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Read these closing lines: "And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the cleverness of women, but I have not heard him do it of late." What is the tone of the quoted lines?
ABitter and angry at a wasted effort
BFrightened by what the woman might do
CCold and entirely free of any feeling
DWry and gently amused at his expense
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. Wry and gently amused at his expense
1. The narrator records that his friend was beaten, and does so without any hard words.
2. He then notes, lightly, that the jokes about clever women have stopped.
3. Leaving the reader to enjoy that silence is a dry joke at his friend's expense.
4. Anger and fear would need sharper language than merry and of late, so those readings do not fit.
5. The lines are far from free of feeling, since the last sentence is entirely about a change in a man's manner.
_Source: Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892), A Scandal in Bohemia_
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