THE QUEEN OF SONG—Page Three
Now, we come to Holmes' shadowing Irene Adler while disguised as a groom. There are some comments which are quite unusual for Holmes. Relating the description attributed to the grooms, he says, “She is the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the Serpentine Mews, to a man.” Certainly, if she was a heavy woman, as were many opera singers of the time (as well as now), I don't believe the men would have called her dainty. And consider Holmes’ own words, a really astounding comment, coming from him, “. . .she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for.” Sounds like our petite, beautiful Patti, does it not?             While acquiring information from fellow grooms as to her habits, looks, lifestyle, etc., Holmes observed a tall, dashing, remarkably handsome man walk into Irene's home as if he belonged there. Watson, in a rather clumsy attempt to obscure the identity of this man, changed his name and occupation. Patti’s lover was an Italian opera singer. Certainly this physical description is
more likely to describe a man in the theater arts than a lawyer in the Inner Temple. The name change from Ernesto Nicolini to Godfrey Norton could have been more imaginative as well.             We might wonder why Ernesto (a.k.a. Godfrey) came to Irene’s home in such an excited state and why he did quite a bit of persuading by throwing a fit. An attorney is less likely than a theatrical person to put on such a performance. Why did he insist on an immediate marriage, coming to her with license in hand? Quite likely he had just learned, how we won't speculate, that Irene was playing this game with the King of Bohemia and had become incensed because he and Irene had been lovers for eight years with plans for a lavish wedding at her estate in just a couple of months. He probably regarded this intended blackmail as frivolous and unworthy of her. Also, he did not look kindly on her being engaged in an affair while they were in an essentially permanent relationship. The ultimatum was given. “We marry now, today, or we don't marry at all! We can still go through the public ceremony as planned, but I want this foolishness stopped at once!” Obviously, she loved him too much to refuse. If she had not, she would have told him to get lost. So they rushed off and got married as described by Holmes.
Without missing a beat, Irene went out for her usual ride at five and, returning home, encountered the fracas in front of her house and invited the kindly old parson in. Watson tossed his smoke bomb, and she was trapped into revealing the hiding place of the picture. Holmes had told Watson to meet him down the street in ten minutes. Looking at the situation from Irene's viewpoint, she had approximately the same length of time to recognize that she'd been duped, get out of whatever she had worn for her ride, get into trousers, ulster and hat, and be out of the house in time to keep Holmes and Watson in sight. I defy you to find many opera singers, even today, who could move that fast. We have here a petite person who is active enough to get out of Victorian dress, which is no small task even with a maid to help, don a male costume, and dash out of the house in time to see which way Holmes and Watson had gone. And remember, both Holmes and Watson thought the passerby at 221B was a “slim youth.” The description of Patti as petite and beautiful applied as
well at forty-three as at eighteen. In fact, Watson describes her figure as “splendid” the very evening in question.             Watson tries to obscure the lady's identity by having her write that she and her bridegroom were off to Paris, which they might well have been since Patti owned a home there. I think she had not entirely lost interest in giving Francis Ferdinand some uneasy thoughts (we don't know how they parted five years before, and perhaps she still had a score to settle). However, whatever Watson said was in the letter probably did not accurately reflect its contents, considering that he was intent on protecting Patti's identity. One thing rings true to Patti's personality, though, and that was wandering about London disguised as a man. Undoubtedly, she enjoyed indulging in such a pastime and would have had the courage and confidence to do it.