It was after five o’clock when Sherlock Holmes left me， butI had no time to be lonely， for within an hour there arrived aconfectioner’s man with a very large flat box. This he unpackedwith the help of a youth whom he had brought with him， andpresently， to my very great astonishment， a quite epicureanlittle cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble lodginghousemahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold woodcock，a pheasant， a paté de foie gras pie with a group of ancient andcobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries， my twovisitors vanished away， like the genii of the Arabian Nights， withno explanation save that the things had been paid for and wereordered to this address.
Just before nine o’clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly intothe room. His features were gravely set， but there was a light inhis eye which made me think that he had not been disappointedin his conclusions.
“They have laid the supper， then，” he said， rubbing his hands.
“You seem to expect company. They have laid for five.”
“Yes， I fancy we may have some company dropping in，” said he.
“I am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha！ Ifancy that I hear his step now upon the stairs.”
It was indeed our visitor of the afternoon who came bustlingin， dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever， and with a veryperturbed expression upon his aristocratic features.
“My messenger reached you， then？” asked Holmes.
“Yes， and I confess that the contents startled me beyondmeasure. Have you good authority for what you say？”
“The best possible.”
Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over hisforehead.
“What will the Duke say，” he murmured， “when he hears thatone of the family has been subjected to such humiliation？”
“It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is anyhumiliation.”
“Ah， you look on these things from another standpoint.”
“I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how thelady could have acted otherwise， though her abrupt method ofdoing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother， shehad no one to advise her at such a crisis.”
“It was a slight， sir， a public slight，” said Lord St. Simon， tappinghis fingers upon the table.
“You must make allowance for this poor girl， placed in sounprecedented a position.”
“I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed， and I havebeen shamefully used.”
“I think that I heard a ring，” said Holmes. “Yes， there are stepson the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient viewof the matter， Lord St. Simon， I have brought an advocate herewho may be more successful.” He opened the door and usheredin a lady and gentleman. “Lord St. Simon，” said he “allow me tointroduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady， Ithink， you have already met.”
At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from hisseat and stood very erect， with his eyes cast down and his handthrust into the breast of his frock-coat， a picture of offendeddignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held outher hand to him， but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was as wellfor his resolution， perhaps， for her pleading face was one which itwas hard to resist.
“You’re angry， Robert，” said she. “Well， I guess you have everycause to be.”
“Pray make no apology to me，” said Lord St. Simon bitterly.
“Oh， yes， I know that I have treated you real bad and that Ishould have spoken to you before I went； but I was kind of rattled，and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just didn’t knowwhat I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn’t fall down anddo a faint right there before the altar.”
“Perhaps， Mrs. Moulton， you would like my friend and me toleave the room while you explain this matter？”
“If I may give an opinion，” remarked the strange gentleman，“we’ve had just a little too much secrecy over this business already.
For my part， I should like all Europe and America to hear therights of it.” He was a small， wiry， sunburnt man， clean-shaven，with a sharp face and alert manner.
“Then I’ll tell our story right away，” said the lady. “Frank hereand I met in ’84， in McQuire’s camp， near the Rockies， where pawas working a claim. We were engaged to each other， Frank andI； but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile，while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came tonothing. The richer Pa grew the poorer was Frank； so at last pawouldn’t hear of our engagement lasting any longer， and he tookme away to ’Frisco. Frank wouldn’t throw up his hand， though；so he followed me there， and he saw me without Pa knowinganything about it. It would only have made him mad to know， sowe just fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would goand make his pile， too， and never come back to claim me until hehad as much as Pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the endof time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while helived. ‘Why shouldn’t we be married right away， then，’ said he， ‘andthen I will feel sure of you； and I won’t claim to be your husbanduntil I come back？’ Well， we talked it over， and he had fixed it allup so nicely， with a clergyman all ready in waiting， that we just didit right there； and then Frank went off to seek his fortune， and Iwent back to pa.
“The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana， andthen he went prospecting in Arizona， and then I heard of himfrom New Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story abouthow a miners’ camp had been attacked by Apache Indians， andthere was my Frank’s name among the killed. I fainted dead away，and I was very sick for months after. Pa thought I had a declineand took me to half the doctors in ‘Frisco. Not a word of newscame for a year and more， so that I never doubted that Frank wasreally dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to ‘Frisco， and we came toLondon， and a marriage was arranged， and Pa was very pleased，but I felt all the time that no man on this earth would ever takethe place in my heart that had been given to my poor Frank.