The Opera Singer's Daughter (A Sherlock Holmes Spin-Off Novel)

Chapter Nineteen

There was no time to respond for there was a knock. Mrs. Hudson opened the door. "There's several gentlemen here to see you, Mr. Holmes. They say they were invited."

"Indeed they were. Show them in," Mr. Holmes said immediately.

Mrs. Hudson stepped aside and the other players for our story entered. I didn't recognize the first man, with his gray hair and stern expression. The second man was fair haired and tall and just as unfamiliar. The last two were Mr. Ware with Keene, who firmly closed the door.

"Good of you to come, your majesty," Mr. Holmes said, focusing on the second gentleman.

The fair haired man simply inclined his head. He was the king of Bohemia? "Mr. Holmes, I was disappointed to learn that you could not assist me again," he said, his accent German. His eyes shifted to me. "But perhaps you changed your mind?"

Manners drilled into me at school compelled me to rise. "Your Majesty," I said, making a curtsy.

"She looks very much like her mother," the king remarked, glancing at Mr. Ware. "That much is obvious."

"She does not like to be spoken about as if she cannot hear or speak for herself," I said, raising my chin.

My impertinence made the king laugh. "Yes. Just as her mother."

It was difficult to tell whether he meant that as a compliment or not. He glanced around. "Will Irene Adler be joining us?"

"What say you, Herr Meyer?" Mr. Holmes asked, raising an eyebrow at the king's counsellor. "Shall Mrs. Norton and her husband be joining us this morning? They are enjoying your hospitality at the moment, are they not?"

The first man who had entered clenched his jaw. "Perhaps you could tell us what this is all about?" he said, ignoring the question. "I believe you had refused to locate Miss Norton for us. We shall take her with us."

"You shall not," Dr. Watson said immediately, stepping between me and the men. "Haven't you tormented her enough?"

"Torment? What torment?" The King demanded.

Mr. Holmes turned to me. Though uncertain why he wanted me to speak up, I did so. "You are not aware that the gentlemen you are with have attempted to kidnap me on multiple occasions over the past few weeks?" I asked, unable to keep the note of challenge from my voice. "And that last night, they sent a man to kill me?"

The King blinked, a frown furrowing his forehead. "A fanciful story," Mr. Ware said with a scoff. "You, young lady, have read too many novels."

"But I have not," Mr. Holmes said. "Though I was not present when they concocted a story to draw her from her school or when they chased her through London, I was on hand when the gentleman behind you held a knife on her in the street. I was also at Briony Lodge when another attempt was made. Not to mention I discovered Mr. Ware trying to coerce her into accompanying him away from Herr Meyer's home just last evening."

"What is this?" The King demanded, looking from one man to the other. "I did not say such things should happen."

"Did you not?" Mr. Holmes asked, raising an eyebrow. "What do you expect to happen when you tell your councillor that there is a problem that must be removed?"

"I expected them to reason with Irene Adler. She has shown herself to be an intelligent and reasonable woman. Did you not prove that yourself so many years ago?"

From Dr. Watson's telling of the story, I knew Mr. Holmes' opinion of the King of Bohemia hadn't been the highest and I was beginning to see why. Did the King not realize how his own words could be interpreted? Did he not understand that a casually spoken word could be taken the wrong way?

Though I knew it was unforgivably rude, I sank back into my seat. Whatever I had expected to hear, excuses that it was not his fault were not something I was prepared to hear.