Miss Watson of the Sherlock Holmes

"Isn't it?" Ursula was startled by Eric Holmes' words.

"I mean, the other party is a perfume clerk anyway, how could he not be able to tell the difference between jasmine and evening primrose?"

"That's right, a clerk who has to double-check the labels of all perfumes." Little Holmes crossed his fingers, raised his eyes and met Ursula's.

"Unfortunately, while you're enjoying the smell of the perfume, I noticed something," Eric said cheerfully.

"That's unfortunate." Ursula laughed angrily. "Correct me, I didn't enjoy it."

"Sorry, I was complacent. In short, these two fragrances are easy to confuse in the place of a lady with an unreliable sense of smell and a bit of rhinitis." Seeing that Ursula's expression was wrong, little Holmes restrained himself immediately.

"It's a pity that I don't know if the bride in this case has ordered this so-called soul perfume." He pondered, "Why don't you order a bottle and try it?"

"Yes, but the day after tomorrow." Ursula considered. "Going tomorrow is a bit decisive and eager, and it doesn't fit my submissive personality in the store."

Since that was all the clues that could be discussed about the incident, the two were silent for a while.

Let's just talk about the fairy world.

The main reason is that Eric told Ursula to listen. Little Holmes has kept his promise in the mermaid incident these days, not only brought durians, but also other products from the Far East from the Fairy Bazaar. Ursula Very interested in this.

"So the goblin fair is held every day?" Ursula asked curiously.

"There are nights when there is a moon," explained young Mr. Holmes. "But I really didn't expect that you haven't been there."

"Human beings travel between the two worlds too often, and it is easy to lose themselves." Ursula replied, and she pointed to the top of her head. "Especially for a witch like me who has been deeply involved with the goblin world, if I am alone, I will try my best to avoid participating in such gatherings of goblins."

"Avoid assimilation?" Eric asked.

"Yes, to avoid being assimilated." Ursula nodded, "No one entrusts me, in exchange for a price, I will not take the initiative to open the gate to go deep into the inner world, and I will only be in the overlapping area that does not need to enter the gate. Activity."

"Very wise choice, Miss Witch." Little Holmes laughed.

"Even if you are curious about the world, it is always good to be cautious, otherwise I may not know when I will be lucky enough to meet you, the fairy queen, in which fairy field I pass by."

"Ah, your idea is quite good. I thought you would say that you saw me imprisoned in a cage at the Fairy Fair." Ursula smiled while covering her mouth. She admitted that she was obviously flattered by Eric. To please.

"Hahaha, even if it weren't for you, no girl would be locked in a goblin cage." Little Holmes also laughed when he heard Ursula's words. "Human poets can only say that the girl was taken away by the goblin and became a fairy, and the girl was deceived by the goblin, but her sister happened to be brave and witty."

"In this day and age, the only ones who are teased and exhibited at the Fairy Bazaar are greedy people who yearn for treasures that do not belong to them. Unfortunately, none of them happen to be women."

"That's just because in the past years, women didn't have their own private property at all. Of course, there was no way to talk about greed for wealth." Ursula shook her head.

"But every foreign realm has a queen with a goblin, but no one knows who the king is," said Little Holmes.

"But I know for sure who the king of your mother's domain is," Ursula couldn't help teasing when he heard him mention it.

"Ahem." Little Holmes choked on her words. "Skip this one. Let's continue the topic just now." He begged for mercy. For some reason, he would always avoid mentioning the story of his parents.

Ursula laughed and did not trouble him.Back to the topic just now, but a little melancholy.

"I understand what you mean. Women are indeed easy to resonate with other worlds. But it is a pity that some women with special abilities can originally understand the truth of the world and gain power. However, this ability that countless men desire is not. Be valued by themselves. Home and children are everything to them." (Quoted from Yeats' Celtic Twilight)

"Even in this incident, the famous perfume shop in London is carrying the sign of the goddess Isis." Ursula said in a disappointed tone.

"But people are flocking to it, and what they desire to be blessed by the gods is only the love of young girls. Who will remember that the authority of this god once spread throughout Europe, and who will remember that her power comes from nature and magic."

"Thinking about it makes me angry!"

Ursula suddenly crumpled the wrapping paper in her lap.

"Huh?" Eric Holmes was at a loss. "Because of the goddess?"

"No, I'm not arrogant enough to worry about the belief of the gods." Ursula slowly unfolded the paper again, and she suddenly brought the conversation back to the original topic. "I mean the clerks in the perfume shop."

"What's the matter with them?" Little Holmes was even more at a loss now. "Angry at them for using this as a gimmick?"

"No, I can understand the marketing tactics. But..." Ursula's amber eyes were tinged with fire. "Everyone of them wears corsets! In this year when corsets have begun to be abandoned. The middle-aged lady in the blue skirt is nothing more than that, and the young shop assistants are also wearing them."

"This is very strange." Little Holmes frowned.

In this fictional London, because of the popularity of oriental medicine and the slight improvement of women's status, the health movement that emerged five years ago allowed this society to abandon the kind that was popular in the Victorian era in another time and space half a century earlier. The theory that women's guts need corset support.Instead, various women's sports clubs began to spring up.

Except for older, stereotyped women who can't get rid of the old-fashioned skeleton-shaped waist and support their bodies on their own.Young girls will choose fabric belts at most to modify their body shape.If you still wear this old thing, you will definitely be ridiculed by your peers, and their family doctor will shake their heads to persuade them.

"A fashion-forward shop in London that puts its clerks in old-fashioned corsets. Are you sure, Ursula, it's not those girls who lose too much weight for a slim waist? Or tie up their waists with a belt?"

"Of course." Ursula raised her index finger and shook it.

"Maybe I won't remember which handsome gentleman was wearing what color coat that caught my attention in the street. But even the next day, I'll definitely remember the details of the ruffles on the clothes of ladies I think are well-dressed. The drape of the clothes is the effect that can only be achieved by wearing a corset with a keel."

"That……"

"Miss, sir." The coachman's voice suddenly interrupted their conversation. "Here we are."

After entering the living room shared by two people on the second floor of Building A of No. 221.Ursula threw herself with a snap into the cushions of the sofa.

"I'm so hungry." She rolled over and buried herself in the cushion and hummed.

"Didn't you just have tea?" Eric leaned over and picked up a pillow that was squeezed by the impact of her rush, patted it, and put it back on the sofa.

"Sweets are in the other stomach! I want meat!" said Ursula, showing her face.

"Thanks to the elimination of the corset." Little Holmes couldn't help laughing when he saw Ursula's appearance. "Otherwise, if you eat like this, you will definitely stretch the straps."

"I can't eat at all." Ursula lifted herself up from the soft cushion with difficulty, beckoning little Holmes to give her a hand. "Girdles are accompanied by long-term hunger. Who would have thought that this self-proclaimed civilized country would not allow children to eat meat a few years ago, lest they become violent."

"That's true for boys who don't need to be girded, let alone girls who have to control their diet." She complained, "Fortunately, I am a mixed race, and I have not experienced the kind of life that is not allowed to eat dinner." (Referring to the Victorian era that children are not obedient It is because eating too much produces animal nature.)

Eric came over and pulled her up.

Then suddenly stopped.

"You just said that you are not allowed to eat dinner?" Little Holmes thought of something. He rushed to his room and took out a newspaper clipping. "Look at this article, isn't it a bit similar to the situation in a perfume store?"

He read it aloud.

"Sir John Green declared that children should not be reared in accordance with the current trend of promoting everything in the East. It is unhealthy to let children eat too much, and even eat a full dinner. He called on people to return to tradition, Let a temperate diet protect women's waists and return to society. For this reason, he specially established an association to accommodate members who share his ideals. According to him, there are many "ladies with traditional virtues" (Sir Green language) has joined. Also donated activity funds for him”

"Of course the critics in the papers judged him ridiculous and prim," he concluded, closing his notebook. "very"

"Oh?" Ursula sat hugging the cushions. "There are women joining. Does that mean that Lady Caitlin's perfume house is one of them. After all, there are very few people who still make young girls wear corsets."

She thought for a while and stood up.

"Looks like I have to educate you." Ursula tapped her palm.

"It seems that if the perfume house is really related to the case, then this strange flower association must also be involved. And you may not even be able to distinguish its members. Sherlock will definitely laugh at you. After all, this is what divides women of an era A change of dress. By that you can even tell the real age of a well-kept lady."

"I can't quite tell the difference." Eric readily admitted. "Because the body types of adult women I can get close to are basically those in the fairy world, you can't expect them to wear this. And my father sent me to a closed boys' school, and I rarely had contact with girls when I was growing up. "

"As an adult, I can't even think about it. I just stare at the lady's waist to compare the differences." He shrugged.

"You're right, this one really needs to be taught a lesson. Especially in this case, I have a hunch that it will probably involve the collision of tradition and progress. At least I can distinguish between myself and the enemy."

"Then I'll be a teacher once." Ursula looked up and thought for a while. "I remember I bought one as a souvenir, wait a minute."

She thumped and ran upstairs with her skirt in hand.

Eric leaned against the door frame to listen.

Presently Ursula came down again with a brand new corset, and changed her clothes.

"Let me show you the undressed state first." She is now wearing a long satin dress that is about the same length as the clerk's lady. "Mostly watch my breathing and walking posture," Ursula reminded.

"Okay, sir." Little Holmes looked at the corset for a while, then nodded humbly.

After weeks of wandering around the room at various speeds, Ursula took another turn.

"See clearly?" she asked with a smile on her hips.

"Almost." Eric replied.

"Okay, give me the corset." Ursula held this, a souvenir from the year she started promoting the abandonment of the corset.He ran upstairs again.

It took a while this time before she came down, and the movement of going downstairs was much slower than before.

Da da da

Ursula came down the stairs at a slow pace.

"Uh, your upper body didn't move at all." Little Holmes commented

"I can't even breathe." Ursula took a deep breath with difficulty. "Look at the difference between the folds of the skirt and the absence of a corset. I can't bear it for long. If I wasn't hungry, I wouldn't be able to wear this corset."

"Can you let me feel it? For a person like you who has never worn it before, the state of his muscles when he wears this."

Seeing Ursula's more upright figure than usual, with her skirts fully lifted, and pacing around the room, Eric Holmes couldn't help but want to study.

"Ah, please pretend I didn't ask. I just lost my mind and offended you." Little Holmes, who had just blurted out and realized something was wrong, suddenly remembered that a corset looked like an inner garment, and quickly retracted his words.

"It's okay, come on, I only have one minute left. I'm going to choke," Ursula complained.She has never used the corset as an inner garment at all, it is used as a decorative outer garment in modern times.

"That's rude!" Eric hesitated, and walked behind Ursula, his fingertips touching the area of ​​her waist where the corset was stiff.

Just about to put my hands on it.

"What are you doing!"

A roar came from the door, and little Holmes shook his hand and pressed firmly.

Dr. Watson was holding a paper bag, his eyes were blazing, and he strode in angrily.

Sherlock Holmes came in slowly behind.