Pagina 494 di 657

"Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post

to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that

it would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a

dozen intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would

return to the furnished house at Lancaster Gate which has been

taken by Mr. 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's

place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices which appeared

before 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; quite

dramatic, in fact."

"Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common."