2.
Le Voyage de Noces
by Katherine Crighton
Miss Doyle answered 'yes' to Mr. Sayers's marriage proposal; all that's needed now is to gain her father's approval. Miss Doyle and Mr. Sayers approach the study where Sir John is waiting.
Mr. Sayers leaves Miss Doyle in the hall to pace anxiously. When the study door opens again, Mr. Sayers comes out to take her hands. He tells her that her mother will be furious, her father is hiding something, and that a scandal is brewing. The clock strikes midnight, and he immediately leaves.
So...what day do they marry?
Hint: Questions that can be answered now
What day does Mr. Sayers leave?
Let's start at the beginning...
It is December of 1815, at the Chesterton's New Year's Eve party. After the excitement of the summer, and the final arrest and capture of the English spy ring that Mr. Sayers and Miss Doyle had together managed through clever cryptography, there was time at last to ask Sir John for his formal permission to marry Miss Doyle.
When Mr. Sayers goes into the study, Sir John is just finishing shuffling some papers at his desk. Two wingchairs are set by a roaring fire nearby, and Sir John, with a quick smile, directs Mr. Sayers to a chair and sits himself opposite. As they settle, Mr. Sayers notes that aside from the light from the fireplace, there is only a small branch of candles lit and placed on the desk, leaving the room dark but cozy. There are tall shelves along every wall, library-like, filled with thick books that are clearly often read.
Sir John is short and round and gives off the air of someone as cozy as his study. He smiles again, but there is a gleam in his eye that looks very like Miss Doyle's.
"My daughter," he says, "is very clever, and I value her for it. I encouraged her to attend the Academy lectures where, I believe, the two of you met. But I don't think I could give her hand to any man who couldn't match wits with her—or me. I know you're here to ask for my permission to marry; let me ask you three questions first." He leans forward and with a sharpness all at odds with his jolly looks says, "Why? When? And how?"
Something on the messy desk gives a sudden glint, a twinkle from the firelight as bright as Sir John's shrewd eyes. Mr. Sayers swallows hard and says, "May I inspect your desk first?"
Sir John leans back and waves his hand permissively toward his desk. Mr. Sayers rises, reviews, and returns. He thinks a moment, considering the desk, the study, and Miss Doyle's excellent education, and then says very carefully:
"Why? Because we two have run about the hills.
"When? Well, I'd like to have married her nine months ago.
"And how? By stealing your gold, changing our names, and hiding on the Continent until you say we can come home again."
Sir John, satisfied, nods and says, "Excellent, you scoundrel. Take what you need, and get out of my sight."
What was on the desk?
Hint: Questions that can be answered now
What day does Mr. Sayers leave?
What is the year of this New Year's Eve Party?
What did Mr. Sayers and Miss Doyle do together with cryptography? (Solve the "The Language of Flowers" for that Society story.)
What other things take nine months to complete and might warrant a marriage beforehand?
Look closer at the desk...
There were three small piles on Sir John Chesterton's desk, each corresponding to a question. The following are the contents of those piles:
Why?
a. A lyric sheet for the Scottish New Year's song "Auld Lang Syne," the first and third stanzas circled;
b. A newspaper article describing the arrest of Lord Mountjoy, the English saboteur that Miss Doyle and Mr. Sayers, through their teamwork, helped capture. The article says that Mountjoy had not worked alone, and his French contacts are still unidentified, though his cook, Madame Colette Fournier, has gone missing.
When?
a. An old war dispatch, of the same kind Sayers receives at his government post (though no one outside of the government should have copies of those). The date reads March, 1815. It contains intelligence that Napoleon Bonaparte, with unknown assistance, had escaped from his exile on the isle of Elba and returned to France to reclaim his empire;
b. A more recent newspaper article describes Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo and his new exile to the island of St. Helena. But, as the newspaper reports, there is concern that he might escape again—the search for those who helped him escape the first time is still ongoing.
How?
a. A table of sailing-ship departures from Dover, upon which is written the following:
Claude and Adrienne Gauthier
Edmond and Lucie Dallaire
Armand and Colette Jocelyn Fournier
Jean-Paul and Danielle Blanc
Cesar and Marie Dumont
b. A map to the Scottish border town of Gretna Green, a little under two day's ride from the Chesterton townhouse, and the best place to elope fast and secretly.
c. A pair of gold rings in a shallow dish, glinting in the firelight.
Hint: Questions that can be answered now
What day does Mr. Sayers leave?
What is the year of this New Year's Eve Party?
What did Mr. Sayers and Miss Doyle do together with cryptography? (Solve the "The Language of Flowers" for more details.)
What other things take nine months to complete and might warrant a marriage beforehand?
What are the second and third words in the first stanza of "Auld Lang Syne"?
How could those two words connect to what Miss Doyle and Mr. Sayers accomplished?
The first two lines of the third stanza of "Auld Lang Syne" refer to two people collecting flowers (and perhaps some more risque entertainment); with that in mind, what scandalous secret could Sir Chesterton be suggesting?
How many months are between the New Year's Eve party and the date of Napoleon's escape?
How many pairs of French names are listed on the schedule of ship departures?
Where else have you seen the crossed-out name?
Or learn what happens afterward...
1. When Mr. Sayers leaves, he doesn't leave alone.
2. His Majesty's secret Head of Intelligence—the man who runs the codebreaking cadre where Miss Doyle and Mr. Sayers met and fell in love—buys two tickets for a ship to France. They are not for him.
3. In the fall of 1816, two letters arrive at the Chesterton townhouse. One, for Sir John, contains a request for an invitation to the Chesterton New Year's party. A lyric sheet for "Auld Lang Syne" is appended, five locations from all parts Europe written tidily between the lines.
The other letter, for Lady Chesterton, contains a birth announcement for what seems to be the firstborn son of Armand and Jocelyn Fournier. And written at the bottom, in the clear hand of Miss Doyle, reads the message: "We can be in London as soon as Father allows; we do so wish to introduce you both to your one (and only) grandchild."
When Lady Chesterton goes to her husband to demand he write to them, his letter to the police is already finished and on its way to aid in the arrest of the wrongdoers—exactly as should happen.
So: What day did Miss Doyle and Mr. Sayers marry?
Hint: The full list of questions that can be answered
What day does Mr. Sayers leave?
What is the year of this New Year's Eve Party?
What did Mr. Sayers and Miss Doyle do together with cryptography? (Solve the "The Language of Flowers" for more details.)
What other things take nine months to complete and might warrant a marriage beforehand?
What are the second and third words in the first stanza of "Auld Lang Syne"?
How could those two words connect to what Miss Doyle and Mr. Sayers accomplished?
The first two lines of the third stanza of "Auld Lang Syne" refer to two people collecting flowers (and perhaps some more risque entertainment); with that in mind, what scandalous secret could Sir Chesterton be suggesting?
How many months are between the New Year's Eve party and the date of Napoleon's escape?
How many pairs of French names were listed on the schedule of ship departures?
Where else have you seen the crossed-out name?
Someone provided the schedule of ship departures, and the same person the list of French names—and so, logically, who provided the tickets to France?
Who else leaves with Mr. Sayers—where are they going—
—and most importantly: when would they arrive?
Ready for the solution?
Miss Doyle and Mr. Sayers married on January 2nd, 1816, immediately upon reaching Gretna Green, with the gold rings Sir John had provided.
To ensure that they could go into hiding and not be missed, a rumor was spread—and believed—that Miss Doyle had gotten secretly pregnant by Mr. Sayers, and the wedding was rushed to prevent a bastard birth. Any proper couple might hide in disgrace until the gossip blew over, and so it was believed of them as well.
Then, using the surname of Lord Mountjoy's missing cook, the two took on the names of Armand and Jocelyn Fournier, traveled to Dover and picked up the tickets bought for them under those names by the secret Head of Intelligence who had needed the best codebreakers in Europe on this case: Sir John himself.
The married couple travel to France and spend a year tracking down Mountjoy's cook and her ring of Napoleon loyalists seeking to rescue the exiled emperor again, using their surname as a way to ingratiate themselves as lost family returned to "help" the glorious cause. During that time, as is the case with many newlyweds, they do, in fact, have a child.
When Mr. Sayers writes to Sir John, it is with the locations of the remaining loyalists—those other names written on the sailing schedule—signaling that the married couple have completed their mission. Sir John writes to the military police in London and France to arrest the loyalists, and Mr. and Mrs. Sayers, baby son in tow, can return to London and be welcomed with eager arms by the Chestertons, the "scandal" forgotten and the cleverest couple in Europe home once again.
Go to the interlude: Avant La Soirée
Go to the previous puzzle: The Language of Flowers
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