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Updated: June 9, 2025
I asked him if he had any bets with the owner of Peppercorn, and he told me that he only held one for less than £500. "'I laughed and said that if he held one for £5000 it would make no difference, as from what I had heard from the other fellows, Lord Arthur Skelmerton must be about stumped.
Lord Arthur Skelmerton, a very well-known figure in London society and in racing circles, had rented one of the fine houses which overlook the racecourse. He had entered Peppercorn, by St. Armand Notre Dame, for the Great Ebor Handicap. Peppercorn was the winner of the Newmarket, and his chances for the Ebor were considered a practical certainty.
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 £5000 on that one day.
I asked him if he had got his £500. He said: "No, but I shall get it to-day." "Lord Arthur Skelmerton, after having given his own evidence, had left the court; it was therefore impossible to know how he would take this account, which threw so serious a light upon an association with the dead man, of which he himself had said nothing.
"He had heard the threatening voice while sitting with Lord Arthur Skelmerton; then came the cry and groan, and, after that, Lord Arthur's steps down the stairs. He himself thought of following to see what had happened, but it was a very dark night and he did not know the grounds very well.
"Lord Arthur Skelmerton was then called and substantially repeated what he had already told the constables. He stated, namely, that on the night in question he had some gentlemen friends to dinner, and afterwards bridge was played.
"If you have ever been to York you will have noticed the fine houses which have their drive and front entrances in the road called 'The Mount. and the gardens of which extend as far as the racecourse, commanding a lovely view over the entire track. It was one of these houses, called 'The Elms, which Lord Arthur Skelmerton had rented for the summer.
"'Then it did not strike you that Lord Arthur Skelmerton had some reason for not wishing his wife to know of that particular visitor's presence in his house? "'I don't think that I gave the matter the slightest serious consideration, was the Colonel's guarded reply. "Mr. Buchanan did not press the point, and allowed the witness to conclude his statements.
That news was that the inquest had concluded at three o'clock with a verdict of 'Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown, and that two hours later the police had arrested Lord Arthur Skelmerton at his private residence, 'The Elms, and charged him on a warrant with the murder of Charles Lavender, the bookmaker."
It was that of a woman, not exactly pretty, but very gentle and childlike, with a strange pathetic look in the large eyes which was wonderfully appealing. "That was Lady Arthur Skelmerton," he said, and in a flash there flitted before Polly's mind the weird and tragic history which had broken this loving woman's heart. Lady Arthur Skelmerton!
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