“Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Squarefurniture van. That is quite cleared up now—though, indeed,it was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of yournewspaper selections.”
“Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personalcolumn of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeksback:
‘A marriage has been arranged [it says] and will, if rumour is correct,very shortly take place, between Lord Robert St. Simon, second sonof the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty Doran, the only daughterof 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 societypapers of the same week. Ah, here it is:
‘‘There will soon be a call for protection in the marriage market, forthe present free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against ourhome product. One by one the management of the noble housesof Great Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins fromacross the Atlantic. An important addition has been made duringthe last week to the list of the prizes which have been borne awayby these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himselffor over twenty years proof against the little god’s arrows, has nowdefinitely announced his approaching marriage with Miss HattyDoran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. MissDoran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted muchattention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, and itis currently reported that her dowry will run to considerably overthe six figures, with expectancies for the future. As it is an opensecret that the Duke of Balmoral has been compelled to sell hispictures within the last few years, and as Lord St. Simon has noproperty of his own save the small estate of Birchmoor, it is obviousthat the Californian heiress is not the only gainer by an alliancewhich will enable her to make the easy and common transition froma Republican lady to a British peeress.’?”
“Anything else?” asked Holmes, yawning.
“Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Postto say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that itwould be at St. George’s, Hanover Square, that only half a dozenintimate friends would be invited, and that the party would returnto the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been taken byMr. 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’splace, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices which appearedbefore 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; quitedramatic, in fact.”
“Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common.”
“They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionallyduring the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quiteso 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 morningpaper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is headed, ‘SingularOccurrence at a Fashionable Wedding’:
“ ‘The family of Lord Robert St. Simon has been thrown into thegreatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes whichhave taken place in connection with his wedding. The ceremony,as shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on theprevious morning; but it is only now that it has been possibleto confirm the strange rumours which have been so persistentlyfloating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hushthe matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn toit that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregardwhat is a common subject for conversation.
“ ‘The ceremony, which was performed at St. George’s, HanoverSquare, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the fatherof the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, LordBackwater, Lord Eustace and Lady Clara St. Simon (the youngerbrother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia Whittington.
The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of Mr. AloysiusDoran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been prepared. Itappears that some little trouble was caused by a woman, whosename has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to force her wayinto the house after the bridal party, alleging that she had someclaim upon Lord St. Simon. It was only after a painful and prolongedscene that she was ejected by the butler and the footman. Thebride, who had fortunately entered the house before this unpleasantinterruption, had sat down to breakfast with the rest, when shecomplained of a sudden indisposition and retired to her room.
Her prolonged absence having caused some comment, her fatherfollowed her, but learned from her maid that she had only come upto her chamber for an instant, caught up an ulster and bonnet, andhurried down to the passage. One of the footmen declared that hehad seen a lady leave the house thus apparelled, but had refusedto credit that it was his mistress, believing her to be with thecompany. On ascertaining that his daughter had disappeared, Mr.