In spite of the violent opposition and threats of his father, Lord Waldmere had married the girl, one Mary Royal, then only nineteen, but a girl of remarkable beauty and many accomplishments, and of unblemished and enviable reputation.
What followed was in line with the old, old story. His lordship was promptly disowned and disinherited. He at once left England and came to America with his bride, already having small interests in several Colorado mines, and bent upon investing in others a part of his personal fortune, which amounted to something like fifty thousand pounds, then tied up in English securities and mortgages.
Lord Waldmere had remained only ten days in New York after his arrival. He then went to Colorado with his wife to investigate various mining properties, concerning which he already was partly informed, and in which he anticipated investing quite heavily.
Lack of ready money, however, and his inability to realize immediately upon his home investments, had led him to take an unusual step, one taken upon the suggestion and advice of his wife, pending receipt of funds from a London agent.
Lord Waldmere had, in fact, raised ten thousand dollars by placing in pawn with the Imperial Loan Company his wife’s valuable jewels, given to her before her marriage, and valued at about thirty thousand dollars. This not only had been done upon his wife’s suggestion, but she also had made the deal and conducted the entire transaction, having had far more experience and being of a much more practical business mind than her husband himself. All of this money had since been invested in Colorado.
Returning to New a week before, Waldmere then communicated by cable with his London agent, who, during the interval, had converted some of his lordship’s property into cash, and drafts were immediately sent him more than doubly sufficient to redeem the pledged jewels.
These funds had arrived that afternoon and were immediately placed on deposit. A little later Waldmere went with his wife to the office of the Imperial Loan Company to redeem the jewels, arriving there soon after five o’clock.
They were told, however, that the jewels were in a time-lock vault that had just been closed for the day, and which could not be opened until nine o’clock the following morning, when the jewels could be redeemed and the transaction ended.
This was perfectly satisfactory under the circumstances, of course, and Lady Waldmere promised to call with her husband the following morning. It was while they were returning to the boarding house, however, that they were separated in the extraordinary manner described.
Such was his lordship’s story, told in his own peculiar way, and to which Nick Carter very attentively listened. It revealed the truth in so far as Waldmere could reveal it—but it by no means explained the disappearance of her ladyship, the beautiful American chorus girl for whom Waldmere had lost his heart and sacrificed his prestige.