Edith, Duchess of Holdernesse

Edith, Duchess of Holdernesse, born Edith Appledore, was the wife of the 6th Duke of Holdernesse. She was the daughter of Sir Charles Appledore. She married the Duke in 1888, and their union produced a son, named Arthur, Lord Saltire; however, the marriage was not happy, and they separated some years later, with Lady Edith retiring to the south of France. During the separation, the young lord was known to have sided strongly with his mother, and sometime afterwards his father shipped him away to boarding school.
When Arthur disappeared from the school, Sherlock Holmes thought it was possible he had left to join his mother, or that she might have been involved in his abduction. He was proved at least partially right when he reveals the kidnapper to be James Wilder, the Duke's secretary and secret son by an old lover. Wilder had told Arthur that his mother wished to see him in order to lure him out of the school.
After Wilder left for Australia, Holmes suggested that because Wilder's presence in the house had been the major source of tension between the Duke and his wife, the Duke should try to reconcile with the Duchess. The Duke responded by telling Holmes that he has already written to her, and hoped to resume their relationship.
Category:British characters
Category:Characters: The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Category:Nobility