Young Sherlock Holmes_ Fire Storm - Andrew Lane [32]
‘She had blueprints of the house,’ Sherlock remembered. ‘They’re in her room, hanging outside the window. You should get them back, before someone else finds them.’
Sherrinford shook his head, and smiled. Sherlock couldn’t remember ever seeing his uncle smile before. ‘I believe that I have a bottle of Madeira which I have been keeping for a special occasion,’ he said. ‘This is probably as close to a special occasion as I will get in my life. I appreciate that you are both barely more than children, but I feel that God and your families would forgive me if I offered you a glass. A small one, of course.’
Sherrinford Holmes peered sideways at his wife and raised an enquiring eyebrow. She nodded, and he went to the sideboard to get a bottle and some glasses.
‘I feel that we owe you an explanation,’ he said as he returned and sat down. ‘Mrs Eglantine has made your life here unpleasant, to put it mildly, and after what you have done for us the least we can do for you is tell you what it was that she knew.’
‘Sherlock shook his head. ‘It’s not necessary,’ he said. ‘All families deserve to have their secrets.’
‘But this secret affects you,’ Sherrinford said. ‘We have kept it from you for long enough.’ He squeezed his wife’s arm, and she patted his hand in reassurance.
Sherlock felt as if the ground beneath his feet was sliding slowly sideways. A secret that involved him?
Sherrinford opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated. He gazed at Matty, frowning. ‘Perhaps . . .’ he ventured, ‘this should wait until later. When we can discuss things between ourselves.’
Sherlock looked over at Matty. ‘Whatever it is,’ he said firmly, ‘I don’t want to keep it secret any more. Matty is my friend. There isn’t anything I don’t want him to know about me.’
Sherrinford looked unconvinced. ‘Even so, Sherlock, this is a family matter. Is it appropriate that others find out? Perhaps your brother should be consulted before we speak in front of others.’
‘Others have already found out.’ Sherlock’s gaze moved from his uncle to his aunt and back again. ‘Look, I once heard Mycroft say that sunlight is the best cleaning agent. I thought he meant it literally at the time, that rooms with the curtains drawn get dusty and cobwebby, but I’ve come to realize that he was speaking figuratively. What he was trying to say was that hiding things away just makes the situation worse. Knowing the truth, letting everyone know the truth, is usually the best course of action.’
Sherrinford sighed. ‘Very well,’ he said slowly, pouring the Madeira into the glasses. ‘This involves your father. It goes back to when we were children together. Siger – your father – was a strange child, even then. Some days he would be bright and full of energy, able to climb any tree and jump any fence, bolting his food and speaking faster than people could understand. Other days he would just lie in bed or mope around the house, listless and uninterested. Our father said that he would grow out of it. Our mother was less sure. She called in various doctors to give a diagnosis. The ones who came when he was running around and not stopping for breath said that he was naturally boisterous. The ones who saw him when he took no interest in anything around him said that he was sensitive and maudlin in nature – melancholic. When the melancholia or the mania became too much for our father and mother to manage, he was taken into an asylum and looked after there.’
‘My father was . . . is . . . insane?’ Sherlock whispered.
‘I would never have used that word to describe him,’ Sherrinford said sternly. ‘He was . . . is . . . my brother, and there were days when you could not tell there was anything wrong with him.’ He paused. ‘But on other days he would become so excited that he could be dangerous, or so maudlin that he talked of ending his own life. I say he was “looked after” at the asylum rather than “cared for”, because I visited him once, and I will never forget the abject horror of his surroundings. They left their mark on him, I am sure.’ He paused,