pulled a gold watch from his pocket and glanced at it.
"Drive as fast as you can to the Church of St. Monica!" he shouted to the cabdriver. "I'll give you half a pound if you do it in twenty minutes!"
Holmes was just wondering if he should follow when a carriage came up the lane. The coachman was still struggling into his coat.
"As soon as it pulled up," said Holmes, "Irene Adler shot out the front door and into the carriage. As it drove away, I heard her promise the coachman half a pound if he could reach St. Monica's in twenty minutes."
Holmes knew that he should go in pursuit of them, and luckily a cab came down the street. "The driver looked twice at such a shabby fare, but I jumped in before he could object," said Holmes. "It was twenty-five minutes before noon, and I suspected what was happening."
When Holmes reached St. Monica's, he hurried into the church. In front of the altar stood the couple and a clergyman, who seemed to be vigorously scolding them. Holmes slunk up the aisle like any other unemployed person who had wandered into a church. Suddenly the three people turned around, and Godfrey Norton came running up to Holmes.
"Thank God!" he cried. "You'll do. Come! Come!"
"What do you mean?" asked Holmes.
"Come, man! We only have three minutes, or it won't be legal."
Norton dragged Holmes to the altar, where my friend found himself muttering responses that were whispered in his ear and assisting in the marriage of Irene Adler to Godfrey Norton.
"It was all finished in an instant," Holmes said to me. "And then there was the gentleman thanking me on one side, and the lady on the other side while the clergyman beamed in front of us. It was the most preposterous situation I've ever been in, and that's why I was laughing just now."
Apparently the couple had needed to marry by noon or their marriage license would not be valid. But the clergyman had refused to marry them without a witness, so they called on Holmes for help. After the ceremony, Holmes was surprised to see them go their separate ways, the lawyer to his office and the lady to her house.
"What's next?" I asked.
"You don't mind breaking the law?" Holmes asked.
"Not in the least," I replied.
"Nor risking a chance of arrest?"
"Not for a good cause."
"Then you are the man for the job that we will undertake later tonight," said Holmes. And with that he called for supper.