The Adventure at Baskerville Hall & Other Cases

pretending that all was as it had been.
    More than anything, I hoped I could get through the ordeal without revealing the existence of the now-destroyed letter.
    The sun was bright enough to render the morning fire in our grate more welcome for its warmth than illumination, when I was startled to see the subject of my thoughts emerge from his bedroom, fully dressed with his hair damp and sleeked back from his face. Holmes is not known for being an early riser, and I was so surprised to see him that I actually stood up rather formally as he approached and I bid him good morning.
    "I am surprised to see you," I added.
    "And I you, I assure you," he replied.
    I forced a casual laugh.
    "Last night's vigorous exertions gave me an appetite, which drove me from my bed to seek sustenance early this morning."
    It was a pathetic attempt at deception, and he did not dignify it with a reply as he glanced at my half-eaten toast and cup of cold tea.
    With no further preamble he said, "I believe I have something of yours," as he reached into his dressing-gown and withdrew the one item I had prayed never to see in his hands.
    The unforgettable morning where I suddenly saw a dead friend in place of an old bookseller remains the only time in my life thus far that I have fainted. Nevertheless, I believe that that morning I came as close as I ever have since to losing consciousness. I know I certainly looked on the point of collapse, for I felt the blood drain from my face and I was dimly aware of Holmes pushing me firmly down to sit upon our settee. Feeling as though the little breakfast I had been able to stomach was about to leave me, I stared at my hands until a glass containing a generous measure of brandy was thrust into them.
    "My dear Watson," Holmes was exclaiming, "it appears that once again I owe you a thousand apologies for unnecessary dramatics. I had no idea that you would be so affected, but truthfully I had not the slightest idea how to introduce the topic into casual conversation."
    He moved to loosen my collar-ends, but I waved him away as I took a large gulp of brandy. As it traced a warm path down to my stomach, I said hoarsely, "I imagine you must be rather surprised by your find, and would like an explanation."
    Holmes waved an elegant hand dismissively.
    "Not at all. I knew I would find it before I ever set foot in Milverton's study last night."
    I stared at him incredulously.
    "How can you possibly have known that you would find a letter to yourself from me?"
    "While not being certain of the subject, I knew I would find something," he clarified, "as it was obvious from the first that that poisonous individual was blackmailing you."
    At my astonished look, he allowed himself to smile at me.
    "You picked up a chair , my dear fellow, so insistent were you that he not leave our rooms at the end of his visit here last week. I have seen you confront villains of every stripe during our acquaintance, but with precisely none of them have I seen you seriously propose dashing their brains out upon our bearskin hearthrug. In addition," he continued, "you snapped at me afterwards in a most uncharacteristic fashion. Naturally, after such clues it was a simple matter to set Wiggins to follow you for the next few days–"
    "Follow me!" I cried, thinking of Milverton's hired thug who had also been tailing me for weeks and wondering, slightly hysterically, just how many people I had traipsing after me every time I poked my nose out the door.
    "Yes," he replied, unabashed. "His description to me of your agitated meeting with Milverton later that week was mere confirmation of what I already suspected – that you were being blackmailed by him, and that it was over a subject whose details you did not wish to share with me."
    When presented with this elegantly linked chain of reasoning, I could do nothing except bow my head in silent confirmation.
    "Therefore you see I knew already that I should find something, although precisely what I was still not certain. When I found this in his safe, I admit I was surprised. You see it is unopened," he held it up to show me and his voice grew quieter, "but I have been considering what its contents could be and I believe I know. You and I have argued on so many topics that I do not think there could be any possible subject you would hesitate to bring up with me, save one."
    His gray eyes, luminous in the early morning light, bored into my own and seemed to read my thoughts as if they had been