”Butthewritingisnothisown。””Precisely。Itisawoman’s。””Aman’ssurely，”Icried。”No，awoman’s，andawomanofrarecharacter。Yousee，atthecommencementofaninvestigationitissomethingtoknowthatyourclientisinclosecontactwithsomeonewho，forgoodorevil，hasanexceptionalnature。Myinterestisalreadyawakenedinthecase。IfyouarereadywewillstartatonceforWoking，andseethisdiplomatistwhoisinsuchevilcase，andtheladytowhomhedictateshisletters。”WewerefortunateenoughtocatchanearlytrainatWaterloo，andinalittleunderanhourwefoundourselvesamongthefir-woodsandtheheatherofWoking。Briarbraeprovedtobealargedetachedhousestandinginextensivegroundswithinafewminutes’
walkofthestation。Onsendinginourcardswewereshownintoanelegantlyappointeddrawing-room，wherewewerejoinedinafewminutesbyaratherstoutmanwhoreceiveduswithmuchhospitality。Hisagemayhavebeennearerfortythanthirty，buthischeeksweresoruddyandhiseyessomerrythathestillconveyedtheimpressionofaplumpandmischievousboy。”Iamsogladthatyouhavecome，”saidhe，shakingourhandswitheffusion。”Percyhasbeeninquiringforyouallmorning。Ah，pooroldchap，heclingstoanystraw！Hisfatherandhismotheraskedmetoseeyou，forthemerementionofthesubjectisverypainfultothem。””Wehavehadnodetailsyet，”observedHolmes。”I
perceivethatyouarenotyourselfamemberofthefamily。”
Ouracquaintancelookedsurprised，andthen，glancingdown，hebegantolaugh。”OfcourseyousawtheJHmonogramonmylocket，”
saidhe。”ForamomentIthoughtyouhaddonesomethingclever。JosephHarrisonismyname，andasPercyistomarrymysisterAnnieIshallatleastbearelationbymarriage。Youwillfindmysisterinhisroom，forshehasnursedhimhand-and-footthistwomonthsback。Perhapswe’dbettergoinatonce，forIknowhowimpatientheis。”