In the short story The Veiled Lady, the Duke of Southshire is engaged to Lady Millicent Castle Vaughan. According to Hastings, the Duke is considered one of the best matches in England, presumably because of his great wealth. When a blackmailer threatened to send an indiscreet letter of Lady Millicent's to the Duke, Lady Millicent found it impossible to defuse the matter by confessing everything to her prospective husband. The Duke, according to her, "is a rather peculiar character, jealous and suspicious and prone to believe the worst." The solution was to engage Poirot to help.