"She won't allow me to hire a maid," I said. "She insists on doing all the work, including the cooking, herself. Except for the baby and myself, she does not like to touch anyone or be touched by anyone. Sometimes I think . . . "
"Then she has shut herself off from all but you and the baby," he said.
"You might say that," I replied. "She is happy, though, and that is what matters."
Holmes took out a small notebook and began making notes in it. He would look up at Nylepthah, watch her for a minute, and record something.
"What are you doing, Holmes?" I said.
His answer showed me that he, too, could indulge in a pawky humour when his spirits were high.
"I am making some observations upon the segregation of the queen."
THE END
EDITOR'S COMMENTS:
The reference to the speed of the Handley Page was really in knots, not miles per hour. The editor has converted this to make it more intelligible to the reader.
The use of the word "queer" by Mycroft has been criticized as not being realistic. Some Sherlockians have maintained that an Englishman in 1916 would not have known the word in its referent of "homosexual." However, that is the word Watson uses when he quotes Mycroft. So we must believe that some Englishmen, at least, were aware of this American term. Or, possibly, Watson's memory of the conversation was faulty. Since Watson had spent some time in the States, and had, like Holmes, picked up some Americanisms, he may have used this word because it was part of his everyday vocabulary.
The vulgarism "a*****e" needs one more asterisk. That is, it does if Watson was quoting the English term, which Holmes probably did utter. If Holmes was using the American word because he was speaking about an American, then the number of asterisks is accurate. We'll never know.
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