The title character and protagonist is a young British aristocrat who is soon to be married. Mr. Podgers, a man who appears to have a gift for discovering people's secrets and for telling their fortunes by examining their hands, tells Lord Arthur that he is going to commit murder. Lord Arthur firmly believes the prediction and, fearing the strain that living with it would place on his marriage, decides that he cannot go through with the wedding until he has killed someone. However, committing murder proves to be more difficult than Lord Arthur had imagined.