“Because an illustrious client has placed her piteous case in myhands. It is the Lady Eva Blackwell, the most beautiful debutanteof last season. She is to be married in a fortnight to the Earl ofDovercourt. This fiend has several imprudent letters—imprudent,Watson, nothing worse—which were written to an impecuniousyoung squire in the country. They would suffice to break off thematch. Milverton will send the letters to the Earl unless a largesum of money is paid him. I have been commissioned to meethim, and—to make the best terms I can.”
At that instant there was a clatter and a rattle in the streetbelow. Looking down I saw a stately carriage and pair, the brilliantlamps gleaming on the glossy haunches of the noble chestnuts.
A footman opened the door, and a small, stout man in a shaggyastrakhan overcoat descended. A minute later he was in the room.
Charles Augustus Milverton was a man of fifty, with a large,intellectual head, a round, plump, hairless face, a perpetualfrozen smile, and two keen gray eyes, which gleamed brightlyfrom behind broad, gold-rimmed glasses. There was somethingof Mr. Pickwick’s benevolence in his appearance, marred onlyby the insincerity of the fixed smile and by the hard glitter ofthose restless and penetrating eyes. His voice was as smoothand suave as his countenance, as he advanced with a plump littlehand extended, murmuring his regret for having missed us at hisfirst visit. Holmes disregarded the outstretched hand and lookedat him with a face of granite. Milverton’s smile broadened, heshrugged his shoulders removed his overcoat, folded it with greatdeliberation over the back of a chair, and then took a seat.
“This gentleman?” said he, with a wave in my direction. “Is itdiscreet? Is it right?”
“Dr. Watson is my friend and partner.”
“Very good, Mr. Holmes. It is only in your client’s interests thatI protested. The matter is so very delicate——”
“Dr. Watson has already heard of it.”
“Then we can proceed to business. You say that you are actingfor Lady Eva. Has she empowered you to accept my terms?”
“What are your terms?”
“Seven thousand pounds.”
“And the alternative?”
“My dear sir, it is painful for me to discuss it, but if the moneyis not paid on the 14th, there certainly will be no marriage on the18th.” His insufferable smile was more complacent than ever.
Holmes thought for a little.
“You appear to me,” he said, at last, “to be taking matters toomuch for granted. I am, of course, familiar with the contents ofthese letters. My client will certainly do what I may advise. I shallcounsel her to tell her future husband the whole story and to trustto his generosity.”
Milverton chuckled.
“You evidently do not know the Earl,” said he.
From the baffled look upon Holmes’s face, I could see clearlythat he did.
“What harm is there in the letters?” he asked.
“They are sprightly—very sprightly,” Milverton answered. “Thelady was a charming correspondent. But I can assure you that theEarl of Dovercourt would fail to appreciate them. However, sinceyou think otherwise, we will let it rest at that. It is purely a matterof business. If you think that it is in the best interests of yourclient that these letters should be placed in the hands of the Earl,then you would indeed be foolish to pay so large a sum of moneyto regain them.” He rose and seized his astrakhan coat.
Holmes was gray with anger and mortification.
“Wait a little,” he said. “You go too fast. We should certainlymake every effort to avoid scandal in so delicate a matter.”
Milverton relapsed into his chair.
“I was sure that you would see it in that light,” he purred.
“At the same time,” Holmes continued, “Lady Eva is not awealthy woman. I assure you that two thousand pounds wouldbe a drain upon her resources, and that the sum you name isutterly beyond her power. I beg, therefore, that you will moderateyour demands, and that you will return the letters at the price Iindicate, which is, I assure you, the highest that you can get.”
Milverton’s smile broadened and his eyes twinkled humorously.
“I am aware that what you say is true about the lady’s resources,”
said he. “At the same time you must admit that the occasion of alady’s marriage is a very suitable time for her friends and relativesto make some little effort upon her behalf. They may hesitate as toan acceptable wedding present. Let me assure them that this littlebundle of letters would give more joy than all the candelabra andbutter-dishes in London.”
“It is impossible,” said Holmes.
“Dear me, dear me, how unfortunate!” cried Milverton, takingout a bulky pocketbook. “I cannot help thinking that ladies areill-advised in not making an effort. Look at this!” He held up alittle note with a coat-of-arms upon the envelope. “That belongsto—well, perhaps it is hardly fair to tell the name until to-morrowmorning. But at that time it will be in the hands of the lady’shusband. And all because she will not find a beggarly sum whichshe could get by turning her diamonds into paste. It is such a pity!
Now, you remember the sudden end of the engagement betweenthe Honourable Miss Miles and Colonel Dorking? Only two daysbefore the wedding, there was a paragraph in the MORNINGPOST to say that it was all off. And why? It is almost incredible,but the absurd sum of twelve hundred pounds would have settledthe whole question. Is it not pitiful? And here I find you, a man ofsense, boggling about terms, when your client’s future and honourare at stake. You surprise me, Mr. Holmes.”
“What I say is true,” Holmes answered. “The money cannot befound. Surely it is better for you to take the substantial sum whichI offer than to ruin this woman’s career, which can profit you in noway?”
“There you make a mistake, Mr. Holmes. An exposure wouldprofit me indirectly to a considerable extent. I have eight or tensimilar cases maturing. If it was circulated among them that I hadmade a severe example of the Lady Eva, I should find all of themmuch more open to reason. You see my point?”
Holmes sprang from his chair.