The Isle of Devils (65 page)


        
‘Journeys end in lovers meeting’ is of course from Act II, Scene III of Shakespeare’s
Twelfth Night
. The French have many ways of saying goodbye, each with a subtle shade of difference.
Adieu
is used for true goodbyes in the sense of you are either unsure whether or not you will see the person again, or, if you do see him again, it will be a very long time, while
à bientôt
means ‘see you soon.’


        
Tradition holds that Watson met Holmes at St. Bart’s Hospital on the first of January, 1881.


        
Unfortunately, Watson would not see his brother again. Although when they parted Henry was left with good prospects of advancement in the British Army, he threw away his chances by sheer carelessness. His was drummed out of the 99
^th
Regiment, and washed up in America to live for some time in poverty, with occasional short intervals of prosperity. Eventually, however, he took to drink and died around early 1887 (Chapter I,
The Sign of the Four
).


        
According to an apocryphal play, Watson’s acquaintance onboard the Orontes, Sir Montague Brown, the aristocratic English globetrotter would apparently meet up with Watson again on the streets of San Francisco (see notes below).


        
In the Canon, Watson would list his title in two different ways: “Late of the Army Medical Department” (Chapter I,
A Study in Scarlet
) or “Late Indian Army” (
The Problem of Thor Bridge
). Since Watson was never actually in the Indian Army, but rather part of the British Army stationed in India, the latter is clearly either a
mis
-remembrance on his part, or more likely a typographical error by his first literary agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, or by the printer of the
Case-Book
, John Murray.


        
Because Watson apparently mailed the account of the Bermuda Manuscript to his brother shortly after landing on a Portsmouth jetty, it is unclear whether he ever reunited with Ms. Lucy Harrier. However, in 2001, a long-suppressed play was unveiled that might throw some light upon the subject. That play was entitled
Angels of Darkness
and was apparently written by Watson’s first literary agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Although the exact genesis of the play is unclear, it seems likely that Conan Doyle wrote it during a period of great personal turmoil, for it is filled with historical inaccuracies about his friend John H. Watson, M.D. And yet portions of that manuscript feel as if they contain hints of the truth. In the play, Watson travels to San Francisco around 1884 and there woos a young woman, returning with her to England in order to wed. In the play, her name is given as Lucy Ferrier. That is patently absurd since the real Lucy Ferrier unfortunately is known to have died in Salt Lake City around 1860 (Part II, Chapter V,
A Study in Scarlet
). It seems much more likely that Conan Doyle heard the name wrong, and Watson instead journeyed to San Francisco to reunite with Lucy
Harrier
. If so, then tragically she must have died before 1888, when Watson encountered Ms. Mary Morstan (
The Sign of the Four
). But if their marriage lasted but only a few short years, in the absence of any of Watson’s other early writings coming to light, we can simply imagine that Watson and Lucy might have found great happiness together, however brief
.

§

About the Type

This book is set in Baskerville Old Face, a transitional serif typeface designed in 1757 by John Baskerville (1706–1775) in Birmingham, England. Baskerville is classified as a transitional typeface, positioned between the old style typefaces of William Caslon, and the modern styles of Giambattista Bodoni and Firmin Didot. The typeface was designed to reflect Baskerville's ideals of perfection, for which he chose simplicity and quiet refinement. His background as a writing master is evident in the distinctive swash tail on the uppercase Q and in the cursive serifs in the Baskerville Italic. The refined feeling of the typeface makes it an excellent choice to convey dignity and tradition.

It is unclear whether this John Baskerville is in fact one of the two sons of Hugo, who in 1742 set down the chronicle of the Curse of the Baskervilles.

§

CRAIG JANACEK is a frequent visitor to the isle of Bermuda
and a
devoted
Sherlockian
, who
hopes to someday be invested as a Baker Street Irregular.
He hails from Southern California, studied at Pembroke College
(
Cambridge, England
), and
is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
, and
did specialty training at Stanford University
. His other books include
The Anger of Achilles Peterson
and
The Oxford Deception
. In addition to fiction, he publishes frequently on medical topics. He is a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and lives nearby with his wife, Margaret, and two children, Owen and Danica. Craig Janacek is a pseudonym.

For augmented content, connect with him online at:
http://craigjanacek.wordpress.com
.