severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. About
sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and they
subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, and the
whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save some
twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of the
machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so dearly.
Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored in an
out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have explained
the presence of those bulky boxes which have been already referred
to.
How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to the
spot where he recovered his senses might have remained forever a
mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a very plain
tale. He had evidently been carried down by two persons, one of whom
had remarkably small feet and the other unusually large ones. On the
whole, it was most probable that the silent Englishman, being less
bold or less murderous than his companion, had assisted the woman to
bear the unconscious man out of the way of danger.
"Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return
once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I have
lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what have I
gained?"
"Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of value,
you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the reputation
of being excellent company for the remainder of your existence."
THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR
The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have long
ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles in which
the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have eclipsed it,
and their more piquant details have drawn the gossips away from this
four-year-old drama. As I have reason to believe, however, that the
full facts have never been revealed to the general public, and as my
friend Sherlock Holmes had a considerable share in clearing the
matter up, I feel that no memoir of him would be complete without
some little sketch of this remarkable episode.
It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I was
still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came home
from an afternoon stroll to find a letter on the table waiting for
him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather had taken a
sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and the Jezail bullet
which I had brought back in one of my limbs as a relic of my Afghan
campaign throbbed with dull persistence. With my body in one
easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had surrounded myself with a
cloud of newspapers until at last, saturated with the news of the
day, I tossed them all aside and lay listless, watching the huge
crest and monogram upon the envelope upon the table and wondering
lazily who my friend's noble correspondent could be.
"Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. "Your
morning letters, if I remember right, were from a fish-monger and a
tide-waiter."
"Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he
answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more interesting.
This looks like one of those unwelcome social summonses which call
upon a man either to be bored or to lie."
He broke the seal and glanced over the contents.
"Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all."
"Not social, then?"
"No, distinctly professional."
"And from a noble client?"
"One of the highest in England."
"My dear fellow, I congratulate you."
"I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my
client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his
case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be wanting
in this new investigation. You have been reading the papers
diligently of late, have you not?"
"It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in the
corner. "I have had nothing else to do."
"It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I read
nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The latter is
always instructive. But if you have followed recent events so closely
you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his wedding?"
"Oh, yes, with the deepest interest."
"That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord St.
Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn over these
papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. This is what
he says:
"'My dear Mr. Sherlock Holmes:
"'Lord Backwater tells me that I may place implicit reliance upon
your judgment and discretion. I have determined, therefore, to call
upon you and to consult you in reference to the very painful event
which has occurred in connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of
Scotland Yard, is acting already in the matter, but he assures me
that he sees no objection to your co-operation, and that he even
thinks that it might be of some assistance. I will call at four
o'clock in the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement
at that time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of
paramount importance.
"'Yours faithfully,
"'St. Simon.'
"It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, and
the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink upon the
outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes as he folded
up the epistle.
"He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an hour."
"Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon the
subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in their
order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client is." He
picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of reference beside
the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting down and flattening
it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St. Simon,
second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: Azure, three
caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' He's forty-one
years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was Under-Secretary for
the colonies in a late administration. The Duke, his father, was at
one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. They inherit Plantagenet
blood by direct descent, and Tudor on the distaff side. Ha! Well,
there is nothing very instructive in all this. I think that I must
turn to you Watson, for something more solid."
"I have very little difficulty in finding what I want," said I, "for
the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as remarkable. I
feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew that you had an
inquiry on hand and that you disliked the intrusion of other
matters."
"Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square furniture
van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it was obvious
from the first. Pray give me the results of your newspaper
selections."
"Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal
column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks back:
"'A marriage has been arranged [it says] and will, if rumour is
correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert St. Simon,
second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty Doran, the only
daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.'
That is all."
"Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, thin
legs towards the fire.
"There was a paragraph amplifying this in one of the society papers
of the same week. Ah, here it is:
"'There will soon be a call for protection in the marriage market,
for the present free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against
our home product. One by one the management of the noble houses of
Great Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from
across the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the
last week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by
these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself for
over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has now
definitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss Hatty Doran,
the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss Doran,
whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much attention at
the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, and it is currently
reported that her dowry will run to considerably over the six
figures, with expectancies for the future. As it is an open secret
that the Duke of Balmoral has been compelled to sell his pictures
within the last few years, and as Lord St. Simon has no property of
his own save the small estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the
Californian heiress is not the only gainer by an alliance which will
enable her to make the easy and common transition from a Republican
lady to a British peeress.'"
"Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning.
"Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post to
say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it would
be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen intimate
friends would be invited, and that the party would return to the
furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been taken by Mr.
Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on Wednesday last--there is
a curt announcement that the wedding had taken place, and that the
honeymoon would be passed at Lord Backwater's place, near
Petersfield. Those are all the notices which appeared before the
disappearance of the bride."
"Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start.
"The vanishing of the lady."
"When did she vanish, then?"
"At the wedding breakfast."
"Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite
dramatic, in fact."
"Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common."
"They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during the
honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt as
this. Pray let me have the details."
"I warn you that they are very incomplete."
"Perhaps we may make them less so."
"Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a
morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is headed,
'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding':
"'The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into the
greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which have
taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony, as shortly
announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the previous
morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to confirm the
strange rumours which have been so persistently floating about. In
spite of the attempts of the friends to hush the matter up, so much
public attention has now been drawn to it that no good purpose can be
served by affecting to disregard what is a common subject for
conversation.
"'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover Square,
was a very quiet one, no one being present save the father of the
bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, Lord Backwater,
Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the younger brother and sister
of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia Whittington. The whole party
proceeded afterwards to the house of Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster
Gate, where breakfast had been prepared. It appears that some little
trouble was caused by a woman, whose name has not been ascertained,
who endeavoured to force her way into the house after the bridal
party, alleging that she had some claim upon Lord St. Simon. It was
only after a painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the
butler and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the
house before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast
with the rest, when she complained of a sudden indisposition and
retired to her room. Her prolonged absence having caused some
comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that she
had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an ulster
and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the footmen
declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus apparelled, but
had refused to credit that it was his mistress, believing her to be
with the company. On ascertaining that his daughter had disappeared,
Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with the bridegroom, instantly put
themselves in communication with the police, and very energetic
inquiries are being made, which will probably result in a speedy
clearing up of this very singular business. Up to a late hour last
