Singular Occurrence at a Wedding

Abstract

The action of ‘The Noble Bachelor’ starts with Watson reading the day’s newspapers, and Holmes reading his correspondence. Both, coincidentally, find themselves reading about the same case. Holmes has a letter requesting his services from Lord St Simon, the noble bachelor of the story’s title. Watson, meanwhile, reads aloud a story headlined ‘Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding’. We learn that Lord St Simon is a bachelor no more, having just married the American heiress Hatty Doran; however, the bridal party had barely sat down for the wedding breakfast when Hatty, claiming indisposition, left the table, and disappeared, causing Holmes to comment, ‘They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt as this’ (Adventures, 225). Foul play is suspected, leading to the arrest of Flora Miller, one of Lord St Simon’s former lovers who tried to force her way into the wedding breakfast, ‘alleging that she had some claim upon Lord St Simon’ (225).