“’Heaskedforherbythenameofhiswife，atthedoor，’“readSirPatrick。“Meaning，Ipresume，thedooroftheinn？Hadtheladypreviouslygivenherselfoutasamarriedwomantothepeopleoftheinn？“
　　“Yes。“
　　“Howlonghadshebeenattheinnbeforethegentlemanjoinedher？“
　　“Onlyanhourorso。“
　　“Didshegiveaname？“
　　“Ican’tbequitesure——Ishouldsaynot。“
　　“Didthegentlemangiveaname？“
　　“No。I’mcertain_he_didn’t。“
　　SirPatrickreturnedtothememorandum。
　　“’Hesaidatdinner，beforethelandladyandthewaiter，Itaketheseroomsformywife。Hemade_her_sayhewasherhusband，atthesametime。’Wasthatdonejocosely，Mr。Delamayn——eitherbytheladyorthegentleman？“
　　“No。Itwasdoneindownrightearnest。“
　　“Youmeanitwasdonetolooklikeearnest，andsotodeceivethelandladyandthewaiter？“
　　“Yes。“
　　SirPatrickreturnedtothememorandum。
　　“’Afterthat，hestoppedallnight。’Stoppedintheroomshehadtakenforhimselfandhiswife？“
　　“Yes。“
　　“Andwhathappenedthenextday？“
　　“Hewentaway。Waitabit!Saidhehadbusinessforanexcuse。“
　　“Thatistosay，hekeptupthedeceptionwiththepeopleoftheinn？andlefttheladybehindhim，inthecharacterofhiswife？“
　　“That’sit。“
　　“Didhegobacktotheinn？“
　　“No。“
　　“Howlongdidtheladystaythere，afterhehadgone？“
　　“Shestaid——well，shestaidafewdays。“
　　“Andyourfriendhasnotseenhersince？“
　　“No。“
　　“AreyourfriendandtheladyEnglishorScotch？“
　　“BothEnglish。“
　　“Atthetimewhentheymetattheinn，hadtheyeitherofthemarrivedinScotland，fromtheplaceinwhichtheywerepreviouslyliving，withinaperiodoflessthantwenty-onedays？“
　　Geoffreyhesitated。TherecouldbenodifficultyinansweringforAnne。LadyLundieandherdomesticcirclehadoccupiedWindygatesforamuchlongerperiodthanthreeweeksbeforethedateofthelawn-party。Thequestion，asitaffectedArnold，wastheonlyquestionthatrequiredreflection。Aftersearchinghismemoryfordetailsoftheconversationwhichhadtakenplacebetweenthem，whenheandArnoldhadmetatthelawn-party，GeoffreyrecalledacertainreferenceonthepartofhisfriendtoaperformanceattheEdinburghtheatre，whichatoncedecidedthequestionoftime。ArnoldhadbeennecessarilydetainedinEdinburgh，beforehisarrivalatWindygates，bylegalbusinessconnectedwithhisinheritance；andhe，likeAnne，hadcertainlybeeninScotland，beforetheymetatCraigFernie，foralongerperiodthanaperiodofthreeweeksHeaccordinglyinformedSirPatrickthattheladyandgentlemanhadbeeninScotlandformorethantwenty-onedays——andthenaddedaquestiononhisownbehalf：
　　“Don’tletmehurryyou，Sir——but，shallyousoonhavedone？“
　　“Ishallhavedone，aftertwomorequestions，“answeredSirPatrick。“AmItounderstandthattheladyclaims，onthestrengthofthecircumstanceswhichyouhavementionedtome，tobeyourfriend’swife？“
　　Geoffreymadeanaffirmativereply。ThereadiestmeansofobtainingSirPatrick’sopinionwas，inthiscase，toanswer，Yes。Inotherwords，torepresentAnneinthecharacterof“thelady“asclaimingtobemarriedtoArnoldinthecharacterof“hisfriend“。
　　Havingmadethisconcessiontocircumstances，hewas，atthesametime，quitecunningenoughtoseethatitwasofvitalimportancetothepurposewhichhehadinview，toconfinehimselfstrictlytothisoneperversionofthetruth。Therecouldbeplainlynodependingonthelawyer’sopinion，unlessthatopinionwasgivenonthefactsexactlyastheyhadoccurredattheinn。Tothefactshehad，thusfar，carefullyadhered；andtothefactswiththeoneinevitabledeparturefromthemwhichhadbeenjustforcedonhimhedeterminedtoadheretotheend。
　　“Didnoletterspassbetweentheladyandgentleman？“pursuedSirPatrick。
　　“NonethatIknowof，“answeredGeoffrey，steadilyreturningtothetruth。
　　“Ihavedone，Mr。Delamayn。“
　　“Well？andwhat’syouropinion？“
　　“BeforeIgivemyopinionIamboundtoprefaceitbyapersonalstatementwhichyouarenottotake，ifyouplease，asastatementofthelaw。Youaskmetodecide——onthefactswithwhichyouhavesuppliedme——whetheryourfriendis，accordingtothelawofScotland，marriedornot？“
　　Geoffreynodded。“That’sit!“hesaid，eagerly。
　　“Myexperience，Mr。Delamayn，isthatanysingleman，inScotland，maymarryanysinglewoman，atanytime，andunderanycircumstances。Inshort，afterthirtyyears’practiceasalawyer，Idon’tknowwhatis_not_amarriageinScotland。“
　　“InplainEnglish，“saidGeoffrey，“youmeanshe’shiswife？“
　　Inspiteofhiscunning；inspiteofhisself-command，hiseyesbrightenedashesaidthosewords。Andthetoneinwhichhespoke——thoughtoocarefullyguardedtobeatoneoftriumph——was，toafineear，unmistakablyatoneofrelief。
　　NeitherthelooknorthetonewaslostonSirPatrick。
　　Hisfirstsuspicion，whenhesatdowntotheconference，hadbeentheobvioussuspicionthat，inspeakingof“hisfriend，“Geoffreywasspeakingofhimself。But，likealllawyers，hehabituallydistrustedfirstimpressions，hisownincluded。Hisobject，thusfar，hadbeentosolvetheproblemofGeoffrey’struepositionandGeoffrey’srealmotive。Hehadsetthesnareaccordingly，andhadcaughthisbird。
　　Itwasnowplaintohismind——first，thatthismanwhowasconsultinghim，was，inallprobability，reallyspeakingofthecaseofanotherperson：secondly，thathehadaninterestofwhatnatureitwasimpossibleyettosayinsatisfyinghisownmindthat“hisfriend“was，bythelawofScotland，indisputablyamarriedman。HavingpenetratedtothatextentthesecretwhichGeoffreywasconcealingfromhim，heabandonedthehopeofmakinganyfurtheradvanceatthatpresentsitting。Thenextquestiontoclearupintheinvestigation，wasthequestionofwhotheanonymous“lady“mightbe。Andthenextdiscoverytomakewas，whether“thelady“could，orcouldnot，beidentifiedwithAnneSilvester。Pendingtheinevitabledelayinreachingthatresult，thestraightcoursewasinSirPatrick’spresentstateofuncertaintytheonlycoursetofollowinlayingdownthelaw。Heatoncetookthequestionofthemarriageinhand——withnoconcealmentwhatever，astothelegalbearingsofit，fromtheclientwhowasconsultinghim。
　　“Don’trushtoconclusions，Mr。Delamayn，“hesaid。“Ihaveonlytoldyouwhatmygeneralexperienceisthusfar。Myprofessionalopiniononthespecialcaseofyourfriendhasnotbeengivenyet。“
　　Geoffrey’sfacecloudedagain。SirPatrickcarefullynotedthenewchangeinit。
　　“ThelawofScotland，“hewenton，“sofarasitrelatestoIrregularMarriages，isanoutrageoncommondecencyandcommon-sense。Ifyouthinkmylanguageinthusdescribingittoostrong——Icanreferyoutothelanguageofajudicialauthority。
　　LordDeasdeliveredarecentjudgmentofmarriageinScotland，fromthebench，inthesewords：’Consentmakesmarriage。Noformorceremony，civilorreligious；nonoticebefore，orpublicationafter；nocohabitation，nowriting，nowitnesseseven，areessentialtotheconstitutionofthis，themostimportantcontractwhichtwopersonscanenterinto。’——ThereisaScotchjudge’sownstatementofthelawthatheadministers!Observe，atthesametime，ifyouplease，thatwemakefulllegalprovisioninScotlandforcontractsaffectingthesaleofhousesandlands，horsesanddogs。Theonlycontractwhichweleavewithoutsafeguardsorprecautionsofanysortisthecontractthatunitesamanandawomanforlife。Asfortheauthorityofparents，andtheinnocenceofchildren，ourlawrecognizesnoclaimoniteitherintheonecaseorintheother。AgirloftwelveandaboyoffourteenhavenothingtodobuttocrosstheBorder，andtobemarried——withouttheinterpositionoftheslightestdelayorrestraint，andwithouttheslightestattempttoinformtheirparentsonthepartoftheScotchlaw。Astothemarriagesofmenandwomen，eventhemereinterchangeofconsentwhich，asyouhavejustheard，makesthemmanandwife，isnotrequiredtobedirectlyproved：itmaybeprovedbyinference。And，moreeventhanthat，whateverthelawforitsconsistencymaypresume，menandwomenare，inpointoffact，heldtobemarriedinScotlandwhereconsenthasneverbeeninterchanged，andwherethepartiesdonotevenknowthattheyarelegallyheldtobemarriedpersons。AreyousufficientlyconfusedaboutthelawofIrregularMarriagesinScotlandbythistime，Mr。Delamayn？AndhaveIsaidenoughtojustifythestronglanguageIusedwhenIundertooktodescribeittoyou？“
　　“Who’sthat’authority’youtalkedofjustnow？“inquiredGeoffrey。“Couldn’tIask_him？_“