Holmes speaks of “… Jupiter descending….” What is he referencing and where does it occur?
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Holmes is referring to Mycroft’s impending visit to 221B in “The Bruce-Parington Plans”. It is only the second visit to Baker Street by Mycroft according to Holmes, “Mycroft has his rails and he runs on them. His Pall Mall lodgings, the Diogenes Club, Whitehall – that is his cycle. Once, and only once, he has been here. What upheaval can possibly have derailed him?…But that Mycroft should break out in this erratic fashion! A planet might as well leave its orbit.” Jupiter was the king of the Roman gods and for him to bestir himself from the heavens to deign to visit mere mortals must surely mean something momentous has occurred. Note too that Jupiter is depicted as having a substantial frame, the planet Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system (317 times the mass of Earth, 120 times larger) and that Watson has described Mycroft as corpulent. No wonder Holmes said “By Jove.”
Brilliant! Thank you, James!