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dathen · 1 year

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Holmes: Exercise is a WASTE OF ENERGY I never move unless I absolutely have to.

Also Holmes: Watson Watson let’s go on a five hour walk together, I can infodump about soil types to you or practice deductions or we can just bask in each other’s presence in silence 🥰

#the yellow face #intimate friends #letters from watson

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teaspoonnebula · 1 year

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One day in early spring he had so far relaxed as to go for a walk with me in the Park, where the first faint shoots of green were breaking out upon the elms, and the sticky spear-heads of the chestnuts were just beginning to burst into their five-fold leaves. For two hours we rambled about together, in silence for the most part, as befits two men who know each other intimately.

I'm just gently patting this paragraph and placing it here for you to all enjoy.

#letters from watson #the yellow face

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ineffabletwaddle13 · 10 months

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The Adventure of the Speckled Band: "There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire"

The Yellow Face: "My companion sat silent for some time, with his chin upon his hand, lost in thought"

The Adventure of the Priory School: "Holmes sat down on a boulder and rested his chin in his hands. I had smoked two cigarettes before he moved"

Holmes in the books tends to think with his chin resting on his hand, but every adaptation has their own thinking poses

#sherlock holmes #1954 sherlock holmes #ronald howard holmes #ronald howard #1954 sherlock holmes/acd books #the case of the impromptu performance #arthur conan doyle #The Adventure of the Speckled Band #the yellow face #The Adventure of the Priory School #acd holmes

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jabbage · 1 year

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A question about Letters from Watson, if I may: Is there a specific edition of the text you are using for the letters? I am asking because I like to read the letter and then get out my Annotated Sherlock Holmes, and today I was mildly confused at the face at the window being described as "chalky white" (I think) when the story is explicitly The Yellow Face. Turns out apparently this and some other alterations had been made to the American edition, so is that the version we're reading? (I mean absolutely no offense by this, just curious about the choice)

Thank you for your time and of course for your invaluable secretarial work :)

I mostly used text from sherlock-holm.es, which I think uses an American edition. Some stories I grabbed from the Baker Street wiki before I realised that edition is full of wonky typos caused by poor OCR. I try to read through the stories ahead of time to catch any remaining issues like that, but I slip up sometimes!

I have a copy of the New Annotated and Leslie Klinger notes a few odd differences in the American text for the Yellow Face:

For example, originally the story refered to in the opening was the second stain not the Musgrave Ritual... except this was written *before* the second stain, so presumably this was originally Watson teasing an unwritten case which Arthur Conan Doyle later decided to turn into an actual story.

The original text also has an extra line from Holmes explaining in more detail that a fly being in something which looks like amber isn't a sign of authenticity, as it is "quite a branch of trade, the putting of sham flies into the sham amber". Odd that it's missed out!

For the change you mention, Klinger writes "The American texts change the colour to chalky white instead of dead yellow, perhaps in some concession to the growing Asian population, although the title of the story makes the change absurd"

#letters from watson #the yellow face

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mariana-oconnor · 1 year

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The Yellow Face pt 2

Last time I was possibly overly critical of Mr Grant (or Jack?) Munro who was not dealing with his wife's curious behaviour very calmly. I stand by the fact that barging into people's houses in a fit of fury is very much not a good response to thinking your wife is lying, but I guess we'll see if I'm right.

“It seemed to be of an unnatural color, and to have a strange rigidity about the features. When I approached, it vanished with a jerk.”

An unnatural colour. Yes, both 'chalky white' and 'livid yellow' at the same time. I didn't bring this up the first time, but I probably should have. Was the face white or yellow? The title of the story indicates yellow, but the first description definitely, clearly, stated 'white'.

“Have you ever seen a photograph of her first husband?” “No; there was a great fire at Atlanta very shortly after his death, and all her papers were destroyed.” “And yet she had a certificate of death. You say that you saw it.” “Yes; she got a duplicate after the fire.”

A lot of very convenient events right there. And of course the death certificate comes up again - although now there is indication that it might be erroneous. I didn't know until recently that apparently you can just go to the hospital where you were born in the UK and say 'I've lost my birth certificate, I need another one.' I assume there is more to it than that, but I can't imagine there was in the 1880s. 'Hey, my husband died of Yellow Fever and I lost his death certificate in a fire, can I get a new one please. Yes, his name was Coen Siddence?"

"Let me advise you, then, to return to Norbury, and to examine the windows of the cottage again. If you have reason to believe that it is inhabited, do not force your way in, but send a wire to my friend and me."

Don't force your way into the other people's house. Good advice there from Holmes. He only follows it sometimes himself, but I do appreciate that he's being clear on this front. Do not break and enter, Mr Munro.

“I am afraid that this is a bad business, Watson,” said my companion, as he returned after accompanying Mr. Grant Munro to the door. “What do you make of it?” “It had an ugly sound,” I answered. “Yes. There’s blackmail in it, or I am much mistaken.” “And who is the blackmailer?”

OK, so probably not her kid. Probably her former husband who isn't actually dead, I guess. Because the death certificate which was so very specifically mentioned is not real.

“Yes, a provisional one. But I shall be surprised if it does not turn out to be correct. This woman’s first husband is in that cottage.”

Welp, theory 1 it is. Theory 2 has been thrown out of the window.

Her husband developed some hateful qualities; or shall we say that he contracted some loathsome disease, and became a leper or an imbecile?

Holmes... I'm not going to bother to unpack that but... okay then.

Right the term imbecile was one of those that used to refer to a very specific level of IQ and apparently there was also considered to be such a thing as 'moral imbecility' which was believed to be connected to genetic criminality and part of eugenics (hoooooo boy). Basically I don't really know what it means in this context, but I'm guessing he's going for the moral meaning rather than an IQ issue as I doubt someone with "a mental age of three to seven years" would really be hatching a dastardly blackmailing plot. Although my nephew can be particularly cunning sometimes in his attempts to get more cake, and he's younger than that, so... what do I know?

HOWEVER.

After all of this, we have to remember that this story started by saying the Holmes was wrong.

So maybe I'm right after all. Hidden child is back on the table, boys!

I was going to put the 'looks like meat's back on the menu boys LotR gif here, but decided implied cannibalism of theoretical disabled children is probably not the best idea I've ever had, so have this gif of Jeremy Brett as Holmes instead.

"She has been married three years, and believes that her position is quite secure, having shown her husband the death certificate of some man whose name she has assumed, when suddenly her whereabouts is discovered by her first husband; or, we may suppose, by some unscrupulous woman who has attached herself to the invalid."

Ah, no... the blackmailer in Holmes version is the northern woman who opened the door and wasn't particularly welcoming. Though it makes no sense why she'd be from northern Britain when the husband would, presumably, have been cared for in the US and she would, also presumably, have had to come over from there with him in order to hunt down his wife.

So she's either really good at accents or... she was British to begin with and knew them over there...?

Taking down with her the photograph which had probably been demanded from her.

This is a very weird demand if Holmes' theory is correct. The photo was one of the things that made me think it was a child, because giving your child a picture of you to look at is just... a nice thing. Taking a photo of the woman you're blackmailing is... I guess it's a control thing, or a weird stalkery thing.

"...on which the wife, knowing that he would come straight down to the cottage, hurried the inmates out at the back door, into the grove of fir-trees..."

Again, a strange detail for the blackmailing plot. This implies that Effie would have had some sort of control over her blackmailers. Surely they would be more likely to stay? Her husband wouldn't recognise the guy, by his own admission. Or they'd leave of their own volition, surely. But allowing their blackmailee to smuggle them from the house seems very weird.

But we had not a very long time to wait for that. It came just as we had finished our tea. “The cottage is still tenanted,” it said. “Have seen the face again at the window. Will meet the seven o’clock train, and will take no steps until you arrive.”

A round of applause, please, for Mr Munro's self control, which appears to have finally returned to him.

“What is your plan, then?” asked Holmes, as he walked down the dark tree-lined road. “I am going to force my way in and see for myself who is in the house. I wish you both to be there as witnesses.”

It was a brief reunion, alas.

“For God’s sake, don’t Jack!” she cried. “I had a presentiment that you would come this evening. Think better of it, dear! Trust me again, and you will never have cause to regret it.” “I have trusted you too long, Effie,” he cried, sternly. “Leave go of me! I must pass you. My friends and I are going to settle this matter once and forever!” He pushed her to one side, and we followed closely after him. As he threw the door open an old woman ran out in front of him and tried to bar his passage, but he thrust her back

Effie... please just talk to your husband. Clearly the 'trust me' line isn't working. Just... like... tell him. I really hope you married someone you can trust. Although, given... y'know, Victorian era etc. maybe you didn't. But communication is a really good strategy.

Jack, Grant... Grack, whatever your name is... Just.. stop barging into people's homes. And telling your wife you don't trust her like that is a dick mood. You need to calm down and talk this through, too.

In the corner, stooping over a desk, there sat what appeared to be a little girl. Her face was turned away as we entered, but we could see that she was dressed in a red frock, and that she had long white gloves on.

Hidden child. HA!

Also... Grack you just frightened a child. I hope you're happy with yourself, you great numpty.

Holmes, with a laugh, passed his hand behind the child’s ear, a mask peeled off from her countenance.

First - mask! Ha again! I mean... you really shouldn't touch the kid's mask without permission, Holmes.

I... did not expect the mask to be hiding the fact that the kid is Black. But I live in the 21st century, I guess. Yeah...

I burst out laughing, out of sympathy with her merriment; but Grant Munro stood staring, with his hand clutching his throat.

At least she's laughing too, I guess. But Grack, you need to prove yourself not a terrible person pretty damn quick. I still have a few shreds of faith in you.

She touched a spring, and the front hinged back. There was a portrait within of a man strikingly handsome and intelligent-looking, but bearing unmistakable signs upon his features of his African descent.

Well that's a super sideways way to describe his race, particularly after the choice of words to describe the kid. Also, hello racist implications of that 'but' right there. Le sigh. This story is really pulling a bait and switch by calling itself 'The Yellow Face', isn't it. You expect racism against one group of people but Surprise! it's about another.

"When I left her in America,” she continued, “it was only because her health was weak, and the change might have done her harm. She was given to the care of a faithful Scotch woman who had once been our servant."

Not going to touch the colourism of the passage before this with a barge pole. That's a whole heap of ugh that I do not have the historical or personal understanding to unpack in a way the subject deserves.

Also, the woman is apparently Scottish, not just vaguely 'Northern'. It does read as a Scottish accent when I look back on it, but still. Coming from someone living in Norbury, which is in South London, 'Northern' could mean anything higher than Watford! Northern? How vague can you be?

(Incidentally if someone from Berwick-Upon-Tweed calls you Southern, it can mean anything south of Sunderland. The Midlands of England is Schroedinger's land. It lives in a permanent superposition of being both The North and The South. Your interpretation depends entirely on which direction you're looking at it from.)

"But when chance threw you in my way, Jack, and I learned to love you, I feared to tell you about my child. God forgive me, I feared that I should lose you, and I had not the courage to tell you. I had to choose between you, and in my weakness I turned away from my own little girl."

Dick move, Effie. On so many points. My theory was waaaaay more charitable to you than you deserved apparently.

"At last, however, there came an overwhelming desire to see the child once more. I struggled against it, but in vain."

Shucks. You wanted to see the child you abandoned. How terrible.

This little girl deserves so much better.

“We can talk it over more comfortably at home,” said he. “I am not a very good man, Effie, but I think that I am a better one than you have given me credit for being.”

That... is optimistic. I mean... you're essentially just walking out on the little girl immediately. But he seems to be saying that he's not racist, at least. So yay for that?

That poor kid. For so many reasons.

EDIT: It has been pointed out to me that I missed a paragraph when I was reading, where he picks up the little girl:

It was a long two minutes before Grant Munro broke the silence, and when his answer came it was one of which I love to think. He lifted the little child, kissed her, and then, still carrying her, he held his other hand out to his wife and turned towards the door.

OK! Far more satisfying ending if your brain doesn't skip a paragraph. D'oh!

That's really sweet. You have redeemed yourself Grack. Still have those anger and trust issues to deal with, but this is good. I approve. And I approve that Watson approves. Yay. There is a happy ending.

Still some marital issues, though.

Not another word did he say of the case until late that night, when he was turning away, with his lighted candle, for his bedroom. “Watson,” said he, “if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little over-confident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper ‘Norbury’ in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you.

I remember this ending. I like this little nod to Holmes being aware of his own failings. And his trusting of Watson to keep him in line.

Well... I was right. And I absolutely allowed ACD to manipulate me into feeling smug for having beaten Holmes to the punchline. I was not expecting the race reveal, sure. But I think I can be forgiven for that. Effie needs to take a long hard look at herself in the mirror. Grack needs to sit down and deal with his temper problems. And that little girl needs to not be forced to wear a mask and gloves and stay inside all day.

Also, both Effie and Grack need to learn to trust each other. I get different time period, different attitudes, different expectations, but maybe you shouldn't marry a person if you can't tell him about your kid? And maybe talk to your wife rather than going full on B&E?

#Letters from Watson #Sherlock Holmes #The Yellow Face #long post

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eirinstiva · 1 year

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After reading the second part of "The Adventure of the Yellow Face" I compared my Kindle edition in British Mysteries Boxed Set and the Spanish translation in Todo Sherlock Holmes. My digital copy has the US version of "ten minutes"

While my edition in Spanish has the original two minutes:

Dos largos minutos transcurrieron antes de que Grant Munro rompiera el silencio, y cuando llegó, su respuesta fue una que siempre me ha emocionado recordar. Cogió en brazos a la pequeña, le dio un beso, y luego, aún sosteniendo a la criatura, extendió la otra mano hacia su esposa y se encaminó a la puerta.

About Jesús Ulceroy's comment in Todo Sherlock Holmes about this story as "a pure victorian problem" he was talking about miscommunication between spouses. A very old plot~

Also, look at these Sidney paget illustrations!

(Mood)

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #john h watson #acd canon #the yellow face #YELL #sidney paget #illustration #letters in the underground

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no-side-us · 1 year

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Letters From Watson Liveblog - Apr. 5

The Yellow Face, Part 2 of 2

I'm going to talk about this story having already read the ending. With that being said, I really like how confident Sherlock is, because usually this sort of explanation from him is right! But this time the explanation is very, very incorrect, and I think that's the best way to play a "Sherlock is wrong" story.

I can see why he would think the death certificate was faked. After all, the original supposedly burned in a fire in Atlanta and she had to get a duplicate to show her new husband. To Holmes, it likely sounded a bit too fishy.

Even Watson doesn't really buy Holmes' theory about the blackmailing leper husband or whatever, but it's good that Holmes is willing to reconsider based on new information. Although that is par for the course for him.

"Any truth is better than indefinite doubt" huh? I think there's a certain Miss Mary Sutherland who would be very willing to question your commitment to that saying, Holmes.

Look, the truth is good and all that, but I do think it's a bit out of character just how much Holmes and Watson are going along with this. No patient waiting or more serious investigation. Just heading straight in, and nobody can stop them.

What a twist! And Holmes was so incredibly wrong!

Also, man, I was really taken aback by that description. Not the fact it was a little girl who's black, I remembered that, but the words used to describe her.

On one hand, an interracial marriage back then probably could have gotten you killed, and I can see how, living in such a harsh and unfortunate reality, a mother would want her child to have lighter skin just so life would hopefully be a modicum easier for them. Still, reading that line now really does make you cringe.

Stop calling her that! What the hell, you know it's a little girl now.

An incredibly sweet ending, that I could have easily imagined going a lot worse. Grant Munro, or "Jack" as his wife calls him for some reason, is ultimately a good guy in my books. He's neither racist nor unwilling to raise another man's child, two pretty different barometers for a good person that he definitely passed.

I don't think the Norbury thing ever comes back again, but I'm hoping I just forgot and Watson does indeed say it to Holmes as a sweet callback moment.

The Yellow Face. A nice story in the end, all things considered.

Hell yeah, it's Mycroft time.

Part 1 - Part 2

#letters from watson #the yellow face #sherlock holmes #john h watson #grant munro #effie munro #effie hebron #john hebron #arthur conan doyle #liveblogging sherlock holmes

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stephensmithuk · 1 year

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The Yellow Face

This is the third tale from Memoirs i.e. the second published volume.

"The Park" is likely Regent's Park. This was also home to what is now called ZSL London Zoo, which features in Dracula as well.

Yellow fever is a disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Not something mainland Britain really has a problem with - gnats and midges are more our thing. As a result, we do not routinely vaccinate here, although you can get a jab for travelling to affected areas.

But Victorian audiences would have been familiar with it via reports from the Empire.

Like Lee in "The Twisted Lip", Pinner and Norbury are two small communities that became suburbs due to urban development in the first half of the 20th century and are both in Greater London.

Pinner itself had a 'Tube' station; the Metropolitan Railway having reached there in 1885. Sitting in Zone 5, the Met bought up the land around the railway and then developed it, later using the branding "Metro-land" and selling housing to middle-class commuters. This would be in the future though.

Norbury sits on the London to Brighton main line and is served by stopping trains from London Bridge or (in peak hours) Victoria. It sits in Zone 3, giving you an idea of just how far inside the city it now is - less than seven miles from Charing Cross. The line would later be increased to four tracks in 1903 and electrified in 1925. You could get a train from Victoria in 20 minutes at the time. It's around the same today or a bit longer, although much more frequent.

The Crystal Palace was a huge modular iron and glass building, originally built in Hyde Park for the 1851 Great Exhibition and then moved to Penge, where it served as an entertainment and exhibition venue. It burnt down in 1936, but not before giving its name to the park, the neighbourhood and the Premier League football club, one of the founding members of the Football Association, although the latter now play at Selhurst Park.

Georgia's ban on interracial marriage was introduced in 1750 i.e. before the Declaration of Independence and struck down by the Supreme Court in 1967 in Loving vs. Virginia.

The British for their part did not ban interracial marriage in Great Britain. They did so in India, along with in the pre-independence Americans and there was plenty of legally allowed discrimination, the so-called "colour bar" in Great Britain itself.

Your main issue would be societal backlash in any event - while Jules Verne has Phileas Fogg marry an Indian woman at the end of Around the World in Eighty Days, he makes it clear more than once that she looks like a white woman. So, yeah.

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #the yellow face #history #factoids

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quill-of-thoth · 1 year

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Letters from Watson: The Adventure of The Yellow Face

Part 1: The Fun Bits

"Early spring" depends heavily on your location and the year. For example, last year I was seeing crocus at the end of February. This year, on April 20th, it is snowing AGAIN.

A pipe with an amber mouthpiece seems like it would be easy to tell from fake amber (which is probably glass, ceramic, or another type of stone - plastics will not become a thing until 1907, with Bakelite) because when amber is warmed by body heat it gives off a sappy smell.

Not that habitual pipe smokers are known for their sense of smell.

I am once again bemusedly disturbed by the cavalier use of gas lighting to set anything else you want in the house on fire.

Holmes reads the guy's name in his hat as the man is hanging onto it. I too am a chronic reader of whatever words are available, so I get this sequence entirely.

"A man can tell easily enough when a woman loves him" well that depends on the man and his motivations for believing it, doesn't it? Though being happily married to said woman is a good clue

Conversions: 7 percent of 4500 pounds is 315 pounds. (32,000 pounds / 38,000 USD), which in the context of other incomes we've seen is going to keep Mrs. Munroe comfortable. Seven or eight hundred means that Mr. Munroe's business does a minimum equivalent of 71,000 pounds / 85,200 a year - combined this is a six figure family income. Mrs. Munroe makes as much or more from her husband's investments per year than I'll make with my new job. I hate the stock market so, so much.

If Effie Munroe was trying to hide I have zero idea why she would assign all her assets to her husband - perhaps this was just what she was used to with her first husband?

100 pounds = 1000 pounds / 1200 USD. Yeah, that's enough to rent a cottage when rents had some modicum of connection to reality. She appears to have bought it outright though, which is a better plan and also another note of despair about how much things COST now.

To be fair it probably has plumbing but no other utilities.

Mr. Munroe would be a great horror protagonist if he can't quite figure out that this is a mask. I wonder if HE is the nervous, highly strung one.

The Crystal Palace was an enormous greenhouse-inspired construction in London's Hyde Park that hosted the 1851 Great Exhibition. It burned down in 1936. It was also impressive, but very leaky, and could get very hot.

#Letters From Watson #The Yellow Face #Once again victorian propriety is the only adversary

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teaspoonnebula · 1 year

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The Middle Grade Sherlock Holmes Spin-Off The World Needs:

Tweenage Lucy Munro getting up to mystery solving hijinks in the early 1900s and calling in on her friends-of-the-family Holmes and Watson for advice.

#letters from watson #sherlock holmes #the yellow face

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milk-ducts · 6 months

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might delete ,, its been fucking ages since ive touched an art program so . it didnt come out as good and im not proud of how the face turned out so wonky 😭

its a quick messy doodle of a buffed out mark w a longer hairstyle <3 begging the showrunners 2 give him these side bangs .. please !! my baby would look so good w them. u could interpret this as an older ver of him,, tho hes still got that baby face

without the shine .. hehe .. he looks better like this .

#invincible #invincible season 2 #invincible spoilers #mark grayson #omni man #fuck you tumblr for ruining the already shitty quality i hope u rot in hell #FOR THE RECORD … I DIDNT GET HIS COSTUME WTONG #THE YELLOW PART IS A PART OF HIS MASK ! im just very intelligent and cool like tjat..#digitial art #fanart #illustration #my art #i was too afraid to fully render the face so i left it semi cell shaded im sorry #invincible fanart #invincible show

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mariana-oconnor · 1 year

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The Yellow Face pt 1

Now and again, however, it chanced that even when he erred, the truth was still discovered. I have noted of some half-dozen cases of the kind; the Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual and that which I am about to recount are the two which present the strongest features of interest.

Aha, so Sherlock isn't going to solve this one. Interesting. I feel like ACD uses this device specifically to make his audience want to beat Holmes at his own game.

Sherlock Holmes was a man who seldom took exercise for exercise’s sake. Few men were capable of greater muscular effort, and he was undoubtedly one of the finest boxers of his weight that I have ever seen; but he looked upon aimless bodily exertion as a waste of energy, and he seldom bestirred himself save when there was some professional object to be served.

This is the most relatable Sherlock Holmes has ever been, and he's been pretty damn relatable. Well, not the boxing thing. But the wanting exercise to have a purpose thing.

Save for the occasional use of cocaine, he had no vices

Just the cocaine. 'He didn't do any drugs - except the cocaine, obvs' feels a bit like saying 'He never drives - except for the drag racing'

For two hours we rambled about together, in silence for the most part, as befits two men who know each other intimately. It was nearly five before we were back in Baker Street once more.

Wow... I'm trying very hard not to do queer readings of these stories (idky, I just feel like it's obvious) but sometimes things come up and I know phrases have changed in meaning. But is there any doubt as to why people romantically link these characters?

“This is Grosvenor mixture at eightpence an ounce,” Holmes answered, knocking a little out on his palm. “As he might get an excellent smoke for half the price, he has no need to practise economy.”

We get to see his encyclopaedic knowledge of tobacco ash in action. Not just a reported skill.

Then he has bitten through his amber. It takes a muscular, energetic fellow, and one with a good set of teeth, to do that.

When I was a small child who had just graduated to glass rather than plastic cups, I used to bite bits out of them. I wasn't particularly strong, although I did have quite good teeth back then. I was just quite stupid and didn't understand the consequences of my actions. However, I have never smoked a pipe, so don't know if biting down on it is a traditional part of the experience.

“It’s a very delicate thing,” said he. “One does not like to speak of one’s domestic affairs to strangers. It seems dreadful to discuss the conduct of one’s wife with two men whom I have never seen before. It’s horrible to have to do it. But I’ve got to the end of my tether, and I must have advice.”

Is this going to be another story where Holmes tells people to talk to their spouses?

From every gesture and expression I could see that he was a reserved, self-contained man, with a dash of pride in his nature, more likely to hide his wounds than to expose them.

Hey, Watson. Look at you reading people. Good for you.

And now, since last Monday, there has suddenly sprung up a barrier between us, and I find that there is something in her life and in her thought of which I know as little as if she were the woman who brushes by me in the street. We are estranged, and I want to know why.

Oh yeah, they need to talk to each other. Communication problems.

She went out to America when she was young, and lived in the town of Atlanta, where she married this Hebron, who was a lawyer with a good practice. They had one child, but the yellow fever broke out badly in the place, and both husband and child died of it.

Well this is already tragic and we haven't even got to the mystery yet.

"I have seen his death certificate."

That's weirdly specific, while also being vague pronoun use - the husband or the child? - and also a totally normal thing to say. I guess it's the husband because... that would be necessary for the marriage? But why bring that up? Like, from a Doylist perspective it makes sense to provide that information to the reader, but it's such a weird sentence to just slip in. I'm sure this information won't be at all important later on.

“There’s one thing I ought to tell you before I go further. When we married, my wife made over all her property to me—rather against my will, for I saw how awkward it would be if my business affairs went wrong. However, she would have it so, and it was done. Well, about six weeks ago she came to me."

That is... definitely a choice she made. It doesn't seem like the best choice, especially since apparently it was all her idea. I suppose there must have been a reason for it, but Effie... not sure it was your best idea.

“’And you won’t tell me what you want it for?’ “’Some day, perhaps, but not just at present, Jack.’ “So I had to be content with that, though it was the first time that there had ever been any secret between us. I gave her a check, and I never thought any more of the matter.

OK, he's already one of the most respectful husbands we've seen in these stories just for this. He agreed to look after her money, but to give it to her with no questions asked if she needed it. She asked for a large sum of money, so asking 'what for?' is genuinely a reasonable question, but when gently reminded of his promise he agrees to give her the money with only a little more curiosity. I'm not going to quibble about him questioning her slightly. According to the Bank of England, she asked for the equivalent of £10,000. If your spouse asks for £10,000 randomly one day it's pretty natural to ask what it's for... or you're a billionnaire I guess.

Now, she's a bit sus right now. That's a lot of money on no notice. I guess she has some skeletons in her past she has to pay off in some way.

But also, if you 'never thought any more of the matter' then why were you thinking of it enough to bring it up now? Clearly you definitely thought more on the matter... It strikes me that I may have praised you too soon. You don't seem to be being entirely truthful.

"I could not tell if the face were that of a man or a woman. It had been too far from me for that. But its color was what had impressed me most. It was of a livid chalky white, and with something set and rigid about it which was shockingly unnatural."

Mask? We're all agreed it's a mask, right? livid white, set and rigid? That describes a mask. Or a robot. But if it's a robot, then this is not the story I was expecting and I've really forgotten a lot about these stories since I last read them.

It's not a robot, right?

In the alternate universe where the 5 orange pips killer is the restless ghosts of the murdered, this is a robot.

She was deadly pale and breathing fast, glancing furtively towards the bed as she fastened her mantle, to see if she had disturbed me. Then, thinking that I was still asleep, she slipped noiselessly from the room, and an instant later I heard a sharp creaking which could only come from the hinges of the front door. I sat up in bed and rapped my knuckles against the rail to make certain that I was truly awake. Then I took my watch from under the pillow. It was three in the morning. What on this earth could my wife be doing out on the country road at three in the morning?

Night running? Probably not. Stargazing? Moonbathing? Ancient rites and rituals? Dancing skyclad?

Probably not any of those things. I agree, it is a strange time to go a-wandering. And she is being super sneaky about it. This is another tick against the 'sus' box. Although I do suspect this is going to be something like her being blackmailed by her former husband who didn't actually die at all or something like that. Not that she doesn't have the right to go walking the country lanes at 3am. She can do whatever she wants. Bit weird though.

Was it usual to keep pocket watches under pillows? I used to keep books under my pillow when I was younger - and stuffed down the side of my bed. And hidden in my duvet cover. But that was because I stayed up too late reading and had to hide them quickly when I needed to pretend to be asleep. Did bedside tables not exist in the 1890s? Internet tells me they became popular in the Georgian period. Why not keep your watch beside your bed then. This is entirely unimportant, I'm just surprised that anyone would keep something like a pocket watch under their pillow. He must have a really good pillow.

"I had sat for about twenty minutes"

That's not very long. So it's either not an affair or her affair partner has some stamina issues. I jest, I jest. That wouldn't really be a Sherlock Holmes kind of mystery.

"Where had she been during that strange expedition? I felt that I should have no peace until I knew, and yet I shrank from asking her again after once she had told me what was false. All the rest of the night I tossed and tumbled, framing theory after theory, each more unlikely than the last."

Well, it's less than 10 minutes walk away, so that narrows down your answers somewhat. Probably the neighbour's house, given your narrative so far, Mr Munro.

“’Ah, Jack,’ she said, ‘I have just been in to see if I can be of any assistance to our new neighbors. Why do you look at me like that, Jack? You are not angry with me?’ “’So,’ said I, ‘this is where you went during the night.’"

I mean, yes. But also that's a perfectly good reason for her to be coming out of the cottage. Visiting neighbours, particularly in more rural areas, particularly during this time period, would have been entirely normal. Unless women still had to be introduced by their husbands/fathers at this point, but I don't think that was the case by the end of the Victorian era like it was in Austen. I get that she's being sus, but this is the least suspicious thing she's done. You're right, but your logic is faulty.

“’How can you tell me what you know is false?’ I cried. ‘Your very voice changes as you speak. When have I ever had a secret from you? I shall enter that cottage, and I shall probe the matter to the bottom.’ “’No, no, Jack, for God’s sake!’ she gasped, in uncontrollable emotion. Then, as I approached the door, she seized my sleeve and pulled me back with convulsive strength.

This is also an entirely reasonable reaction to your husband deciding to invade the new neighbours' house while angry.

Maybe it's her kid?

"'If you come home with me, all will be well. If you force your way into that cottage, all is over between us.’ [...] ’I will trust you on one condition, and on one condition only,’ said I at last. ‘It is that this mystery comes to an end from now. You are at liberty to preserve your secret, but you must promise me that there shall be no more nightly visits, no more doings which are kept from my knowledge. I am willing to forget those which are passed if you will promise that there shall be no more in the future.’

Oh dear, no one's coming out well from this. On the one hand, that's quite the ultimatum she's making. On the other hand... that's quite the ultimatum he's making.

So far nothing she's done has been particularly terrible. I mean... a twenty minute walk in the middle of the night isn't bad. Visiting the neighbours isn't bad. All he's got is suspicions that she's lying to him. Meanwhile, she's emotionally blackmailing him with their relationship. I know this is all going to turn out to be very dramatic, because it's a Holmes case, but at the same time, Mr Munro is definitely overreacting right here.

“On the third day, however, I had ample evidence that her solemn promise was not enough to hold her back from this secret influence which drew her away from her husband and her duty."

Oh no... you're being a dick, Mr Munro. The promise you made her give was completely unreasonable. There is literally no way she can tell you everything she plans to do and even if she could, that's a dick move. And now, based on one night time walk and visit next door you're claiming that her leaving the house is drawing her away from her duty? I believed in you, Mr Munro. She is being a bit weird, yes, but you're being controlling and for absolutely no good reason.

“My mind was instantly filled with suspicion. I rushed upstairs to make sure that she was not in the house."

These are not the actions of a rational human being. This is paranoia. If your wife thinks she needs to collude with the servants against you, then your marriage is nowhere near as happy as you seem to think.

"Tingling with anger, I rushed down and hurried across, determined to end the matter once and forever. I saw my wife and the maid hurrying back along the lane, but I did not stop to speak with them. In the cottage lay the secret which was casting a shadow over my life."

What fucking shadow? The only thing casting a shadow over your life right now is you. You have 0 evidence that your wife is doing anything wrong. And the more you talk, the more convinced I am that she could absolutely have needed to take a walk at 3am just to get away from you. I don't think that's going to be the solution to the mystery, but I wouldn't blame her at this point.

And you did so well with the money! Although I suppose we only have your word for any of that, so who knows what actually happened there.

If it turns out that her child didn't die of Yellow Fever at all, but was just left disfigured and/or disabled and now she's visiting them, it's not going to go well for you, my dude.

"I did not even knock when I reached it, but turned the handle and rushed into the passage."

Fucking rude.

That's how you get a poker to the head, btw.

"The furniture and pictures were of the most common and vulgar description, save in the one chamber at the window of which I had seen the strange face. That was comfortable and elegant, and all my suspicions rose into a fierce bitter flame when I saw that on the mantelpiece stood a copy of a full-length photograph of my wife, which had been taken at my request only three months ago."

Mr Monro is kind of a snob, huh? If I liked him more, I might suggest that he and Watson get together for judging sessions.

FINE the picture is weird and evidence of some sort of weird secret. Congratulations, by trespassing and being a controlling dick you have uncovered one (1) piece of evidence that your wife is embroiled in some sort of secret relationship. But I really do think it's going to be maternal.

"It is the first shadow that has come between us, and it has so shaken me that I do not know what I should do for the best."

Well you sure have handled it well so far. /sarcasm.

If this is the first problem in your marriage and your first instinct was to fly completely off the handle and barge into someone else's house and search it from top to bottom just because your wife *checks notes*... went for a short walk in the nighttime and... visited the neighbours? then you are not stable enough for marriage. Oh and she wanted some money a little while before this, but you specifically said that you'd all but forgotten about it (which I doubt since it was the first thing you brought up) and you didn't know if it had any bearing on anything else.

Again, I have only vague recollections of this one. The only thing I really remember is the face in the window, everything else is a blur.

Current theory: her child didn't die, but survived the yellow fever with serious lasting effects. She couldn't support them alone, so she set them up with someone to look after them and when she was properly settled down with a comfortable a life, a (supposedly) loving husband and enough money, she used that £10,000 to bring the child to her and settle them in the cottage across the way so they would be close to each other.

Why all of that would need to be such a secret, I don't know, however. There must be some scandal involved somehow. If we didn't already know she'd been married before, I would have said the child was born out of wedlock, but even if that were the case surely she could just say it was the child of her first husband anyway and in this time with no internet, no one would have been any the wiser?

#Letters from Watson #Sherlock Holmes #long post #The Yellow Face #This guy just keeps getting worse as it continues #The paranoia is strong in this one #She was gone 20 minutes #She had to get there and back #That doesn't leave a lot of time for scandal #Most perfunctory lovers' rendezvous of all time

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eirinstiva · 1 year

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I just love how Jesús Ulceroy, editor of Todo Sherlock Holmes starts his comments about "The Yellow Face" ("El rostro amarillo" in Spanish)

"Un problema victoriano puro."

"A pure victorian problem".

Let's see what Ulceroy wanted to say with that...

#letters from watson #the yellow face #YELL #acd canon #letters in the underground

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