rt of us. We are all one family now."

"And such a marriage would be perfectly legal and unassailable?"

"I shall marry you more firmly than if you were married in
Cant-er-bury Cath-edral," laughed the Vicar.

"That should suffice. But why more firmly? How improve on perfection?"

"I will tell you," said the Vicar, with increased enjoyment, as he
leaned forward and tapped Graeme's knee. "It is this way.--If you are
married in Cant-er-bury Cath-edral you can be divorced,--n'est-ce pas?
Oui! Eh bien!--If you are married in my church of Sark you can never
be divorced. C'est ca! It is the old Norman law."

"We will be married in your church of Sark," said Graeme, with
conviction.

"That is right. I shall marry you so that you shall never be able to
get away from one another."

"Please God, we'll never want to!"

"Ah yes! Of course. C'est ca!"

II

"We have never had a case of the kind, as far as I know. Certainly not
in my time," said the Seigneur, smiling quizzically across the
tea-table at Graeme. "But you gentlemen of the pen are allowed a
certain amount of license in such matters, are you not?"

"We sometimes take it, anyhow. But one likes to stick as close to fact
as possible."

They were sitting in the shady corner in front of the Seigneurie, with
four dogs basking in the sun beyond, and beyond them the shaven lawns
and motionless trees, the leafy green tunnel that led to the lane, and
a lovely glimpse into the enclosed gardens through the ancient gateway
whose stones had known the saints of old.

Graeme had put a certain proposition to the Lord of the Island,
nominally in connection with the story he was busy upon, but in
reality of vital concern to the larger story in which Margaret and he
were writing the history of their lives.

"Sark, you know, is a portion of the British Empire, or perhaps I
should say the British Empire belongs to Sark, but we are not under
British law. We are a law unto ourselves here," said the Seigneur.

"And the authority of a British Court would carry no weight with you?
In the case I have put to you, if the Court of Chancery ordered you to
surrender the young lady, you would refuse to do so?"

"I could refuse to do so. What I actually would do might depend on
circumstances."

"I see," said Graeme musingly, and decided that the Seigneur's
goodwill was worthy of every possible cultivation both by himself and
Margaret. For he did not look like one who would help a fri