The Secret of the Debutantes

Chapter Nine

Her eyes flicked to her lover, and her face crumbled with despair. Her hand dropped as she burst into tears. “But he loved me! He swore he loved me and that we would have a life together! He just needed money from selling those silly papers!”

Holmes sprang forward and took the gun from her. Lord Wetherby hurried to her side. “Get that man out of my sight!” he ordered.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I stepped to the side as the policemen took charge of the traitor. “My brother has government men waiting to question him,” Holmes remarked, handing the pistol over to Dr. Watson. “I believe he will discover that Jeremiah Graves is a Russian spy. Who better to serve as a spy than an Englishman who has no ties to Russia? No one would suspect him.”

“Serena, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” Father scolded, putting his arm around my shoulders. Lord Wetherby escorted his sobbing daughter out.

“You see, Watson?”Holmes said, sounding smug. “It was as I said at the beginning. Who better to give insight into a young lady than a young lady? Miss Serena, you have my thanks.”

“Holmes, can this mean you are prepared to admit that females have their uses?” Dr. Watson exclaimed.

The consulting detective looked appalled. “Certainly not!” he protested vehemently. “This case has merely solidified my view that sentiment, something females rely on all too much, is to be avoided at all cost. Had Miss Wetherby acted in a rational manner, she would have seen the truth of Jeremiah Graves. Certainly, her “woman's instinct” that you idealize so much failed her.”

Watson shook his head with a sigh. “Come Serena, your mother will want a full explanation,” Father said.

~*~

Appalled, I stared at the flowers that filled the sitting room. Apparently, when I sang, I had acquired several admirers, who then sent flowers to demonstrate their admiration. “But...I'm only fourteen!” I protested, looking at Mrs. Leigh for some kind of help. “These can't possible be for me! There must be twenty bouquets!”

“Twenty four actually.”

I snagged the message included with one of the bouquets. “Quentin Kennedy?” I read in astonishment. I crumbled the paper in my hand and tossed it away. “This is beyond ridiculous!”

Clearing her throat, the maid caught my attention. “Mr. Norton requests your presence in his study,” she informed me.

Leaving Mrs. Leigh to arrange the flowers however she saw fit, I skipped to the study. I was not at all surprised to find that there were two gentlemen there with my parents. “Mr. Holmes, Dr. Watson, how lovely to see you again,” I greeted merrily. I had been in a fantastic mood ever since the capture of Graves.

“We came to inform you that the matter is now officially closed,” Holmes said. “I'm afraid you and your family will receive no credit for your assistance in the case. My brother has threatened me with a knighthood or some such thing, so you may count yourself fortunate to have avoided that.”

“I am happy I could help,” I said sincerely. I couldn't keep from grinning. “I didn't get hurt this time around, so I shall count it as an improvement.”

Both of my parents stopped smiling, and I regretted making the comment. “You are forgetting Miss Stanhope,” Holmes responded. “And that reminds me, I've contacted the head of a very well to do school, Miss Violet Hunter.”

“The Copper Beeches!” I exclaimed, remembering the case.

Dr. Watson chuckled as Holmes looked momentarily pained. “She is willing to take on a student at this late date,” the detective continued. He looked to my parents. “She is clever, for a woman. Miss Serena should do rather well there.”

“Thank you, we will look into it,” Father responded.

I titled my head. “And what of you, Mr. Holmes? Will you simply wait for another case to come your way?”

“Perhaps. I've had it in mind to retire soon,” Holmes answered. “To the country.”

Surprised by the response, I had to ask. “And what shall you do there? Write more monographs?”

“Raise bees. And yes, write a monograph on the subject,” Holmes responded. He'd clearly given this some thought! He gestured to Watson. “Speaking of monographs, I believe you should be more careful with these this time around. I have better things to do than replace them.”

Smiling, Watson handed me a wrapped package. “Thank you! I shall be an expert on ash soon,” I said, holding the package to my chest. I held out my hand. “Until next time, Mr. Holmes.”

Solemnly, Holmes shook my hand. “Until next time, Miss Serena.”

They both bid good day to my parents and left. I promptly sat down and ripped open my package. The monographs that were so familiar to me, and had been destroyed, sat there, just waiting to be opened and studied.

“Serena, you are not going to start burning things again.”

“But, Mother-!”

“No.”