teaformrholmes reblogged
Brett told me more than once that he believed that Holmes needed Watson, perhaps more than Watson needed Holmes. I tried to express this in a speech I gave to Watson in my own play Fixed Point, a work that pleased Brett and for which he wrote a brief introduction. Watson’s speech goes thus:
‘Sherlock Holmes was unique. He was a genius. He was the world’s first and best consulting detective. But he was something greater than all these. [HE PAUSES FOR EMPHASIS] He was my friend—the best and wisest friend a man could have. Oh, there have been those who have said that he treated me in a cavalier fashion by letting me believe he had perished in the Reichenbach Falls. But it was what he had to do. He wasn’t being false to me—only true to himself. He knew I would survive. I was an old campaigner, after all. But if you or anyone requires proof of the loyalty and—[MOMENTARILY LOST FOR THE RIGHT WORD]—love … yes love, he felt towards me, I need only mention the case of the Three Garridebs when I was shot by Killer Evans. I shall never forget Holmes’s words to me on that occasion: “You’re not hurt, Watson? For God’s sake, say you are not hurt.” It was worth a wound to know the depth of loyalty that lay behind that cold mask. [REFLECTIVELY—TO HIMSELF] It was worth many wounds.’
David Stuart Davies, Bending the Willow
