de to
force him to produce the one or to share the other.

"It was at this stage of the proceedings that the Hon. Robert was
advised to marry, in order to secure, if possible, the first male heir
of the next generation, since the young earl himself was still a
bachelor. A suitable _fiancee_ was found for him by his friends in the
person of Miss Mabel Brandon, the daughter of a rich Birmingham
manufacturer, and the marriage was fixed to take place at Birmingham on
Thursday, September 15th, 1907.

"On the 13th the Hon. Robert Ingram de Genneville arrived at the Castle
Hotel in New Street for his wedding, and on the 14th, at eight o'clock
in the morning, he was discovered lying on the floor of his
bedroom--murdered.

"The sensation which the awful and unexpected sequel to the Do
Genneville peerage case caused in the minds of the friends of both
litigants was quite unparalleled. I don't think any crime of modern
times created quite so much stir in all classes of society. Birmingham
was wild with excitement, and the employes of the Castle Hotel had real
difficulty in keeping off the eager and inquisitive crowd who thronged
daily to the hall, vainly hoping to gather details of news relating to
the terrible tragedy.

"At present there was but little to tell. The shrieks of the
chambermaid, who had gone into the Hon. Robert's room with his shaving
water at eight o'clock, had attracted some of the waiters. Soon the
manager and his secretary came up, and immediately sent for the police.

"It seemed at first sight as if the young man had been the victim of a
homicidal maniac, so brutal had been the way in which he had been
assassinated. The head and body were battered and bruised by some heavy
stick or poker, almost past human shape, as if the murderer had wished
to wreak some awful vengeance upon the body of his victim. In fact, it
would be impossible to recount the gruesome aspect of that room and of
the murdered man's body such as the police and the medical officer took
note of that day.

"It was supposed that the murder had been committed the evening before,
as the victim was dressed in his evening clothes, and all the lights in
the room had been left fully turned on. Robbery, also, must have had a
large share in the miscreant's motives, for the drawers and cupboards,
the portmanteau and dressing-bag had been ransacked as if in search of
valuables. On the floor there lay a pocket-book torn in half and only
containing a