Charles Augustus Milverton
From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
Fictional character.
In the Sherlock Holmes stories
- According to Sherlock Holmes, Charles Augustus Milverton was the "king of all the blackmailers" (CHAS 26), and even the "worst man in London" (CHAS 14).
- He was a man of fifty, with a large, intellectual head, a round, plump, hairless face, a perpetual frozen smile, and two keen grey eyes, which gleamed brightly from behind broad, golden-rimmed glasses. There was something of Mr Pickwick's benevolence in his appearance, marred only by the insincerity of the fixed smile and by the hard glitter of those restless and penetrating eyes. His voice was as smooth and suave as his countenance, as he advanced with a plump little hand extended, murmuring his regret for having missed us at his first visit (CHAS 57).
- Lady Eva Brackwell asked Sherlock Holmes to negotiate on her behalf with Charles Augustus Milverton to retrieve some letters, in vain, so the detective decided to burgle Milverton's safe (CHAS 177).
- After Charles Augustus Milverton was shot by another woman, Sherlock Holmes burned all the packets from the safe, thereby preventing Lady Eva's letters from ever being used (CHAS 394).
