The missing bride in “The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor” is Hatty Doran.
Hatty travels from San Francisco to London to marry Lord Robert St. Simon, but disappears during the wedding reception. Her wedding dress and ring are later found near the Serpentine, prompting fears that she has drowned. Holmes, however, recognises that the evidence has been staged rather than indicating a murder.
The explanation depends on a man who returned unexpectedly from Hatty’s past. Before meeting Lord St. Simon, Hatty had married Francis H. Moulton, a prospector. She believed Moulton had been killed after an Apache raid, but he survived captivity, escaped, and followed her to England. Hatty recognises him during the wedding breakfast and secretly leaves to reunite with him.
The story is often remembered as a vanished-bride mystery, but Hatty is not a victim of foul play. She deliberately fakes her death to avoid a public scandal and return to her first husband. Lord St. Simon is understandably offended and refuses to accept her apology. Doyle first published the story in 1892 as part of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.