“But, as a Yorkshireman, he was far too shrewd a man of the world not to know that love played but a very small part in persuading a Duke’s son to marry the daughter of a cocoa manufacturer, and as long as he lived he determined that since his daughter was being wed because of her wealth, that wealth should at least secure her own happiness.  He refused to give Lady Arthur any capital, which, in spite of the most carefully worded settlements, would inevitably, sooner or later, have found its way into the pockets of Lord Arthur’s racing friends.  But he made his daughter a very handsome allowance, amounting to over L3000 a year, which enabled her to keep up an establishment befitting her new rank.

“A great many of these facts, intimate enough as they are, leaked out, you see, during that period of intense excitement which followed the murder of Charles Lavender, and when the public eye was fixed searchingly upon Lord Arthur Skelmerton, probing all the inner details of his idle, useless life.

“It soon became a matter of common gossip that poor little Lady Arthur continued to worship her handsome husband in spite of his obvious neglect, and not having as yet presented him with an heir, she settled herself down into a life of humble apology for her plebeian existence, atoning for it by condoning all his faults and forgiving all his vices, even to the extent of cloaking them before the prying eyes of Sir John, who was persuaded to look upon his son-in-law as a paragon of all the domestic virtues and a perfect model of a husband.

“Among Lord Arthur Skelmerton’s many expensive tastes there was certainly that for horseflesh and cards.  After some successful betting at the beginning of his married life, he had started a racing-stable which it was generally believed—­as he was very lucky—­was a regular source of income to him.

“Peppercorn, however, after his brilliant performances at Newmarket did not continue to fulfil his master’s expectations.  His collapse at York was attributed to the hardness of the course and to various other causes, but its immediate effect was to put Lord Arthur Skelmerton in what is popularly called a tight place, for he had backed his horse for all he was worth, and must have stood to lose considerably over L5000 on that one day.

“The collapse of the favourite and the grand victory of King Cole, a rank outsider, on the other hand, had proved a golden harvest for the bookmakers, and all the York hotels were busy with dinners and suppers given by the confraternity of the Turf to celebrate the happy occasion.  The next day was Friday, one of few important racing events, after which the brilliant and the shady throng which had flocked into the venerable city for the week would fly to more congenial climes, and leave it, with its fine old Minster and its ancient walls, as sleepy, as quiet as before.

“Lord Arthur Skelmerton also intended to leave York on the Saturday, and on the Friday night he gave a farewell bachelor dinner party at ’The Elms,’ at which Lady Arthur did not appear.  After dinner the gentlemen settled down to bridge, with pretty stiff points, you may be sure.  It had just struck eleven at the Minster Tower, when constables McNaught and Murphy, who were patrolling the racecourse, were startled by loud cries of ‘murder’ and ‘police.’