Datasets:
DarqueDante
/
test2

Dataset card Data Studio Files
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"You were travelling in the States?"
"Yes."
"Did you become engaged then?"
"No."
"But you were on a friendly footing?"
"I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was amused."
"Her father is very rich?"
"He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope."
"And how did he make his money?"
"In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold,
invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds."
"Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your wife's
character?"
The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down into
the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was twenty before
her father became a rich man. During that time she ran free in a
mining camp and wandered through woods or mountains, so that her
education has come from Nature rather than from the schoolmaster. She
is what we call in England a tomboy, with a strong nature, wild and
free, unfettered by any sort of traditions. She is
impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She is swift in making up
her mind and fearless in carrying out her resolutions. On the other
hand, I would not have given her the name which I have the honour to
bear"--he gave a little stately cough--"had not I thought her to be
at bottom a noble woman. I believe that she is capable of heroic
self-sacrifice and that anything dishonourable would be repugnant to
her."
"Have you her photograph?"
"I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the full
face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an ivory
miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect of the
lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the exquisite mouth.
Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he closed the locket and
handed it back to Lord St. Simon.
"The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your
acquaintance?"
"Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I met
her several times, became engaged to her, and have now married her."
"She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?"
"A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family."
"And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a fait
accompli?"
"I really have made no inquiries on the subject."
"Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the
wedding?"
"Yes."
"Was she in good spirits?"
"Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our future
lives."
"Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the
wedding?"
"She was as bright as possible--at least until after the ceremony."
"And did you observe any change in her then?"
"Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had ever
seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident however,
was too trivial to relate and can have no possible bearing upon the
case."
"Pray let us have it, for all that."
"Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards the
vestry. She was passing the front pew at the time, and it fell over
into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the gentleman in the
pew handed it up to her again, and it did not appear to be the worse
for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of the matter, she answered me
abruptly; and in the carriage, on our way home, she seemed absurdly
agitated over this trifling cause."
"Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of the
general public were present, then?"
"Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is open."