‘I beg you to lay before us everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the matter. You must tell us the truth, for there lies your only hope of safety. I must advise you any circumlocution or concealment may quickly lead to your own death.’
Her breathing grew high and thin at Holmes’s ominous words. Her explanation began to flow like the bursting of a dam.
‘So you have discovered the secret of Captain Barrington,’ she addressed us, dabbing at her eyes.
‘Apparently my good friend has,’ I rejoined plaintively, ‘but as yet he has kept me in ignorance. I wonder if you might be kind enough to reveal any such secret to me?’
‘You have just been to the Coburg Mausoleum, have you not?’ came the response.
I nodded, bewildered. ‘We have, yes, but how does - ’
‘And you saw the body of the murdered woman lying there?’
‘We did.’
‘The corpse you saw there, as Mr. Holmes has deduced, is the body of my husband, Captain Barrington.’
My mouth dropped open in uncontrollable astonishment. ‘Good Lord!’ I exclaimed, and relapsed into a stunned silence.
Our hostess turned a dolorous gaze on my companion.
‘Mr. Holmes, I beg you to listen to my explanation. I throw myself on your honour and your love of justice. If our deception is to be revealed, so be it, but first let me tell you all. You must already understand it is an unusual story and of considerable complexity.’
We listened spellbound as she unfolded an extraordinary tale. At times she spoke in a voice so low that I could hardly catch the words but as I listened the mists in my own mind gradually cleared away.
‘I hope you will accept that everything my - husband - and I did was through my father’s concern for our family estates. I told you his exact words - “You must go to England, my daughter. The matter of your marriage is the greatest concern of my final days. If you are not married to an Englishman most urgently, Konstantin will steal our lands when I die.” I related how he chose Captain Barrington from the Kelly’s Handbook, the name kept to ourselves and revealed to no other. I described how I prepared my wardrobe to attend Mr. Fernie’s Billesdon Hunt, that I hired a box at Market Harborough and set about seeking out the eligible young Captain my father wished me to marry.’
She paused. With a strained look, she recommenced.
‘At Market Harborough I was brought to the Major-General charged with introducing me to eligible officers, though not fully apprised of my goal. One by one I met them - this is Lieutenant So-and-so, this is Captain So-and-so. None of them bore the name Barrington. Finally, at lunch, I mentioned Captain Barrington by name.
The Major-General looked startled. “Captain Barrington?” “Yes,” I replied. “Of the Connaught Rangers?” he asked. I confirmed this was so. He said, “I am sorry to tell you that he is no longer among the living”. You can imagine my horror!’ our hostess exclaimed, gulping in her throat to keep down her agitation.
She continued, ‘I asked him, “Was it from wounds he received in the Matabele War?” “No, he survived Africa and returned home,” he replied, “only to kill himself in a riding accident back here”.’
Mrs. Barrington looked at us beseechingly. ‘Imagine my plight. I must marry within days, only to discover the man my father had selected, the rescuer whose mercy I intended to beg, the man I hoped would consent to enter into marriage with me and oversee our family estates in Bulgaria and Hungary - was dead. I determined to leave Market Harborough the very next morning. I would send Mrs. Wheatley and her brother away, and return to Sofia, my whole mission an abject failure.
I left the lunch-table in tears. I had let down my dying father. I had failed the family estates. Unless I found a husband within the remaining hours of my father’s life, Konstantin would make a sudden move to seize everything. By now the huntsmen and the followers were flashing out in pursuit of a fox. Mr. Penderel led me outside where I mounted and followed. Soon, though, he had ridden ahead. A young Englishwoman with beautiful golden hair rode up to me. She told me her name was Julia. She had been looking for me. At the Major-General’s command, she was to stay with me during the afternoon. The Major-General himself no longer rode to hounds all day. He knew Mr. Penderel would be tempted by the fox and not remain at my side.’
Our hostess emitted a deep sigh. ‘Julia asked why I was so distressed. I poured out my heart to her. I explained why the matter was so urgent, how I could lose my estates to Konstantin. I told her I could stand this strain no longer; I should go mad if it continued. I translated into English the telegram which arrived that very morning from my family’s Land Agent telling me my father had but days to live, and would die without peace of mind unless I married without delay. I told her how Papa had chosen an English captain from Kelly’s Handbook, that I had come specially to Market Harborough to hunt for a husband rather than a fox, how horrified I had been when the Major-General told me Captain Barrington was dead.’
Our hostess paused to allow us to absorb the depths of her predicament.
‘And that was when she suggested you meet up in London?’ Holmes prompted.
Mrs. Barrington nodded. ‘Julia said she had an idea. She asked if I would return to London and accompany her to the Tivoli theatre the next evening, disguised and without a chaperone at my side. I agreed. We met in the foyer. She had been thinking hard about my situation. She told me she was intimately acquainted with someone I should marry, who would be willing to do so on the instant. I asked, “Who might that be? Is he an officer?” and she laughed, and said, “He could be - but wait until we have watched this evening’s performance”. We took our seats and very shortly bounding on to the stage was this handsome dandy, Burlington Bertie of Bow, singing The Latest Chap on Earth.’
Our hostess’s face lit up. She put her head up and in a delightful voice sang “He has the latest thing in collars, the latest thing in ties, The latest specimen of girly girls with the latest blue, blue eyes”.
‘And you had no idea Burlington Bertie was a male impersonator?’ I asked, unable to prevent myself laughing.
‘No idea at all,’ came the embarrassed reply. ‘The performance was without the slightest hint of grotesqueness or vulgarity. I knew nothing of male impersonators, and nothing about the famous Miss Tilley.’
‘Do continue,’ I begged.
‘When the performance came to an end I turned to Julia and said, “Now you must tell me your idea - tell me who will become my husband. How can you be certain that he will say yes?” At which she put an arm around my shoulder, looked straight into my eyes and said: “You are to marry me!”
“You!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, me. For your father’s sake. And to preserve your estates. It’s clear Captain Barrington is entirely unknown in Bulgaria. I shall become Captain Barrington. I have no family and I had intended to go to America to seek my fortune. No one will miss me. We shall only have to pretend for a year or two to stave off your cousin while you take full command of your estates.” And she added with a further laugh, “Then we can obtain a divorce”.
I was about to express my incredulity when she pointed towards the stage and said, “I know Burlington Bertie. He has invited us to go to his dressing-room”.
Without a further word she led me back-stage. Burlington Bertie - that is to say, Miss Tilley - grasped my cause immediately. The next morning she sent us to a military tailor to purchase a fine uniform. We spent the next few days with Miss Tilley while she taught Julia how to dress and act like a man.’