"my dear holmes," said i, "this is too much. you would certainly have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. it is true that i had a country walk on thursday and came home in a dreadful mess, but as i have changed my clothes i can’t imagine how you deduce it. as to mary jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has given her notice, but there, again, i fail to see how you work it out."