The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

<v Speaker 1>The adventure of the noble bachelor the Lord Saint Simon.
<v Speaker 1>Marriage and its curious termination have long ceased to be
<v Speaker 1>a subject of interest in those exalted circles in which
<v Speaker 1>the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have eclipsed it, and
<v Speaker 1>their more piquant details have drawn the gossips away from
<v Speaker 1>this four year old drama. As I have reason to believe, however,
<v Speaker 1>that the full facts have never been revealed to the
<v Speaker 1>general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a
<v Speaker 1>considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that
<v Speaker 1>no memoir of him would be complete without some little
<v Speaker 1>sketch of this remarkable episode. It was a few weeks
<v Speaker 1>before my own marriage, during the days when I was
<v Speaker 1>still sharing rooms with homes in Baker Street, that he
<v Speaker 1>came home from an afternoon stroll to find a letter
<v Speaker 1>on the table waiting for him. I had remained indoors
<v Speaker 1>all day, for the weather had taken a sudden turn
<v Speaker 1>to rain with high autumnal winds, and the Jazail bullet,
<v Speaker 1>which I had brought back in one of my limbs
<v Speaker 1>as a relic of my Afghan campaign, throbbed with dull persistence.
<v Speaker 1>With my body in one easy chair and my legs
<v Speaker 1>upon another, I had surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers,
<v Speaker 1>until at last, saturated with the news of the day,
<v Speaker 1>I tossed them all aside and lay listless, watching the
<v Speaker 1>huge crest and monogram upon the envelope upon the table,
<v Speaker 1>and wondering lazily whom my friend's noble correspondent could be.
<v Speaker 1>Here is a very fashionable epistle, I remarked, as he entered.
<v Speaker 1>Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a
<v Speaker 1>fishmonger and a tide waiter. Yes, my correspondence has certainly
<v Speaker 1>the charm of variety, he answered, smiling, and the humbler
<v Speaker 1>are usually more interesting. This looks like one of those
<v Speaker 1>unwelcome social summonses which call upon a man either to
<v Speaker 1>be bored or to lie. He broke the seal and
<v Speaker 1>glanced over the contents. Oh, come, it may prove to
<v Speaker 1>be something of interest after all. Not social, then, no,
<v Speaker 1>distinctly professional, and from a noble client, one of the
<v Speaker 1>highest in England. My dear fellow, I congratulate you. I
<v Speaker 1>assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my
<v Speaker 1>client is a matter of less moment to me than
<v Speaker 1>the interest of his case. It is just possible, however,
<v Speaker 1>that that also may not be wanting in this new investigation.
<v Speaker 1>You have been reading the papers diligently of late, have
<v Speaker 1>you not? It looks like it, said I ruefully, pointing
<v Speaker 1>to a huge bundle in the corner. I have had
<v Speaker 1>nothing else to do. It is fortunate for you will
<v Speaker 1>perhaps be able to post me up. I read nothing
<v Speaker 1>except the criminal news and the Agony column. The latter
<v Speaker 1>is always instructive. But if you have followed recent events
<v Speaker 1>so closely, you must have read about Lord Saint Simon
<v Speaker 1>and his wedding. Oh, yes, with the deepest interest. That
<v Speaker 1>is well. The letter would which I hold in my hand,
<v Speaker 1>is from Lord Saint Simon. I will read it to you,
<v Speaker 1>and in return you must turn over these papers and
<v Speaker 1>let me have whatever bears upon the matter. This is
<v Speaker 1>what he says, my dear mister Sherlock Holmes. Lord Backwater
<v Speaker 1>tells me that I may place implicit reliance upon your
<v Speaker 1>judgment and discretion. I have determined therefore to call upon
<v Speaker 1>you and to consult you in reference to the very
<v Speaker 1>painful event which has occurred in connection with my wedding
<v Speaker 1>mister Lestrade of Scotland Yard is acting already in the matter.
<v Speaker 1>But he assures me that he sees no objection to
<v Speaker 1>your co operation, and that he even thinks that it
<v Speaker 1>might be of some assistance. I will call at four
<v Speaker 1>o'clock in the afternoon, and should you have any other
<v Speaker 1>engagement at that time, I hope that you will postpone it,
<v Speaker 1>as this is a matter of paramount importance, yours faithfully,
<v Speaker 1>Saint Simon. It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with
<v Speaker 1>a quill pen, and the noble lord has had the
<v Speaker 1>misfortune to get a smear upon the outer side of
<v Speaker 1>his right little finger, remarked Holmes, as he folded up
<v Speaker 1>the epistle. He says four o'clock. It is three now.
<v Speaker 1>He will be here in an hour. Then I have
<v Speaker 1>just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon the subject.
<v Speaker 1>Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in their
<v Speaker 1>order of time, while I take a glance as to
<v Speaker 1>who our client is. He picked a red covered volume
<v Speaker 1>from a line of books of reference beside the mantelpiece.
<v Speaker 1>Here he is, said, he sitting down and flattening it
<v Speaker 1>out upon his knee. Lord Robert Bolsingham. The vere Saint Simon,
<v Speaker 1>second son of the Duke of Balmoral, come arms Azure
<v Speaker 1>three cowtrops in chief over a fest Sable. Born in
<v Speaker 1>eighteen forty six, he's forty one years of age, which
<v Speaker 1>is mature for marriage. Was under Secretary for the Colonies
<v Speaker 1>in a late administration the Duke. His father was at
<v Speaker 1>one time Secretary for foreign affairs. They inherit Plantagenet blood
<v Speaker 1>by direct descent and tutor on the distaff side. Ha. Well,
<v Speaker 1>there is nothing very instructive in all this. I think
<v Speaker 1>that I must turn to you, Watson, for something more solid.
<v Speaker 1>I have very little difficulty in finding what I want,
<v Speaker 1>said I, for the facts are quite recent, and the
<v Speaker 1>matter struck me as remarkable. I feared to refer them
<v Speaker 1>to you, however, as I knew that you had an
<v Speaker 1>inquiry on hand, and that you disliked the intrusion of
<v Speaker 1>other matters. Oh, you mean the little problem of the
<v Speaker 1>Grosvenor Square furniture van. That is quite cleared up now,
<v Speaker 1>though indeed it was obvious from the first Pray, give
<v Speaker 1>me the results of your newspaper selections. Here is the
<v Speaker 1>first notice which I can find. It is in the
<v Speaker 1>personal column of the Morning Post and dates. As you
<v Speaker 1>see some weeks back. A marriage has been arranged, it says,
<v Speaker 1>and will, if rumor is correct, very shortly take place
<v Speaker 1>between Lord Robert Saint Simon, second son of the Duke
<v Speaker 1>of Balmoral, and Miss Hattie Duran, the only daughter of
<v Speaker 1>Aloysius Duran, Esquire of San Francisco, California. U s A.
<v Speaker 1>That is all terse and to the point, remarked Holmes,
<v Speaker 1>stretching his long thin legs towards the fire. There was
<v Speaker 1>a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society papers
<v Speaker 1>of the same week. Ah here it is. There will
<v Speaker 1>soon be a call for protection in the marriage market,
<v Speaker 1>for the present free trade principle appears to tell heavily
<v Speaker 1>against our home product. One by one, the management of
<v Speaker 1>the noble houses of Great Britain is passing into the
<v Speaker 1>hands of our fair cousins from across the Atlantic. An
<v Speaker 1>important addition has been made during the last week to
<v Speaker 1>the list of the prizes which have been borne away
<v Speaker 1>by these charming invaders. Lord Saint Simon, who has shown
<v Speaker 1>himself for over twenty years proof against the little God's arrows,
<v Speaker 1>has now definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hattie Duran,
<v Speaker 1>the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss Duran, whose
<v Speaker 1>graceful figure and striking face attracted much attention at the
<v Speaker 1>Westbury House festivities, is an only child and it is
<v Speaker 1>currently reported that her dowry will run to considerably over
<v Speaker 1>the six figures, with expectancies for the future. As it
<v Speaker 1>is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has
<v Speaker 1>been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years,
<v Speaker 1>and as Lord Saint Simon has no property of his
<v Speaker 1>own save the small estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious
<v Speaker 1>that the Californian heiress is not the only gainer by
<v Speaker 1>an alliance which will enable her to make the easy
<v Speaker 1>and common transition from a Republican lady to a British peeress.
<v Speaker 1>Anything else, asked Holmes, yawning, Oh, yes, plenty. Then there
<v Speaker 1>is another note in the Morning Post to say that
<v Speaker 1>the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it
<v Speaker 1>would be at Saint George's Hanover Square, that only a
<v Speaker 1>half a dozen intimate friends would be invited, and that
<v Speaker 1>the party would return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate,
<v Speaker 1>which has been taken by mister Aloysius Duran. Two days later,
<v Speaker 1>that is, on Wednesday last, there is a curt announcement
<v Speaker 1>that the wedding had taken place and that the honeymoon
<v Speaker 1>would be passed at Lord Backwater's place near Petersfield. Those
<v Speaker 1>are all the notices which appeared before the disappearance of
<v Speaker 1>the bride, before the What asked Holmes with a start,
<v Speaker 1>the vanishing of the lady? When did she vanish? Then
<v Speaker 1>at the wedding breakfast? Indeed, this is more interesting than
<v Speaker 1>it promised to be, quite dramatic. In fact, yes, it
<v Speaker 1>struck me as being a little out of the common.
<v Speaker 1>They often vanish before the ceremony and occasionally during the honeymoon.
<v Speaker 1>But I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt
<v Speaker 1>as this pray. Let me have the details. I warn
<v Speaker 1>you that they are very incomplete. Perhaps we may make
<v Speaker 1>them less. So such as they are, they are set
<v Speaker 1>forth in a single article of a morning paper of yesterday,
<v Speaker 1>which I will read to you. It is headed singular
<v Speaker 1>occurrence at a fashionable wedding. The family of Lord Robert
<v Speaker 1>Saint Simon has been thrown into the greatest consternation by
<v Speaker 1>the strange and painful episodes which have taken place in
<v Speaker 1>connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as shortly announced in
<v Speaker 1>the papers of yesterday, occurred on the previous morning. But
<v Speaker 1>it is only now that it has been possible to
<v Speaker 1>confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistently floating about.
<v Speaker 1>In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush
<v Speaker 1>the matter up. So much public attention has now been
<v Speaker 1>drawn to it that no good purpose can be served
<v Speaker 1>by affecting to disregard what is a common subject for conversation.
<v Speaker 1>The ceremony, which was performed at Saint George's Hanover Square,
<v Speaker 1>was a very quiet one, no one being present save
<v Speaker 1>the father of the bride, Mister Aloysius Duran, the Duchess
<v Speaker 1>of Balmoral, Lord Backwater, Lord Eustace, and Lady Clara, Saint Simon,
<v Speaker 1>the younger brother and sister of the bridegroom, and Lady
<v Speaker 1>Alicia Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house
<v Speaker 1>of mister Allowish's Duran at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had
<v Speaker 1>been prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused
<v Speaker 1>by a woman whose name has not been ascertained, who
<v Speaker 1>endeavored to force her way into the house after the
<v Speaker 1>bridal party, alleging that she had some claim upon Lord
<v Speaker 1>Saint Simon. It was only after a painful and prolonged
<v Speaker 1>scene that she was ejected by the butler and the footman.
<v Speaker 1>The bride, who had fortunately entered the house before this
<v Speaker 1>unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast with the rest,
<v Speaker 1>when she complained of a sudden indisposition and retired to
<v Speaker 1>her room, her prolonged absence having caused some comment. Her
<v Speaker 1>father followed her, but learned from her maid that she
<v Speaker 1>had only come up to her chamber for an instant
<v Speaker 1>caught up an ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to
<v Speaker 1>the passage. One of the footmen declared that he had
<v Speaker 1>seen a lady leave the house thus apparelled, but had
<v Speaker 1>refused to credit that it was his mistress, believing her
<v Speaker 1>to be with the company. On ascertaining that his daughter
<v Speaker 1>had disappeared, mister Alowisius Duran, in conjunction with the bridegroom,
<v Speaker 1>instantly put themselves in communication with the police, and very
<v Speaker 1>energetic inquiries are being made which will probably result in
<v Speaker 1>a speedy clearing up of this very singular business. Up
<v Speaker 1>to a late hour last night, however, nothing had transpired
<v Speaker 1>as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There are
<v Speaker 1>rumors of foul play in the matter, and it is
<v Speaker 1>said that the police have caused the arrests of the
<v Speaker 1>woman who had caused the original disturbance, in the belief
<v Speaker 1>that from jealousy or some other motive, she may have
<v Speaker 1>been concerned in the strange disappearance of the bride. And
<v Speaker 1>is that all only one little item in another of
<v Speaker 1>the morning papers, But it is a suggestive one, and
<v Speaker 1>it is that Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had
<v Speaker 1>caused the disturbance, has actually been arrested. It appears that
<v Speaker 1>she was formerly a danseuse at the Allegro, and that
<v Speaker 1>she has known the bridegroom for some years. There are
<v Speaker 1>no further particulars, and the whole case is in your
<v Speaker 1>hands now so far as it has been set forth
<v Speaker 1>in the public press. And an exceedingly interesting case it
<v Speaker 1>appears to be. I would not have missed it for worlds.
<v Speaker 1>But there is a ring at the bell, Watson, and
<v Speaker 1>as the clock makes it a few minutes after four,
<v Speaker 1>I have no doubt that this will prove to be
<v Speaker 1>our noble client. Do not dream of going Watson, for
<v Speaker 1>I very much prefer having a witness, if only as
<v Speaker 1>a check to my own memory. Lord Robert Saint Simon
<v Speaker 1>announced our page boy, throwing open the door. A gentleman entered,
<v Speaker 1>with a pleasant cultured face, high nosed and pale, with
<v Speaker 1>something perhaps of petulance about the mouth, and with the steady,
<v Speaker 1>well opened eye of a man whose pleasant lot it
<v Speaker 1>had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His
<v Speaker 1>manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an
<v Speaker 1>undue impression of age, for he had a slight forward
<v Speaker 1>stoop and a little bend of the knees as he walked.
<v Speaker 1>His hair, too, as he swept off his very curly
<v Speaker 1>brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin upon
<v Speaker 1>the top. As to his dress, it was careful to
<v Speaker 1>the verge of popping fishness, with high collar, black frock coat,
<v Speaker 1>white waistcoat, yellow gloves, patent leather shoes, and light colored gaiters.
<v Speaker 1>He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from
<v Speaker 1>left to right, and swinging in his right hand the
<v Speaker 1>cord which held his golden eyeglasses. Good day, Lord Saint Simon,
<v Speaker 1>said Holmes, rising and bowing. Pray, take the basket chair.
<v Speaker 1>This is my friend and colleague, doctor Watson. Draw up
<v Speaker 1>a little to the fire, and we will talk this
<v Speaker 1>matter over, A most painful matter to me, as you
<v Speaker 1>can most readily imagine, mister Holmes, I have been cut
<v Speaker 1>to the quick. I understand that you have already managed
<v Speaker 1>several delicate cases of this sort, sir, though I presume
<v Speaker 1>that they were hardly from the same class of society.
<v Speaker 1>No I am descending. I beg pardon. My last client
<v Speaker 1>of the sort was a king. Oh really, I had
<v Speaker 1>no idea, and which king? But the King of Scandinavia.
<v Speaker 1>What had he lost his wife? You can understand, said Holmes, suavely,
<v Speaker 1>that I extend to the affairs of my other clients
<v Speaker 1>the same secrecy which I promised you in yours. Of course,
<v Speaker 1>Very right, very right, I am sure, I beg pardon.
<v Speaker 1>As to my own case, I am ready to give
<v Speaker 1>you any information which may assist you in forming an opinion.
<v Speaker 1>Thank you. I have already learned all that is in
<v Speaker 1>the public prints. Nothing more. I presume that I may
<v Speaker 1>take it as correct. This article, for example, as to
<v Speaker 1>the disappearance of the Bride. Lord Saint Simon glanced over it. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>it is correct as far as it goes, but it
<v Speaker 1>needs a great deal of supplementing before any one could
<v Speaker 1>offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at
<v Speaker 1>my facts most directly by questioning you, pray do so?
<v Speaker 1>When did you first meet miss Hattie Durant in San
<v Speaker 1>Francisco a year ago? You were traveling in the States. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>did you become engaged then? No, but you were on
<v Speaker 1>a friendly footing. I was amu used by her society,
<v Speaker 1>and she could see that I was amused. Her father
<v Speaker 1>is very rich. He is said to be the richest
<v Speaker 1>man on the Pacific Slope. And how did he make
<v Speaker 1>his money in mining? He had nothing a few years
<v Speaker 1>ago that he struck gold, invested it and came up
<v Speaker 1>by leaps and bounds. Now, what is your own impression
<v Speaker 1>as to the young ladies your wife's character. The nobleman
<v Speaker 1>swung his glasses a little faster and stared down into
<v Speaker 1>the fire. You see, mister Holmes said he. My wife
<v Speaker 1>was twenty before her father became a rich man. During
<v Speaker 1>that time she ran free in a mining camp and
<v Speaker 1>wandered through woods or mountains, so that her education has
<v Speaker 1>come from nature rather than from the schoolmaster. She is
<v Speaker 1>what we call in England a tomboy with a strong nature,
<v Speaker 1>wild and free, unfettered by any sort of traditions. She
<v Speaker 1>is impetuous, volcanic. I was about to say, she is
<v Speaker 1>swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying
<v Speaker 1>out her resolutions. On the other hand, I would not
<v Speaker 1>have given her the name which I have the honor
<v Speaker 1>to bear. He gave a little stately cough, had I
<v Speaker 1>not thought her to be at bottom a noble woman.
<v Speaker 1>I believe that she is capable of heroic self sacrifice,
<v Speaker 1>and that anything dishonorable would be repugnant to her. Have
<v Speaker 1>you her photograph? I brought this with me. He opened
<v Speaker 1>a locket and showed us the full face of a
<v Speaker 1>very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an
<v Speaker 1>ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full
<v Speaker 1>effect of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes,
<v Speaker 1>and the exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it.
<v Speaker 1>Then he closed the locket and handed it back to
<v Speaker 1>Lord Saint Simon. The young lady came to London then,
<v Speaker 1>and you renewed your acquaintance. Yes, her father brought her
<v Speaker 1>over for this last London season. I met her several times,
<v Speaker 1>became engaged to her, and have now married her. She
<v Speaker 1>brought I understand a considerable dowry, a fair dowry, not
<v Speaker 1>more than as usual in my family. And this, of
<v Speaker 1>course remains to you, since the marriage is a fee accomplie.
<v Speaker 1>I really have made no inquiries on the subject. Very
<v Speaker 1>naturally not. Did you see mister rand on the day
<v Speaker 1>before the wedding? Yes, was she in good spirits, never better.
<v Speaker 1>She kept talking of what we should do in our
<v Speaker 1>future lives. Indeed, that is very interesting. And on the
<v Speaker 1>morning of the wedding she was as bright as possible,
<v Speaker 1>at least until after the ceremony. And did you observe
<v Speaker 1>any change in her then? Well, to tell the truth,
<v Speaker 1>I saw then the first signs that I had ever
<v Speaker 1>seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident, however,
<v Speaker 1>was too trivial to relate, and can have no possible
<v Speaker 1>bearing upon the case. Pray let us have it for
<v Speaker 1>all that, Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet
<v Speaker 1>as we went towards the vestry. She was asking the
<v Speaker 1>front pew at the time, and it fell over into
<v Speaker 1>the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the gentleman
<v Speaker 1>in the pew handed it up to her again, and
<v Speaker 1>it did not appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet,
<v Speaker 1>when I spoke to her of the matter, she answered
<v Speaker 1>me abruptly, and in the carriage on our way home,
<v Speaker 1>she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause. Indeed, you
<v Speaker 1>say that there was a gentleman in the pew, some
<v Speaker 1>of the general public were present, then, oh, yes, it
<v Speaker 1>is impossible to exclude them when the church is open.
<v Speaker 1>This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends. No, no,
<v Speaker 1>I call him a gentleman by courtesy. But he was
<v Speaker 1>quite a common looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance.
<v Speaker 1>But really, I think that we are wandering rather far
<v Speaker 1>from the point. Lady Saint Simon then returned from the
<v Speaker 1>wedding in a less cheerful frame of mind than she
<v Speaker 1>had gone to it. What did she do on re
<v Speaker 1>entering her father's house? I saw her in conversation with
<v Speaker 1>her maid. And who is her maid? Is her name?
<v Speaker 1>She is an American and came from California with her
<v Speaker 1>a confidential servant, a little too much. So it seemed
<v Speaker 1>to me that her mistress allowed her to take great liberties. Still,
<v Speaker 1>of course, in America they look upon these things in
<v Speaker 1>a different way. How long did she speak to this, Alice? Oh,
<v Speaker 1>a few minutes. I had something else to think of.
<v Speaker 1>You did not overhear what they said. Lady Saint Simon
<v Speaker 1>said something about jumping a claim. She was accustomed to
<v Speaker 1>use slang of that kind. I have no idea what
<v Speaker 1>she meant. American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what
<v Speaker 1>did your wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?
<v Speaker 1>She walked into the breakfast room on your arm. No alone.
<v Speaker 1>She was very independent in little matters like that. Then
<v Speaker 1>after we had sat down for ten minutes or so,
<v Speaker 1>she rose, hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left
<v Speaker 1>the room. She never came back. But this made Alice,
<v Speaker 1>as I understand the poses, that she went to her room,
<v Speaker 1>covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on
<v Speaker 1>a bonnet, and went out quite so. And she was
<v Speaker 1>afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in company with Flora Millar,
<v Speaker 1>a woman who is now in custody, and who had
<v Speaker 1>already made a disturbance at mister Durand's house that morning. Ah, yes,
<v Speaker 1>I should like a few particulars as to this young
<v Speaker 1>lady and your relations to her. Lord Saint Simon shrugged
<v Speaker 1>his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. We have been on
<v Speaker 1>her friendly footing for some years, I may say, on
<v Speaker 1>a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro.
<v Speaker 1>I have not treated her ungenerously, and she had no
<v Speaker 1>just cause of complaint against me, But you know what
<v Speaker 1>women are, mister Holmes. Flora was a dear little thing,
<v Speaker 1>but exceedingly hot headed and devotedly attached to me. She
<v Speaker 1>wrote me dreadful letters when she heard that I was
<v Speaker 1>about to be married, and to tell the truth, the
<v Speaker 1>reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was
<v Speaker 1>that I feared lest there might be a scandal in
<v Speaker 1>the church. She came to mister Durand's door just after
<v Speaker 1>we returned, and she endeavored to push her way in,
<v Speaker 1>uttering very abusive expressions towards my wife and even threatening her.
<v Speaker 1>But I had foreseen the possibility of something of the sort,
<v Speaker 1>and I had two police fellows there in private clothes,
<v Speaker 1>who soon pushed her out again. She was quiet when
<v Speaker 1>she saw that there was no good in making a row?
<v Speaker 1>Did your wife hear all this? No, thank goodness, she
<v Speaker 1>did not, and she was seen walking with this very
<v Speaker 1>woman afterwards. Yes, that is what mister Lestrade of Scotland
<v Speaker 1>Yard looks upon as so serious. It is thought that
<v Speaker 1>Flora decoyed my wife out and laid some terrible trap
<v Speaker 1>for her. Well, it is a possible supposition. You think
<v Speaker 1>so too, I did not say a probable one. But
<v Speaker 1>you do not yourself look upon this as likely. I
<v Speaker 1>do not think Flora would her to fly. Still, jealousy
<v Speaker 1>is a strange transformer of characters. Ray, what is your
<v Speaker 1>own theory as to what took place? Well? Really, I
<v Speaker 1>came to seek a theory, not a propound one. I
<v Speaker 1>have given you all the facts since you ask me. However,
<v Speaker 1>I may say that it has occurred to me as
<v Speaker 1>possible that the excitement of this affair, the consciousness that
<v Speaker 1>she had made so immense a social stride, had the
<v Speaker 1>effect of causing some little nervous disturbance in my wife,
<v Speaker 1>In short, that she had become suddenly deranged. Well, really,
<v Speaker 1>when I consider that she has turned her back, I
<v Speaker 1>will not say upon me, but upon so much that
<v Speaker 1>many have aspired you without success. I can hardly explain
<v Speaker 1>it in any other fashion. Well, certainly that is also
<v Speaker 1>a conceivable hypothesis, said Holmes, smiling. And now, Lord Saint Simon,
<v Speaker 1>I think that I have nearly all my data. May
<v Speaker 1>I ask whether you were seated at the breakfast table
<v Speaker 1>so that you could see out of the window. We
<v Speaker 1>could see the other side of the road and the park.
<v Speaker 1>Quite so, then, I do not think that I need
<v Speaker 1>to detain you longer. I shall communicate with you should
<v Speaker 1>you be fortunate enough to solve this problem, said our client, rising,
<v Speaker 1>I have solved it. Eh, What was that? I say
<v Speaker 1>that I have solved it? Where then is my wife?
<v Speaker 1>That is a detail that I shall speedily supply. Lord
<v Speaker 1>Saint Simon shook his head. I am afraid that it
<v Speaker 1>will take wiser heads than yours or mine, he remarked,
<v Speaker 1>and bowing in a stately old fashioned manner, he departed.
<v Speaker 1>It is very good of Lord Saint Simon to honor
<v Speaker 1>my head by putting it on a level with his own,
<v Speaker 1>said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. I think that I shall have
<v Speaker 1>a whisky and soda and a cigar after all this
<v Speaker 1>cross questioning. I had formed my conclusion as to the
<v Speaker 1>case before our client came into the room. My dear Holmes,
<v Speaker 1>I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as
<v Speaker 1>I remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole
<v Speaker 1>examination served to turn my conjecture into a certainty. Circumstantial
<v Speaker 1>evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a
<v Speaker 1>trout in the milk, to quote Sir Rose example. But
<v Speaker 1>I have heard all that you have heard, without, however,
<v Speaker 1>the knowledge of pre existing cases, which serves me so well.
<v Speaker 1>There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some years back,
<v Speaker 1>and something on very much the same lines at Munich
<v Speaker 1>the year after the Franco Prussian War. It is one
<v Speaker 1>of these cases. But hullo, here is lestrade, Good afternoon, Lestrade.
<v Speaker 1>You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and
<v Speaker 1>there are cigars in the box. The official detective was
<v Speaker 1>attired in a pea jacket in cravat, which gave him
<v Speaker 1>a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a black canvas
<v Speaker 1>bag in his hand. With a short greeting, he seated
<v Speaker 1>himself and lit the cigar which had been offered to him.
<v Speaker 1>What's up? Then asked Holmes, with a twinkle in his eye.
<v Speaker 1>You look dissatisfied, and I feel dissatisfied. It is this
<v Speaker 1>infernal Saint Simon marriage case. I can make neither head
<v Speaker 1>nor tail of the business. Really, you surprise me. Who
<v Speaker 1>ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems
<v Speaker 1>to slip through my fingers. I've been at work upon
<v Speaker 1>it all day, and very wet. It seems to have
<v Speaker 1>made you, said Holmes, laying his hand upon the arm
<v Speaker 1>of the pea jacket. Yes, I've been dragging the serpentine
<v Speaker 1>in Heaven's name, what for in search of the body
<v Speaker 1>of lady Saint Simon Sherlock Holmbs leaned back in his
<v Speaker 1>chair and laughed heartily. Have you dragged the basin of
<v Speaker 1>Trafago's square fountain? He asked? Why? What do you mean?
<v Speaker 1>Because you have just as good a chance of finding
<v Speaker 1>this lady in the one as in the other. Lestrade
<v Speaker 1>shot an angry glance at my companion. I suppose you
<v Speaker 1>know all about it, he snarled, Well, I have only
<v Speaker 1>just heard the facts, but my mind is made up.
<v Speaker 1>Oh indeed, then you think that the serpentine plays no
<v Speaker 1>part in the matter. I think it very unlikely. Then
<v Speaker 1>perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we
<v Speaker 1>found this in it. He opened his bag as he spoke,
<v Speaker 1>and tumbled onto the floor a wedding dress of watered silk,
<v Speaker 1>a pair of white satin shoes, and a bride's wreath
<v Speaker 1>and veil, all discolored and soaked in water. There, said he,
<v Speaker 1>putting a new wedding ring upon the top of the pile.
<v Speaker 1>There is a little nut for you to crack, Master Holmes. Oh, indeed,
<v Speaker 1>said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. You
<v Speaker 1>dragged them from the serpentine. No, they were found floating
<v Speaker 1>near the margin by a park keeper. They have been
<v Speaker 1>identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me that
<v Speaker 1>if the clothes were there, the body would not be
<v Speaker 1>far off. By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body
<v Speaker 1>is to be found in the neighborhood of his wardrobe.
<v Speaker 1>And pray, what did you hope to arrive at through this?
<v Speaker 1>At some evidence implicating Flora Millar in the disappearance. I
<v Speaker 1>am afraid that you will find it difficult, are you? Indeed? Now,
<v Speaker 1>cried Lestrade with some bitterness. I am afraid, Holmes, that
<v Speaker 1>you are not very practical with your deductions and your inferences.
<v Speaker 1>You have made two blunders in as many minutes. This
<v Speaker 1>dress does implicate miss Flora Millar. And how in the
<v Speaker 1>dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card case.
<v Speaker 1>In the card case is a note. And here is
<v Speaker 1>the very note. He slapped it down upon the table
<v Speaker 1>in front of him. Listen to this. You will see
<v Speaker 1>me when all is ready, come at once. F h M. Now,
<v Speaker 1>my theory all along has been that Lady Saint Simon
<v Speaker 1>was decoyed away by Flora Millar, and that she, with confederates,
<v Speaker 1>no doubt, was responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with
<v Speaker 1>her initials, is the very note which was no doubt
<v Speaker 1>quietly slipped into her hand at the door, and which
<v Speaker 1>lured her within their reach. Very good, Lestrade, said Holmes, laughing,
<v Speaker 1>you really are very fine. Indeed, let me see it.
<v Speaker 1>He took up the paper in a listless way, but
<v Speaker 1>his attention instantly became riveted, and he gave a little
<v Speaker 1>cry of satisfaction. This is indeed important, said he. Ha,
<v Speaker 1>you find it so extremely so I congratulate you warmly.
<v Speaker 1>Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to
<v Speaker 1>look why he shrieked, you're looking at the wrong side.
<v Speaker 1>On the contrary, this is the right side, the right side.
<v Speaker 1>You're mad. Here is the note written in pencil. Over here,
<v Speaker 1>and over here is what appears to be the fragment
<v Speaker 1>of a hotel bill, which interests me deeply. There's nothing
<v Speaker 1>in it. I looked at it before, said Lestrade. October fourth,
<v Speaker 1>Rooms eight shillings, breakfast two shillings sixpence, cocktail one shilling,
<v Speaker 1>Lunch two shillings sixpence, glass sherry eightpence. I see nothing
<v Speaker 1>in that. Very likely not. It is most important all
<v Speaker 1>the same as to the note. It is important also,
<v Speaker 1>or at least the initials are so. I congratulate you again.
<v Speaker 1>I've wasted time enough, said Lestrade rising. I believe in
<v Speaker 1>hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning
<v Speaker 1>fine theories. Good day, mister Holmes, and we shall see
<v Speaker 1>which gets to the bottom of the matter. First he
<v Speaker 1>gathered up the garments, thrust them into the bag, and
<v Speaker 1>made for the door. Just one hint to you, Lestrade,
<v Speaker 1>drawled Holmes, before his rival vanished. I will tell you
<v Speaker 1>the true solution of the matter, Lady Saint Simon is
<v Speaker 1>a myth. There is not, and there never has been
<v Speaker 1>any such person. Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then
<v Speaker 1>he turned to me, tapped his forehead three times, shook
<v Speaker 1>his head solemnly, and hurried away. He had hardly shut
<v Speaker 1>the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on
<v Speaker 1>his overcoat. There is something in what the fellow says
<v Speaker 1>about outdoor work, he remarked, So I think, Watson, that
<v Speaker 1>I must leave you to your papers for a little.
<v Speaker 1>It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me,
<v Speaker 1>but I had no time to be lonely, for within
<v Speaker 1>an hour there arrived a confectioner's man with a very
<v Speaker 1>large flat box. This he unpacked with the help of
<v Speaker 1>a youth whom he had brought with him, and presently,
<v Speaker 1>to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean little cold
<v Speaker 1>supper began to be laid out upon our humble lodging
<v Speaker 1>house Mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold woodcock,
<v Speaker 1>a pheasant, a pte defago, a pie, with a group
<v Speaker 1>of ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries,
<v Speaker 1>my two visitors vanished away, like the genie of the
<v Speaker 1>Arabian nights, with no explanation save that the things had
<v Speaker 1>been paid for and were ordered to this address. Just
<v Speaker 1>before nine o'clock, Sherlockombe stepped briskly into the room. His
<v Speaker 1>features were gravely set, but there was a light in
<v Speaker 1>his eye which made me think that he had not
<v Speaker 1>been disappointed in his conclusions. They have laid the supper, then,
<v Speaker 1>he said, rubbing his hands, You seem to expect company.
<v Speaker 1>They have laid for five Yes, I fancy we may
<v Speaker 1>have some company dropping in, said he. I am surprised
<v Speaker 1>that Lord Saint Simon has not already arrived. Ha I
<v Speaker 1>fancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs.
<v Speaker 1>It was indeed, our visitor of the afternoon who came
<v Speaker 1>bustling in, dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and
<v Speaker 1>with a very perturbed expression upon him aristocratic features. My
<v Speaker 1>messenger reached you, then asked Holmes. Yes, and I confess
<v Speaker 1>that the content startled me beyond measure. Have you good
<v Speaker 1>authority for what you say? The best possible? Lord Saint
<v Speaker 1>Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over
<v Speaker 1>his forehead. What will the Duke say? He murmured, When
<v Speaker 1>he hears that one of the family has been subjected
<v Speaker 1>to such humiliation. It is the purest accident. I cannot
<v Speaker 1>allow that there is any humiliation. Ah, you look on
<v Speaker 1>these things from another standpoint. I fail to see that
<v Speaker 1>any one is to blame. I can hardly see how
<v Speaker 1>the lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method
<v Speaker 1>of doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother,
<v Speaker 1>she had no one to advise her at such a crisis.
<v Speaker 1>It was a slight, Sir, a public slight, said Lord
<v Speaker 1>Saint Simon, tapping his fingers upon the table. You must
<v Speaker 1>make allowance for this poor girl placed in so unpresented
<v Speaker 1>that a position. I will make no allowance. I am
<v Speaker 1>very angry, indeed, and I have been shamefully used. I
<v Speaker 1>think that I heard a ring, said Holmes. Yes, there
<v Speaker 1>are steps on the landing. If I cannot persuade you
<v Speaker 1>to take a lenient view of the matter, Lord Saint Simon,
<v Speaker 1>I have brought an advocate here who may be more successful.
<v Speaker 1>He opened the door and ushered in a lady and gentleman.
<v Speaker 1>Lord Saint Simon said, he allow me to introduce you
<v Speaker 1>to mister and missus Francis Hay Moulton, the lady, I
<v Speaker 1>think you have already met at the sight of these newcomers.
<v Speaker 1>Our client sprung from his seat and stood very erect,
<v Speaker 1>with his eyes cast down and his hand thrust into
<v Speaker 1>the breast of his frock coat, a picture of offended dignity.
<v Speaker 1>The lady had taken a quick step forward and held
<v Speaker 1>out her hand to him, but he still refused to
<v Speaker 1>raise his eyes. It was as well for his resolution, perhaps,
<v Speaker 1>for her pleading face was one which it was hard
<v Speaker 1>to resist. You are angry, Robert said she. Well, I
<v Speaker 1>guess you have every cause to be Pray. Make no
<v Speaker 1>apology to me, said Lord Saint Simon bitterly. Oh yes,
<v Speaker 1>I know that I have treated you real bad, and
<v Speaker 1>that I should have spoken to you before I went.
<v Speaker 1>But I was kind of rattled, and from the time
<v Speaker 1>when I saw Frank here again, I just didn't know
<v Speaker 1>what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I
<v Speaker 1>didn't fall down and do a faint right there before
<v Speaker 1>the altar. Perhaps, missus Moulton, you would like my friend
<v Speaker 1>and me to leave the room while you explained this matter,
<v Speaker 1>if I may give an opinion, remarked the strange gentleman,
<v Speaker 1>we've had just a little too much secrecy over this
<v Speaker 1>business already. For my part, I should like all Europe
<v Speaker 1>and America to hear the rights of it. He was
<v Speaker 1>a small, wiry, sunburnt man, clean shaven, with a sharp
<v Speaker 1>face and alert manner. Then I'll tell our story right away,
<v Speaker 1>said the lady. Frank Here and I met in eighty
<v Speaker 1>four in mc guire's camp near the Rockies, where Pile
<v Speaker 1>was working a claim. We were engaged to each other,
<v Speaker 1>Frank and I. But then one day Father struck a
<v Speaker 1>rich pocket and made a pile while or Frank there
<v Speaker 1>had a claim that petered out and came to nothing.
<v Speaker 1>The richer Pa grew, the poorer was Frank. So at
<v Speaker 1>last Paw wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer,
<v Speaker 1>and he took me away to Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw
<v Speaker 1>up his hand, though, so he followed me there and
<v Speaker 1>he saw me without Pa knowing anything about it. It
<v Speaker 1>would have only made him mad to know, so we
<v Speaker 1>just fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that
<v Speaker 1>he would go and make his pile too, and never
<v Speaker 1>come back to claim me until he had as much
<v Speaker 1>as Paw so then I promised to wait for him
<v Speaker 1>to the end of time, and pledged myself not to
<v Speaker 1>marry any one else while he lived. Why shouldn't we
<v Speaker 1>be married right away, then said he, And then I
<v Speaker 1>will feel sure of you, and I won't claim to
<v Speaker 1>be your husband till I come back. Well, we talked
<v Speaker 1>it over, and he had fixed it all up so nicely,
<v Speaker 1>with a clergyman already in waiting, that we just did
<v Speaker 1>it right there. And then Frank went off to seek
<v Speaker 1>his fortune, and I went back to PA. The next
<v Speaker 1>I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana,
<v Speaker 1>and then he went prospecting in Ours, and then I
<v Speaker 1>heard of him from New Mexico. After that came a
<v Speaker 1>long newspaper story about how a miner's camp had been
<v Speaker 1>attacked by Apache Indians, and there was my Frank's name
<v Speaker 1>among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was
<v Speaker 1>very sick for months. After PA thought I had a
<v Speaker 1>decline and took me to have the doctors in Frisco.
<v Speaker 1>Not a word of news came for a year, and
<v Speaker 1>more so that I never doubted that Frank was really dead.
<v Speaker 1>Then Lord Saint Simon came to Frisco and we came
<v Speaker 1>to London and a marriage was arranged, and PA was
<v Speaker 1>very pleased. But I felt all the time that no
<v Speaker 1>man on this earth would ever take the place in
<v Speaker 1>my heart that had been given to my poor Frank. Still,
<v Speaker 1>if I had married Lord Saint Simon, of course i'd
<v Speaker 1>have done my duty by him. We can't command our love,
<v Speaker 1>but we can our actions. I went to the altar
<v Speaker 1>with him with the intention to make him just as
<v Speaker 1>good a wife as it was in me to be.
<v Speaker 1>But you may imagine what I felt when just as
<v Speaker 1>I came to the altar rails, I glanced back and
<v Speaker 1>saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the
<v Speaker 1>first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first,
<v Speaker 1>but when I looked again, there he was still, with
<v Speaker 1>a kind of question in his eyes, as if to
<v Speaker 1>ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him.
<v Speaker 1>I wonder. I didn't drop. I know that everything was
<v Speaker 1>turning round, and the words of the clergyman were just
<v Speaker 1>like the buzz of a bee in my ear. I
<v Speaker 1>didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service
<v Speaker 1>and make a scene in the church. I glanced at
<v Speaker 1>him again, and he seemed to know what I was thinking.
<v Speaker 1>For he raised his finger to his lips to tell
<v Speaker 1>me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on
<v Speaker 1>a piece of paper, and I knew that he was
<v Speaker 1>writing me a note. As I passed his pew on
<v Speaker 1>the way out, I dropped my bouquet over to him,
<v Speaker 1>and he slipped a note into my hand. When he
<v Speaker 1>returned me the flowers, it was only a line asking
<v Speaker 1>me to join him. When he made the sign to
<v Speaker 1>me to do so. Of course, I never doubted for
<v Speaker 1>a moment that my first duty was now to him,
<v Speaker 1>and I determined to do just whatever he might direct.
<v Speaker 1>When I got back, I told my maid, who had
<v Speaker 1>known him in California and had always been his friend.
<v Speaker 1>I ordered her to say nothing, but to get a
<v Speaker 1>few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I
<v Speaker 1>ought to have spoken to Lord Saint Simon, but it
<v Speaker 1>was dreadful, hard before his mother and all those great people.
<v Speaker 1>I just made up my mind to run away and
<v Speaker 1>explain afterwards. I hadn't been at the table ten minutes
<v Speaker 1>before I saw Frank out of the window at the
<v Speaker 1>other side of the road. He beckoned to me and
<v Speaker 1>then began walking into the park. I slipped out, put
<v Speaker 1>on my things and followed him. Some woman came talking
<v Speaker 1>something or other about Lord Saint Simon to me, seemed
<v Speaker 1>to me from the little I heard, as if he
<v Speaker 1>had a little secret of his own before marriage also.
<v Speaker 1>But I managed to get away from her and soon
<v Speaker 1>overtook Frank. We got into a cab together and away
<v Speaker 1>we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square.
<v Speaker 1>And that was my true wedding. After all those years
<v Speaker 1>of waiting. Frank had been a prisoner among the Apaches,
<v Speaker 1>had escaped, come to Fisco, found that I had given
<v Speaker 1>him up for dead, and had gone to England, followed
<v Speaker 1>me there and had come upon me at last on
<v Speaker 1>the very morning of my second wedding. I saw it
<v Speaker 1>in a paper, explained the American. It gave the name
<v Speaker 1>and the church, but not where the lady lived. Then
<v Speaker 1>we had a talk as to what we should do,
<v Speaker 1>and Frank was all for openness, but I was so
<v Speaker 1>ashamed of it all that I felt as if I
<v Speaker 1>should like to vanish away and never see any of
<v Speaker 1>them again, just sending a line to Pa, perhaps to
<v Speaker 1>show him that I was alive. It was awful to
<v Speaker 1>me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting
<v Speaker 1>round that breakfast table and waiting for me to come back.
<v Speaker 1>So Frank took my wedding clothes and things and made
<v Speaker 1>a bundle of them so that I should not be traced,
<v Speaker 1>and dropped them away somewhere where no one could find them.
<v Speaker 1>It is likely that we should have gone on to
<v Speaker 1>Paris tomorrow, only that this good gentleman, mister Holmes came
<v Speaker 1>round to us this evening, though how he found us
<v Speaker 1>is more than I can think. And he showed us
<v Speaker 1>very clearly and kindly that I was wrong, and that
<v Speaker 1>Frank was right, and that we should be put in
<v Speaker 1>ourselves in the wrong if we were so secret. Then
<v Speaker 1>he offered to give us a chance of talking to
<v Speaker 1>Lord Saint Simon alone, and so we came right away
<v Speaker 1>around to his rooms at once. Now, Robert, you have
<v Speaker 1>heard it all, and I am very sorry if I
<v Speaker 1>have given you pain, and I hope that you do
<v Speaker 1>not think very meanly of me. Lord Saint Simon had
<v Speaker 1>by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but had listened
<v Speaker 1>with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this
<v Speaker 1>long narrative. Excuse me, he said, but it is not
<v Speaker 1>my custom to discuss my most intimate personal affairs in
<v Speaker 1>this public manner. Then you won't forgive me. You won't
<v Speaker 1>shake hands before I go. Oh, certainly, if it would
<v Speaker 1>give you any pleasure. He put out his hand and
<v Speaker 1>coldly grasped that which she extended to him. I had hoped,
<v Speaker 1>suggested Holmes, that you would have joined us in a
<v Speaker 1>friendly supper. I think that there you ask a little
<v Speaker 1>too much, responded his lordship. I may be forced to
<v Speaker 1>acquiesce in these recent developments, but I can hardly be
<v Speaker 1>expected to make mary over them. I think that, with
<v Speaker 1>your permission, I will now wish you all a very
<v Speaker 1>good night. He included us all in a sweet bow
<v Speaker 1>and stalked out of the room. Then I trust that
<v Speaker 1>you at least will honor me with your company, said
<v Speaker 1>Sherlock Holmes. It is always a joy to meet an American,
<v Speaker 1>mister Moulton, for I am one of those who believe
<v Speaker 1>that the folly of a monarch and the blundering of
<v Speaker 1>a minister in far gone years will not prevent our
<v Speaker 1>children from being some day citizens of the same world
<v Speaker 1>wide country under a flag which shall be a quartering
<v Speaker 1>of the Union. Jack with the stars and stripes. The
<v Speaker 1>case has been an interesting one, remarked Holmes when our
<v Speaker 1>visitors had left us, because it serves to show very
<v Speaker 1>clearly how simple the explanation may be of an affair which,
<v Speaker 1>at first sight seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could
<v Speaker 1>be more natural than the sequence of events as narrated
<v Speaker 1>by this lady, and nothing stranger than the result, when viewed,
<v Speaker 1>for instance, by mister Lestrade of Scotland Yard. You were
<v Speaker 1>not yourself at fault at all. Then, From the first
<v Speaker 1>two facts were very obvious to me, the one that
<v Speaker 1>the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony,
<v Speaker 1>the other that she had repented of it within a
<v Speaker 1>few minutes of returning home. Obviously something had occurred during
<v Speaker 1>the morning, then, to cause her to change her mind.
<v Speaker 1>What could that something be. She could not have spoken
<v Speaker 1>to any one when she was out, for she had
<v Speaker 1>been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she seen
<v Speaker 1>some one, then, if she had, it must be someone
<v Speaker 1>from America, because she had spent so short a time
<v Speaker 1>in this country that she could hardly have allowed any
<v Speaker 1>one to acquire so deep an influence over her that
<v Speaker 1>the mere sight of him would induce her to change
<v Speaker 1>her plans so completely. You see, we have already arrived
<v Speaker 1>by a process of exclusion. Had the idea that she
<v Speaker 1>might have seen an American, then who could this American
<v Speaker 1>be and why should he possess so much influence over her?
<v Speaker 1>It might be a lover, It might be a husband.
<v Speaker 1>Her young womanhood had I knew been spent in rough
<v Speaker 1>scenes and under strange conditions, so far I had got
<v Speaker 1>before I ever heard Lord Saint's Waymond's narrative when he
<v Speaker 1>told us of a man in a pew, of the
<v Speaker 1>change in the bride's manner, of so transparent a device
<v Speaker 1>for obtaining a note as the dropping of a bouquet,
<v Speaker 1>of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her
<v Speaker 1>very significant allusion to claim jumping, which in miners parlance
<v Speaker 1>means taking possession of that which another person has a
<v Speaker 1>prior claim too. The whole situation became absolutely clear. She
<v Speaker 1>had gone off with a man, and the man was
<v Speaker 1>either a lover or was a previous husband, the chances
<v Speaker 1>being in favor of the latter. And how in the
<v Speaker 1>world did you find them? It might have been difficult,
<v Speaker 1>but friend Lestrade held information in his hands, the value
<v Speaker 1>of which he did not himself know. The initials were,
<v Speaker 1>of course of the highest importance. But more valuable still
<v Speaker 1>was it to know that within a week he had
<v Speaker 1>settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels.
<v Speaker 1>How did you deduce the select by the select prices?
<v Speaker 1>Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence for a glass
<v Speaker 1>of sherry point to one of the most expensive hotels.
<v Speaker 1>There are not many in London which charge at that rate.
<v Speaker 1>In the second one, which I visited, in Northumberton Avenue,
<v Speaker 1>I learned by an inspection of the book, that Francis h. Multon,
<v Speaker 1>an American gentleman, had left only the day before, And
<v Speaker 1>on looking over the entries against him, I came upon
<v Speaker 1>the very items which I had seen in the duplicate bill.
<v Speaker 1>His letters were to be forwarded to two twenty six
<v Speaker 1>Gordon Square. So thither I traveled, and being fortunate enough
<v Speaker 1>to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to
<v Speaker 1>give them some parental advice, and to point out to
<v Speaker 1>them that it would be better in every way that
<v Speaker 1>they should make their position a little clearer, both to
<v Speaker 1>the general public and to Lord Saint Simon. In particular,
<v Speaker 1>I invited them to meet him here, and as you see,
<v Speaker 1>I made him keep the appointment, but with no very
<v Speaker 1>good result. I remarked, his conduct was certainly not very gracious.
<v Speaker 1>Ah Watson, said Holmes, smiling. Perhaps you would not be
<v Speaker 1>very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing
<v Speaker 1>and wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of
<v Speaker 1>a wife and of fortune. I think that we may
<v Speaker 1>judge Lord Saint Simon very mercifully, and thank our stars
<v Speaker 1>that we are never likely to find ourselves in the
<v Speaker 1>same position. Draw up your chair and hand me my violin.
<v Speaker 1>For the only problem we have still to solve is
<v Speaker 1>how to while away these bleak, automal evenings. End of
<v Speaker 1>Chapter ten, The Adventures of the Noble Bachelor.