Chapter Text
“Watson, I think it is time that you were married.”
I choked on the sip of tea I had just taken in. Holmes pounded me a bit on the back while I tried to remember how to breath.
“Holmes?” was all I could sputter.
“And Mycroft is in agreement with me. It would be best for all parties involved if you got married.”
I looked at him suspiciously since he had said that Mycroft was involved with this matter.
“Watson considering what happened to us last year and how a number of people have threatened to expose us, don’t you think we need to put these rumors to rest?”
He had a point. We had been very careful after our encounter with Mr. Copper. I will admit I was expecting either Lestrade or Gregson knocking at our door to arrest us for unlawful acts upon each other’s person. I figured it would be Lestrade since Gregson did know about us but since he was part of the Marketplace as well, he was safe unless threatened.
“Do you have anyone in mind for me?”
He smiled and clapped his hands together, “Yes we do and I think you will be pleased at our choice. Now be a good chap and go get dressed. We have places to be today.”
I did as ordered. I wasn’t sure how I felt about any of this. I went back to the parlor to find Holmes having trouble with his cufflinks. I stepped in and finished fixing them for him.
Holmes’ hands had, thank goodness, recovered from that dreadful business. He had worked hard to get back the dexterity of his wrist and fingers. The only reminders were the puckered scars that were on both sides of his wrists.
“Watson, we have a couple of stops to make before we join Mycroft for lunch,” he said as I helped him into his coat.
He adjusted his gloves and put on his hat. I followed suit with mine.
He looked me over carefully, “Yes, that will do.”
As we walked my mind was still trying to grasp what Holmes had announced this morning.
“Stop it,” he said as he hailed a cab.
“Stop what?”
“Thinking so loud. I promise by this evening all your questions and concerns will be answered.”
We got into the cab and Holmes told the driver to take us to Scotland Yard.
As the cab started to rumble through the streets, Holmes said, “Have you ever…serviced a woman?”
I had another coughing fit this time choking on my own saliva.
“Watson you really must pull yourself together. We can’t have you sounding like a consumption victim now can we?”
I nodded and pulled myself together.
“So?”
“Sir?”
“My question was..”
I cut him off, “Yes, I have. I was trained to for both.”
“But your preference?”
“Holmes, what do you think?”
He smiled and said, “As it should be.”
“Why are we off to Scotland Yard?” I asked desperate to change the subject.
“Lestrade asked me to stop by and take a look at a case he is working. Apparently he and Bradstreet have a bet going and have decided to make me the arbitrator in this matter.”
The case took up most of the morning and Holmes had me look over the corpse after he did. Poisoning is such an ugly business. It turned out that both detectives were right since the suspects had worked with each other to kill the poor man so all bets were off.
I found myself standing with Holmes in front of a French restaurant called L’ecole which I had heard about but never visited. We went in and were lead to a table where Mycroft was seated with a woman I did not know.
“Ah there you are,” said Mycroft, “I was starting to wonder if you had forgotten Sherlock.”
He gestured at us and said “Mrs. Cecil Forrester I would like to introduce you to my brother Sherlock Holmes and his partner Doctor John Watson.”
“Please accept my apologies. I was working a case and lost track of time,” Holmes said smoothly as he kissed her hand.
We sat down and food was brought.
“I hope you don’t mind Sherlock but I went ahead and ordered for you both. The chef here is a treasure indeed.”
We ate and made small talk about this and that. Mrs. Forrester was very knowledgeable about the work Holmes and I had done. She was a reader of the missives I had published.
We answered what we could about the cases that we had worked on. I noticed that more and more of the questions were being directed at me. This seemed unusual to me since most people wanted to talk to Holmes.
I answered the best I could with Holmes interjecting once or twice. We discussed my military service and my current practice which was thriving at the moment.
After we finished up the meal Mrs. Foster turned to Mycroft and said, “Yes, he’ll do” and left.
I looked from one Holmes to another to have some sort of clue what is going on. Was I being lent out? Sold? I felt a lump of panic in my chest.
“Oh Watson do get yourself under control,” said Sherlock, “Nothing dire is going to happen to you. In fact you may enjoy it.”
Mycroft smiled and nodded.
It really didn’t help me to feel better.
We walked back to the Diogenes club with Mycroft since it was a block or so over and followed him to one of the visitor rooms. I recognized it as the room where I first met Sherlock.
“Doctor Watson, I am sure my brother explained what is going on,” said Mycroft as he picked up the sherry that was deposited on his right as he had sat down. I found a glass of scotch had appeared at my elbow as well as one at Sherlock’s.
I took a sip giving myself some time to try to figure out what was going on.
“Oh Sherlock, you didn’t tell him?” said Mycroft.
“I did. I told him it was time for him to get married,” came the reply.
Mycroft sighed and put down his glass, “Sometimes it is hard to believe that you are my brother.”
He turned to me, “Doctor Watson, do you remember Miss Mary Morstan?”
“She was studying under Lord Willingham,” I said, “She was on her way to becoming a damn fine doctor if she was allowed to be. She helped Wilson after that mess with Copper.”
“What did you think of her as a woman?”
That was a bit of an unusual question I thought, “She looked pleasant enough. Her face was pretty and her blond hair quite lovely.”
Mycroft nodded and said “Good. See Sherlock, I told you this would work.”
“Excuse me Sir, what would work?”
“Well for you to court and marry Miss Morstan of course.”