A Study In Scarlet Women Read Free

afraid I must take leave of you very soon.”
    Treadles was both disappointed and relieved—he didn’t think he would be able to offer Lord Ingram much consolation, in the latter’s current state.
    â€œI hope your family is well,” he said.
    â€œThey are, thank you. I’m obliged to pay a call on short notice, that is all.” Lord Ingram’s words were calm, yet there was a hollowness to his tone. “I trust we shall have the pleasure of a more leisurely meeting in the not too distant future.”
    â€œCertainly, my lord.”
    Inspector Treadles did not mean to delay his friend, but at that moment he remembered his other purpose for being at Burlington House this evening. “If it isn’t too much trouble, sir, may I ask you to convey a note to Holmes? I’m most grateful for his assistance on the Arkwright case and wrote a few lines to that effect.”
    â€œI am afraid that would be impossible.”
    Inspector Treadles almost took a step back at his friend’s expression: a flare of anger that bordered on wrath.
    â€œI understand that you are engaged this evening, my lord,” Treadles explained hesitantly. “My note requires no haste and needs be relayed only at your lordship’s convenience.”
    â€œI didn’t make myself clear,” said Lord Ingram. All hints of rage had left his countenance. His eyes were blank, the set of his jaw hard. “I can’t—nor can anyone else—convey any notes to Holmes. Not anymore.”
    â€œI—I don’t—that is—” Treadles stuttered. “Has something terrible happened?”
    Lord Ingram’s jaw worked. “Yes, something terrible.”
    â€œWhen?”
    â€œToday.”
    Inspector Treadles blinked. “Is . . . is Holmes still alive?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œThank goodness. Then we haven’t lost him completely.”
    â€œBut we have,” said Lord Ingram, slowly, inexorably. “Holmes may be alive, but the fact remains that Holmes is now completely beyond my reach.”
    Treadles’s confusion burgeoned further, but he understood that no more details would be forthcoming. “I’m exceedingly sorry to hear that.”
    â€œAs am I, to be the bearer of such news.” Lord Ingram’s voice was low, almost inaudible.
    Treadles left Burlington House in a daze, hounded by dozens of unhappy conjectures. Had Holmes leaped from a perilous height armed with nothing but an unreliable parachute? Had he been conducting explosive experiments at home? Or had his brilliant but restless mind driven him to seduce the wrong woman, culminating in an illegal duel and a bullet lodged somewhere debilitating but not instantly lethal?
    What
had happened to the elusive and extraordinary Sherlock Holmes?
    Such a tragedy.
    Such a waste.
    Such a shame.

Two
    â€œT he shame. Oh, the shame!” Lady Holmes screeched.
    From her crouched position before the parlor door keyhole, Livia Holmes glared at the young maid peeking around the corner.
Back to your duties
, she mouthed.
    The girl fled, but not before giggling audibly.
    Did no one understand the concept of privacy anymore? If there was any spying to be done in the midst of a reputation-melting scandal, it ought to be left to a member of the family.
    Livia returned her attention to the
sturm und drang
in the parlor. Her view through the keyhole was blocked by her mother’s skirt, a ghastly mound of heliotrope silk that shook with Lady Holmes’s outrage.
    â€œHow many times have I told you, Sir Henry, that your indulgence of the girl would prove to be her undoing? How many times have I said that she ought to have been wed years ago? Did you listen? No! No one heeded me when I warned that letting her reject perfectly suitable gentlemen one after another would only serve to make her unfit for marriage and motherhood.”
    Her mighty bustle oscillated from side to side as she lurched