] "They [country homes] always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief . . . that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful country-side . . . think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places and none the wiser . . ."

] I'm looking at this in my annotated edition of the stores and this passage is footnoted with a comment from a critic, Professor Clarke Olney, who claims that "Holmes' reaction is decidedly unEnglish." *chuckle* I'm hearing Henry Tilney in my mind: "We are English, and we are Christians . . ."