A Face a Man Might Die For

"She is a lovely thing, Dawson, with a face a man might die for."
"That's unusual language for you, Basil."
"A metaphor, Dawson; nothing else..."

To Basil of Baker Street, she is always referred to as "the Woman," the beautiful Mademoiselle Irene Relda, of dubious and questionable memory. Much has been made of the relationship between Sherringford Basil and Irene Relda and whatever assumptions may have been (and will be) have neither been confirmed, nor denied. He remarked that "love is an emotional thing and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things, or else bias my judgment." He is the most perfect reasoning and observing machine that the world has ever seen, for his brains always governed his heart, but he was not without feeling. The truth is that emotions, however "abhorrent" to him in literary scribbles of David Q. Dawson, are a part of him: Emotions fill much of his practice and private life, and dictate many of his characteristic actions. He is flesh and blood; he is a man of moods; he is a man of temperament; he is a man of wants and desires; and, yes, he is a man of emotions.

He is, however, reserved towards women because he felt their influence a distraction to his work and would not allow himself, as Dawson several times have before, to become swayed by what romantic allure they possess. Against, in his eyes, there is but one woman to him. She eclipses the whole of her sex and it is she who had earned Basil's everlasting respect and admiration as a wily antagonist for he was beaten only four times — "three times by men and once by a woman."

(She was my first and oldest original GMD character. It's been, oh, 10+ years now. Ah, memories!)

Inspiration - Irene Adler (SCAN), Lillie Langtry (Historical) | Models - Gayle Hunnicutt, Francesca Annis (and 50+ others)

Medium - 4B graphite.

Mlle. Irene Relda © Diane N. Tran.