'
We heard the clock strike eight; then a second later smaller bells
chimed a quarter-past, and another second after they tinkled the
half-hour. 'Hallo!' cried Haddon, 'Ed has attended to the clock
himself. What a good fellow he is.'
'I looked at my watch; it was twenty-five minutes to nine.
'Was the ceremony genuine then?' I asked.
'Ah, Valmont,' said the young man, patting his wife affectionately on
the shoulder, 'nothing on earth can be more genuine than that ceremony
was.'
And the volatile Lady Alicia snuggled closer to him.
APPENDIX: TWO SHERLOCK HOLMES PARODIES
1. The Adventures of Sherlaw Kombs
(With apologies to Dr. Conan Doyle, and his excellent book, 'A Study in
Scarlet'.)
I dropped in on my friend, Sherlaw Kombs, to hear what he had to say
about the Pegram mystery, as it had come to be called in the
newspapers. I found him playing the violin with a look of sweet peace
and serenity on his face, which I never noticed on the countenances of
those within hearing distance. I knew this expression of seraphic calm
indicated that Kombs had been deeply annoyed about something. Such,
indeed, proved to be the case, for one of the morning papers had
contained an article eulogising the alertness and general competence
of Scotland Yard.
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