Canon Discussion: The Priory School

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

This week we’re having a look at The Priory School. I’ve typed up a few thoughts and questions to get the discussion going—please leave your own ideas in the comments!

...he entered himself—so large, so pompous… Curious choice of word from Watson. I would have said the one thing Huxtable isn’t is pompous. I like him a lot: he seems worried about the missing boy as a child, rather than simply the son of an important man; he’s open with Holmes and acknowledges mistakes, even when they weren’t his fault; he’s the one who actually goes and engages Holmes; and he’s genuinely upset when he learns Heidegger’s fate.

"It is a princely offer," said Holmes. "Watson, I think that we shall accompany Dr. Huxtable back to the North of England. Holmes’ reaction to the reward in this story is rather strange. Why does he agree to take on the case? Is it the money—or the fact the child comes from a noble family? That seems wildly out of character for Holmes but surely it can’t be the case itself that has caught his attention—he hasn’t been told any of the details yet. Is it possible that Holmes needs the money for something specific? Or is he simply taking pity on Huxtable’s distress?

“An apparent clue was at once obtained, since a boy and a young man were reported to have been seen leaving a neighbouring station by an early train. Only last night we had news that the couple had been hunted down in Liverpool, and they prove to have no connection whatever with the matter in hand.” Any thoughts on these two incidental characters?

That he could have gone on after receiving such an injury said much for the vitality and courage of the man. What an admirable man Heidegger is. It’s so moving that he loses his life trying to protect a child that he doesn’t even know, when the child’s father himself seems so careless of his son’s safety.

My friend rubbed his thin hands together with an appearance of avidity which was a surprise to me, who knew his frugal tastes. What is going through Holmes’ mind with regard to the money? I think it’s partly to do with making the Duke look a fool—teaching him a lesson. And though Holmes is “prepared to work for the work's sake”, he presumably does need to earn money from time to time. “I think twelve thousand pounds is the sum that I owe you, is it not?" It’s not made clear, but I’ve always assumed Holmes doesn’t accept the (implied) bribe of £12,000—he only accepts the £6,000 reward that was originally offered. Any thoughts though?

“I could not acknowledge the paternity to the world; but I gave him the best of educations, and since he came to manhood I have kept him near my person.” How much is the Duke to blame for how his elder son turned out? Would Wilder have been a better man if the Duke had found a good family to bring him up and then just left him alone, in complete ignorance of his origins? Or was Wilder always simply going to be a bad man?

“He surprised my secret…” Any ideas on how he worked out that the Duke was his father? The Duke had photographs or letters perhaps.

“...my suspicions, which had never been entirely absent, rose instantly to a certainty...” The Duke had sent his younger son away because he thought Wilder might harm him. Why didn’t he immediately challenge Wilder when Arthur went missing?

“As to Hayes I say nothing. The gallows awaits him, and I would do nothing to save him from it. What he will divulge I cannot tell, but I have no doubt that your Grace could make him understand that it is to his interest to be silent.” How on earth could you convince a condemned man not to say anything? Perhaps though the Duke could offer to give money to his wife..? Hayes may care for her a little.

“...I would suggest that you make such amends as you can to the Duchess, and that you try to resume those relations which have been so unhappily interrupted." I don’t doubt that the Duchess will come back for the sake of her child. But what happens when Arthur explains exactly what happened to him? That his father came to visit him where he was detained—and then left him there. Will the Duke and Duchess ever truly be husband and wife again?

Next Sunday, 13th September, we’ll be having a look at The Adventure of Black Peter. Hope you can join us then.

Comments

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

That's a very good point about the duchess possibly finding there too much to forgive. I would also point out the curious incident of the duchess in the meantime.

Of Wilder, I think there's enough blame to go round. The Duke's unjust indulgence wouldn't do anyone any good, but Wilder seems to have taken every advantage he could.

I wouldn't worry too much if Holmes took the double fee. It was freely offered, and I think it could have gone to very good uses. The Baker Street Irregulars, for instance.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I do like "the curious incident of the duchess in the meantime" ^^

I wonder if perhaps her apparent lack of anxiety about her missing son, and the fact she hasn't been writing to him at the school is down to her being left in the dark. Lord Saltire arrives at the school on 1st May, and I think the implication is that his mother had left shortly before. Then Saltire goes missing 16th May and Huxtable comes to Holmes 3 days later. The Duke is anxious that it shouldn't be widely known that his son is missing - and I get the impression he considers Saltire belongs to him and his mother is incidental. It may be that the Duchess hadn't been told yet that he'd been sent to a school, let alone disappeared.

Of Wilder, I think there's enough blame to go round. That's a very good way of putting it.

I would agree that Holmes could have put the extra money to good use. But it makes my skin scrawl thinking of him accepting it. I think the extra £6,000 is meant as a bribe and Holmes would be crossing a moral line accepting it - even if he then gave the money away.

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

Reminiscent of FARGO (the film) - a simple-seeming scheme snowballs rapidly into tragedy and cover-up. (Watson may well spend the Great War remembering the faithful, doomed Heidegger and rebut any anti-German bigotry spoken in his presence.)

I can imagine a silent, morose train ride back to Baker Street - Watson, especially, appalled at what men like the Duke are capable of hiding for the sake of appearance and propriety, even at the expense of his own child. No wonder Holmes was glad to cost such a man dear, if only to the tune of the 6,000 I think he accepted rather than the blatant bribe attempt of 12,000.

And we never even see the poor kid - like Professor Moriarty, we are told about him but never clap eyes on the object of this search ourselves.

Oh I have no doubt the Duchess will find a way to remain with the Duke, even after what happened. Aristocrats have a completely different set of operating instructions. "Holdernesse, do refrain from attempting to have our son murdered by ruffians this term."

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

What I like about Fargo is how wonderful it makes goodness and an ordinary life seem. And this seems to be the case in PRIO - Heidegger and Huxtable are far more attractive characters than the Duke and Wilder. I'm sure both Holmes and Watson will always remember the poor German master.

...men like the Duke are capable of hiding for the sake of appearance and propriety... I have to say I find this aspect of the story repellent - the Duke believing he had the right to keep every aspect of his life private. Though I think we're also left with something far more tragic - the Duke so obsessively loved his elder son that he had no love left for his other child. And I hope Holmes only took the £6,000 - as I said to laurose8, I think taking the £12,000 would be definitely crossing a moral line.

It does strike me that the Duchess was the daughter of "Sir Charles Appledore" - so the daughter of either a knight or a baronet, and therefore technically a commoner. Yes, she'd be a member of the upper classes but not of such high social standing as the Duke. I did wonder if maybe she regretted the situation she'd got into and the situation her son was growing up in.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

And poor Arthur, growing up, knowing he meant nothing to his father but as a legitimate heir to the property.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I think Arthur was probably always aware that his father didn't particularly care for him (no wonder "the boy's sympathies are known to have been strongly with his mother"). But growing up knowing his father had put his kidnappers' safety before his own would have been terrible. I wonder if maybe eventually the adult Lord Saltire would reject his origins and title, and choose a different kind of life.

[alafaye]

Perhaps Watson was referring to how many additions were on the end of his name?

I do find it odd that for a man who requires little and has worked other well rewarded cases would need money. He says that he's poor at the end of the chapter, too. I did wonder about that. Also, double the reward; I wondered when I initially read it that the Duke was offering double due to the fact that it was Holmes and Watson?

As to Wilder...I think for a while it was assumed that madness runs in families through blood? I mean, if Wilder did this...and then the Duke who kept his son in a house that I read wasn't the best place to keep a child...I wonder what ACD was hinting at?

And for Hayes--I read your comments there and the first thing I thought of now rather than when I read it was perhaps the Duke commuting his sentence to work rather than a hanging???

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I think looking at the section again, Watson was probably simply saying that Huxtable's body language just before he fainted suggested he was pompous. Certainly none of his behaviour after that suggests he's a pompous man.

Yes, I'm not sure that Holmes does need the money. When he talks at the end about being "a poor man", I think he is being arch. But why exactly he's being arch... On the whole, I go with the interpretation he was trying to teach the Duke a lesson - and he took the money from someone rich so that he could take interesting cases from poorer people.

"I must put it plainly, Mr. Holmes. If only you two know of this incident, there is no reason why it should go any farther. I think twelve thousand pounds is the sum that I owe you, is it not?" That really does read to me as: "I'm offering you both a bribe to keep your mouths shut." I can't see a more innocent interpretation there.

I'm not sure ACD himself would class their behaviour as "madness" - but you're quite right that the behaviour of father and elder son is bizarre. I wonder how a modern psychiatrist would diagnose them.

That's a thought. I don't think the Duke would have any power over the courts but perhaps to keep Hayes quiet he lies that he will do everything he can to get his sentence commuted. I don't think he would actually try it though - it might make people start asking awkward questions as to why he wants mercy for the killer who kidnapped his son...