Arthur Carmichael

In the short story The Strange Case of Sir Arthur Carmichael, Sir Arthur Carmichael, a young man of twenty-three, is the only son by his first wife of the baronet Sir William Carmichael. Some three years before the events in the story, Sir William died. Sir Arthur inherited the title and the country house estate at Wolden where he lived with with his stepmother, Lady Carmichael (Sir William's second wife) and his half-brother of eight years of age. About two months before the events in the story, Sir Arthur became engaged to Miss Phyllis Patterson. However, one morning, Sir Arthur was found wandering about the village in "a semi-idiotic condition". He had completely lost his memory and could not recognise his friends and relatives. His personality changed totaly and he began to behave strangely. This condition obviously made the impending marriage impossible. How the main protagonists in the story Dr Settle and Dr Edward Carstairs resolve this mystery forms the main plot of the story.