Detective Mary

Chapter 45

"I have to go overseas for a while."

Mr. Sherlock Holmes's words were like a splash of cold water on Mary, dousing her heart with the excitement of her detective reading streak.

Mary was no fool, she knew exactly what this meant. The fact that she had followed Mr. Holmes in London to follow up the clues was simply the result of the detective's own lack of modesty and the kindness of Mr. Bingley, who had given Mary the benefit of the doubt because she was Jane's sister.

Even so, she had encountered many difficulties in the process.

The initial hostility of the workers and the inconvenience of going out at night are minor, but the real problem is that Mary Bennet is a woman and unmarried. Even if Sherlock Holmes approved of her, Mary would not be able to be his on-call colleague and assistant like Dr. John Watson.

In other words, unless Mary now kidnaps Holmes to get married, there is no reason for her to follow the detective abroad to continue the case.

Did the separation come that quickly.

Mary's mind was more than disappointed, she knew she would need to return home before she could be truly financially independent, moving out of Longbourn on her own, moving to London would be a "tough battle" and until she won that battle she would not be able to meet Mr. Detective anywhere, anytime.

Sensible as she was, Mary was still a little sad when he said the parting words.

But it didn't affect her thinking.

"Is it merely a commission from Mr. Bingley and Mr. Thornton," asked Mary, "that your carriage and lodging are at their expense?"

"Yes."

"But financial resources are still secondary in a foreign country."

Mary herself said, seeming to understand something: "The informants needed for the investigation, and where do the material resources besides manpower come from ...... Mr. There are other people to help you, right?"

The detective bowed his head, a few sharp flashes in his light colored eyes.

The lean gentleman's hands rested in his pockets as he straightened his spine and gave an imperceptible smile.

"Sharp as ever, Lady Mary," he said, "and in addition to Mr. Bentley and Mr. Thornton, there is a government official who wishes me to take a personal walk."

A government official?

Before this, Sherlock Holmes never said that Professor Moriarty manipulation of the global market of the cotton industry, there are "government officials" know, Mary's mind moved, could it be ......

She probably had an answer.

But on the surface she just winked, "That's a relief sir, Professor Moriarty has a lot of power, someone has to keep you safe. Can you tell me what country you plan to go to?"

"France and Germany," Holmes replied, "If I have time, I will also visit Egypt."

This was not unexpected by Mary, although the one supplier Mr. Hamp offered came from the Caribbean, which was really a little far away.

In contrast, Egypt also produces cotton raw materials, and is closer to the two industrial powers of Germany and France, Professor James Moriarty will not let go of the supplier here.

And Sherlock Holmes, who had been investigating the cotton market long before he took on the burglary, certainly had more of a handle on James Moriarty than Mary did.

But what Mary had over the detective at her advantage was that she had read the original novel.

Professor Moriarty from The Sherlock Holmes Mysteries is the detective's lifelong enemy, and even with help, Mary feels it's a little dangerous to go off on her own.

She thought for a moment, "Be sure to be careful, sir. As well, although I think you've already found out, I don't think ...... Henry Decker is in quite the right state."

Holmes: "Indeed."

With that he darted a glance at Henry Decker, who was waiting for Mr. Thornton to finish his letter of recommendation.

"If it had been Capt. Carter who came to light the devil's heel that day," he said, "there would have been somebody to notice him when he left backward and forward, but there wasn't."

"You think there was another?"

"After I leave, Miss Mary, you'd better not come back to the slums."

Mary flinched, then realized what the detective meant.

Earlier, when devising to lure Captain Carter into the trap, the detective had repeated his instructions for Mary to avoid exposure to any outsider's gaze. She had done so well, and Mary had confidently assured herself that Professor James Moriarty would not look into her head, even if he had learned that Holmes had a lady at his side to help him.

However, if the professor had taken a different course and followed up his inquiries from the side of the workers, Mary would have been easily exposed.

Mary is not afraid of danger, choose to pursue the case she has some awareness, but Mary also has family and friends, she can not get her parents and sisters involved.

So she nodded solemnly, "If something happens, I will contact Ms. Morstan first."

"Be sure to take care."

The implication of this parting was also obvious! Mary could not bear it.

Left and right, it was summed up in one sentence, Mary still wanted to go on a mystery with Mr. Holmes.

Reality is cruel, alas.

She and Jane had lived in London long enough, and it was time to go home. Having already left Lydia alone and angry when they came to London, her little sister still owed Mary five hats.

"So, sir," Mary spoke up, "my sister and Mr. Bingley will be married at the beginning of summer, a few months before then, you ......"

"I can't make it back in time."

It was not necessary for Mary to finish her sentence before Holmes grasped his meaning. The detective pressed the brim of his hat and responded squarely, "Please say hello to Mr. Bentley for me."

"All right."

Mary just had to oblige, "There won't be any cases of interest to you at the wedding either ...... Well, there better not be."

Hearing the second half of her sentence, Mr. Holmes couldn't help but shake his head.

"Better let me wish from my heart the best of luck to a couple of lovers who are deeply in love, mademoiselle," he said with a crooked smile, "and as for the progress of the case which you are curious about, if there is time, I will write to you also, as if I were in London."

This somewhat comforted Mary.

At least the detective was still willing to communicate with her, wasn't he? To have Holmes actively hanging around to write a letter, Mary felt it was a great honor!

Therefore, she moved to give an inch.

"And ......"

As the words came out of her mouth, Mary became cautious, "If it's convenient, could I send you the back issues of Seaside Magazine? As you say, sir, I haven't actually solved a case, so your opinion and thoughts are vital to me."

Holmes gave a little nod, "If you wish."

Mary: "Of course!"

He didn't seem to be taking Mary's serial seriously, and looked as if I wouldn't necessarily read it even if you sent it to me. But Mary thought that the detective would read it. He had read the beginning and complained that Editor-in-Chief Hall's chapter breaks were extraordinarily "commercial", which proved that he was curious about the rest of the book.

Though she felt sure that the detective would have no problem criticizing himself later on, when the confrontation between Detective Philip Luther and Edmund's murderer unfolded.

But with feedback comes progress, and Mary wasn't afraid of criticism; on the contrary, she felt it was a stepping stone to improvement.

So Mary still reiterated, "I'll send you as many magazines as I can, make sure you remember to give me feedback, sir!"

Holmes: "Do you have anything else to say?"

Mary: "......"

She just seems so verbose huh?

Obviously Sherlock Holmes could see Mary's hundredfold reluctance at a glance, but it was still the obsessive spirit of a fan girl that overcame Mary's shyness in the presence of a male god.

"And," she said relentlessly, "there is one last thing, sir."

"You have spoken of many things, miss," responded Holmes, "and one more is nothing."

Mary tilted her head with an unmistakable air of seriousness at the words, and looked straight into the detective's hawk-like eyes.

"You left London and traveled abroad, but there may still be clues at home, too," she said, "and though I'm not in a position to move around very much, there's always something I can do to help, so if there is, please let me know."

"Not at the moment, ma'am."

"There must be," insisted Mary, "and I'll do what I can-even if it means finding something for me to do!"

Holmes did not respond.

His momentary silence caused Mary to raise a smile.

Not denying it again proved that the detective did have her work cut out for her.

"If you get a chance," he said bluntly, "make a trip to Milton. I don't think Hamp is telling the whole truth, and he may have recommended other partners to Professor Moriarty besides Mr. Bentley."

Sure enough Mr. Holmes did not like Mr. Hamp very much as a person.

The detective's favor or dislike of his client is obvious in the original, and a businessman like Hamp, who shirks his responsibilities and only cares about self-preservation, is naturally out of the detective's range of approval.

"I'll think of something."

Mary thought for a moment that it wouldn't be too hard for Mr. Bentley to make a trip to Milton since he and Mr. Thornton were partners.

"Good luck to you, sir," she said, with great reluctance, "and please take care of yourself first of all in following up the clues."

"I will."

Having said this, Mr. Holmes held out his right hand.

The upright, lean gentleman held his palm out in front of Mary, who froze as his bony fingers stood in front of her.

It had been a full nineteen years since Mary Bennett had seen this pose.

Sherlock Holmes, to shake her hand.

Not a pretentious gentleman's salute, or a detached nod of respect, he would shake her hand - and having traveled through time and space to the Victorian era for so long, Mary had almost still forgotten that the world had a handshake.

Of course handshakes existed in the world, but no one would shake hands with an unmarried young lady, something unimaginable for a young woman in the nineteenth century.

Mary never felt that the "courtesy" that Victorian gentlemen extended to rich ladies meant that they were really treated as equals; it was not, it was a relationship of bare necessity masked by bourgeois social morality and etiquette - ladies needed to be protected and cared for because they were not independent people, not thinking individuals, but objects for decent gentlemen, canaries in a birdcage, playthings. They are not independent persons, they are not individuals, they are the objects of decent gentlemen, the canaries in the birdcage, the pretty dolls in the dollhouse!

And in an era decades away from the suffragette movement, Sherlock Holmes extended his right hand toward her.

Mary's dismay was all too obvious and the detective raised an eyebrow at the sight, "What?"

The implication: isn't that what you wanted?

Of course it's what Mary wants!

At that moment, an indescribable emotion surged to her heart, and Mary only felt that within her chest there was a kind of joy and bitterness entangled in one place, which turned into a feeling that was far more than touching, and was neither admiration nor longing, but this kind of feeling was gradually taking shape in Mary's heart.

--He treated her as an equal, as a sound human being.

Mary felt that her soul was truly alive. In the past, she had wondered if she was right to be so "ungrateful" and not to be a template lady. She had been confused and lost, and now she finally had someone to show her that her insistence was not wrong.

This person is Sherlock Holmes.

Her eyes suddenly lit up.

Mary gazed deeply at him as she took a long breath and hooked her mouth as if she had let go of some burden. Mary similarly extended her right hand and grasped it in one with the detective's.

Palms against each other, skin against skin, his dry, broad palm gently held Mary's hand.

There was only a brief moment of contact, yet it was truly precious to Mary.

Because for the first time in this era, Mary was able to communicate with another person from her soul.

And that person, still, is Sherlock Holmes.