ing Sir
Patrick's opinion was, in this case, to answer, Yes. In other words,
to represent Anne (in the character of "the lady") as claiming to be
married to Arnold (in the character of "his friend").

Having made this concession to circumstances, he was, at the same time,
quite cunning enough to see that it was of vital importance to the
purpose which he had in view, to confine himself strictly to this one
perversion of the truth. There could be plainly no depending on the
lawyer's opinion, unless that opinion was given on the facts exactly a
s they had occurred at the inn. To the facts he had, thus far, carefully
adhered; and to the facts (with the one inevitable departure from them
which had been just forced on him) he determined to adhere to the end.

"Did no letters pass between the lady and gentleman?" pursued Sir
Patrick.

"None that I know of," answered Geoffrey, steadily returning to the
truth.

"I have done, Mr. Delamayn."

"Well? and what's your opinion?"

"Before I give my opinion I am bound to preface it by a personal
statement which you are not to take, if you please, as a statement of
the law. You ask me to decide--on the facts with which you have supplied
me--whether your friend is, according to the law of Scotland, married or
not?"

Geoffrey nodded. "That's it!" he said, eagerly.

"My experience, Mr. Delamayn, is that any single man, in Scotland, may
marry any single woman, at any time, and under any circumstances. In
short, after thirty years' practice as a lawyer, I don't know what is
_not_ a marriage in Scotland."

"In plain English," said Geoffrey, "you mean she's his wife?"

In spite of his cunning; in spite of his self-command, his eyes
brightened as he said those words. And the tone in which he
spoke--though too carefully guarded to be a tone of triumph--was, to a
fine ear, unmistakably a tone of relief.

Neither the look nor the tone was lost on Sir Patrick.

His first suspicion, when he sat down to the conference, had been
the obvious suspicion that, in speaking of "his friend," Geoffrey was
speaking of himself. But, like all lawyers, he habitually distrusted
first impressions, his own included. His object, thus far, had been
to solve the problem of Geoffrey's true position and Geoffrey's real
motive. He had set the snare accordingly, and had caught his bird.

It was now plain to his mind--first, that this man who was consulting
him, was, in all probability, really speaking of t