Plot summary

The story entails the disappearance of Hatty, Lord Robert St. Simon's (Simon Williams) bride on the day of their marriage. She participates in the wedding but disappears from the reception. Lord Simon was under considerable debt and his estate was mortgaged. It is implied that his creditors collection agent stays at Simon's estate to ensure that Simon pays up on time. This was something that he had shared with Hatty's father, who wrote him a considerable check to put his affairs in order. He also promises to support Simon if he keeps Hatty happy. It is implied that Lord Simon had an affair a few years ago & the woman involved takes a shot at Lord Simon, when she reads about his upcoming wedding in the morning papers.The events of the wedding day are most perplexing to Lord St. Simon as it seemed to him that his bride, Miss Hatty/Henrietta Doran (Paris Jefferson) of San Francisco, was full of enthusiasm about their impending marriage. St. Simon tells Holmes that he noticed a change in the young lady's mood just after the wedding ceremony. She was uncharacteristically sharp with him. The only thing out of the ordinary at the church where the wedding took place was Hatty's little accident: she dropped her wedding bouquet and a gentleman in the front pew picked it up and handed it back to her.After the bridal party entered Hatty's father's house for the wedding breakfast, a former companion of St. Simon, the dancer Flora Millar (Joanna McCallum), caused a disturbance at the door and was ejected. Hatty was seen talking to her maid upon arrival at the house; ten minutes into the wedding breakfast, Hatty claimed, "a sudden indisposition" and retired to her room. A short time later, it was discovered that she had left the house. Hatty is shown to be running from the house & meets Flora Millar on her way by chance. Flora is extremely slyly pleased to see Hatty.Holmes meets Lord Simon & is surprised to learn that he has been married twice before to women named Maude and Helena (Anna Calder-Marshall). The first marriage ended with the wife's death & the second via annulment.There are many questions that Holmes must sift through. Who was that woman trying to get into the wedding breakfast? Who was that man in the front pew? Who was that man seen going into Hyde Park with Hatty? Why were Hatty's wedding dress and ring found washed up on the shore of the Serpentine? What had become of her? The Scotland yard arrests Flora Millar & Holmes meets her in prison. Flora admits to meeting Hatty while she was running away from the house, & also says that she convinced Hatty to keep away from Simon for the rest of her life. But she denies shooting at Simon, although she was at the location when the shot was fired. Flora refuses to discuss Simon's first 2 wives, Maude & Helena (the 2nd wife).That night a lady Agnes Northcote arrives at Holmes & says that she is Helena's sister. She claims that Simon married Helena for her money & once he took that, he had her committed to a mental asylum & then taken away from the mental asylum in complete secrecy. she also claims that Simon used Flora to impose as Helena and act mad to prove that Helena was mad, in front of a distinguished committee of doctors. Northcroft says she searched for her sister but reached an abandoned mansion where she was attacked by the same man, who is posing as the collection agent at Simon's estate. Northcroft is disfigured but manages to survive. She also admits to taking a shot at Simon, the night before his wedding as she could not witness another life being destroyed. She also claims that Simon's first wife Maude did not die in an accident but was robbed & murdered by a man named Thomas (Myles Hoyle) in Paris, who was convicted, but later escaped prison.Holmes finds Hatty and the strange man from the front pew, and the denouement takes the form of Holmes having Hatty explain herself to Lord Robert. Hatty and the mystery man, Francis H. Moulton, were husband and wife. They parted on the day of their wedding so that he could try to amass a fortune by prospecting. He was reported killed in an Apache raid on a mining camp where he was working. Hatty had given him up for dead, met Lord Robert, and decided to marry him, even though her heart still belonged to Frank. Frank had only been taken prisoner by the Apache raiders, and he escaped and tracked Hatty to London. He arrived at the church in time for the ceremony and she recognized him instantly. Rather than have her make a scene at the church, he gestured her to be silent, and wrote a note which he slipped to her as he returned her bouquet. Francis informs Holmes that Hatty has gone to apologize to Simon, & Holmes rushes after her. Meanwhile we see Simon murdering Flora, but she tells Simon that it's too late & that she already told Hatty everything.Hatty finds Simon, who admits to everything. Thomas, the man who murdered Maude, works for Simon at the estate & takes care of Helena, who is alive. Watson & Holmes arrive just as Simon & Thomas are about to kill Hatty. Watson shoots Thomas, as Simon tries to escape, but is killed by Helena.