The Retirement of Signor Lambert by Arthur Conan Doyle. Short summary

5 seconds

A cheating husband takes revenge on his wife’s lover, an opera tenor, in a subtle way. He performs an operation on the singer’s vocal cords and deprives him of his voice.

1 minute

Sir William Sparter was a talented and successful businessman. He was very rich and married to and the most beautiful woman in town. The beautiful woman was much younger than her husband. Fifty-year-old Sir Sparter had a stern and active character, had excellent health and considerable strength.

One day the rich man learned of his wife’s affair with a young tenor, Signor Lambert. He tells his wife that he knows all about her affair. And makes the woman write a note to her lover with an invitation for a date. Under pressure from her husband, the wife is forced to comply with his request.

Sir Sparter reads a medical treatise, studies the throat model and consults a doctor about the workings of the vocal cords.

The next day he arrives at the scene of a meeting between his wife and her lover. Sir Sparter binds the tenor and performs surgery on his ligaments. After that, Signor Lambert can no longer sing.