Yes, I don't doubt that ACD just felt he needed a dramatic moment in the story. It's the sort of thing he'd flirted with before - Holmes' "hidden" affection for Watson. In BRUC we have:
My answer was to rise from the table. “You are right, Holmes. We are bound to go.” He sprang up and shook me by the hand. “I knew you would not shrink at the last,” said he, and for a moment I saw something in his eyes which was nearer to tenderness than I had ever seen. The next instant he was his masterful, practical self once more.
I suppose ACD was falling back on old ideas a bit - though I don't feel 3GAR suffers because of that. It's an engaging enough story.
And that's a lovely thought - that Watson felt he'd given too much away in 3GAR, and was only trying to protect them later on, when he said they'd started living apart.
no subject
My answer was to rise from the table. “You are right, Holmes. We are bound to go.” He sprang up and shook me by the hand. “I knew you would not shrink at the last,” said he, and for a moment I saw something in his eyes which was nearer to tenderness than I had ever seen. The next instant he was his masterful, practical self once more.
I suppose ACD was falling back on old ideas a bit - though I don't feel 3GAR suffers because of that. It's an engaging enough story.
And that's a lovely thought - that Watson felt he'd given too much away in 3GAR, and was only trying to protect them later on, when he said they'd started living apart.