The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-03

T riage and it courious ter
 imitation have long ceased to
 be subject of interest in
 those exalted circles in which
 the unfortunate bridegroom
 moves. Fresh scandals have
 eelipsed 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 considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no memoir of him would be complete without scsse little sketch of this remarkable episode.
 It was a few weeks before my own marriage. during the days when l was still sharing rooms with Sherlock Holmes in Baker street. that he came home from an afternoon stroll to find letter on the table waiting for him. 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 persisteney. With my body in one easy-ehair and my legs upon another, I had surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers, until at last, satu7 rated with the news of the day, tossed them all aside and lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the avvolona unon the table, and wondering lazilv who my friends noble correspon- dent could be.
 Here Is a very fashionable epistie' remarked, as he entered. Your morning letters if I remember right, were rom fish-monger and a tide-water.
 .yas my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety" he answered, smil- ing. land the number are usually the more interesting. This looks like one or those unwelcome social summonses which call upon a man either to be bored or tc lie."
 He broke the seal and glanced over the contents.
 aoh come. it may prove to be some- thing of interest, after all"
 Not social, then?"
 No. distinctly professional
 And from a noble client?'
 .one of the highest in England.
 ..Mv dear fellow, I congratulate you
 q assure you, Watson, withou. aieesa s1-4
 
 ter of less moment to me than the Inter est of his case. It is just possible now evar. that that also may not be wanting ,n this new investigation. You have been reading the papers diligently or late, have you not ?'' 4 "It looks like It." said I, ruefully, point ing to a huge bundle in the corner. have had nothing else to oo.
 s1t ia fortunate, for you will perhaps he able to post me up. I read nothing ex- .an+ the criminal news and the agony eoi,,r,n The later is always instructive. pr+ if vou have followed recent events eo loselv you must have read apout hoio st simon and his weddngY
 "Oh. yes. with the deepest interest. That is well. The letter " whien e,.. noi1 in my hand is from Lord St slmoh' will road it to you, and in return you ,oust turn over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the haleei' . This is what he says:
 My Dear MT. Sherlock Holmes-l,olo Rackwater tells me that may place iunlicit reliance upon your judgment anu discretion. I have determined therefore to call upon you, and to consult you III ,-oference to the ever painful event which has occurred in connection with my Weo- aine MT. Lestrade of Scotland faro IS acting already in. the matter. put ne assures me that he sees no objection to ,sour co-operation and that he even thinks That 1t might be of some assistance. yi1l call at O clock in the afternoon, and should you have any other engagement at that time, I hope that you Will post bone it. as this matter is or paranlouiie 'i''i'0i ''''' ".sT. SIMON
 ..It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with quill pen, and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get smear of ink upon the outer side or ms right little finger remarked Holmes, as he folded up the epistle. '.He says clock. It Is now. lie Will be here in an hour"
 ..Then I have just time, with your as- sistance, to get clear upon the subject. Turn over those papers, and arrange the extracts in their order of time, While take a glance as to who our client is.' He picked red-covered volume from line of books of reference beside the man. tel-piece. Here he is,' said he, sitting down and fiattening 1t out upon his knee Lord Robert Walsingham de We're St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Bal moral-Huml Arms: Azure, three call trops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1S46 He's 41 years of age, which is ma- ture 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 in- herit Plantagenet blood by direct de- scent, ana IuuOF OH Ine u1StaI Slue. t1d! Well, there Is nothing very instructive in all this. think that I must turn to you, Watson, for something more solid. D 'I have very little difficulty in finding what I want" said I, flor 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 the results of your newspaper selections r 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 ar ranged 1t says, and will, If rumor is cor rect, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert St. Simon, second son of Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Do- ran. Esq, of San Francisco, Cal, U. s. A.. That is al1.'
 Holmes, stretching his long. thin legs to- ward the fire.
 There was paragraph amplifying this in one of the society papers of the same week. An! here it is There will soon be call for protection In the marriage mar ket. 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 cous- ins from across the Atlantic An im- portant addition has been made during the last week to the list of the prizes