or restraint, and without the slightest attempt to inform their
parents on the part of the Scotch law. As to the marriages of men and
women, even the mere interchange of consent which, as you have just
heard, makes them man and wife, is not required to be directly proved:
it may be proved by inference. And, more even than that, whatever the
law for its consistency may presume, men and women are, in point of
fact, held to be married in Scotland where consent has never been
interchanged, and where the parties do not even know that they are
legally held to be married persons. Are you sufficiently confused about
the law of Irregular Marriages in Scotland by this time, Mr. Delamayn?
And have I said enough to justify the strong language I used when I
undertook to describe it to you?"

"Who's that 'authority' you talked of just now?" inquired Geoffrey.
"Couldn't I ask _him?_"

"You might find him flatly contradicted, if you did ask him by another
authority equally learned and equally eminent," answered Sir Patrick.
"I am not joking--I am only stating facts. Have you heard of the Queen's
Commission?"

"No."

"Then listen to this. In March, 'sixty-five, the Queen appointed a
Commission to inquire into the Marriage-Laws of the United Kingdom. The
Report of that Commission is published in London; and is accessible to
any body who chooses to pay the price of two or three shillings for
it. One of the results of the inquiry was, the discovery that high
authorities were of entirely contrary opinions on one of the vital
questions of Scottish marriage-law. And the Commissioners, in announcing
that fact, add that the question of which opinion is right is still
disputed, and has never been made the subject of legal decision.
Authorities are every where at variance throughout the Report. A haze of
doubt and uncertainty hangs in Scotland over the most important contract
of civilized life. If no other reason existed for reforming the Scotch
marriage-law, there would be reason enough afforded by that one fact. An
uncertain marriage-law is a national calamity."

"You can tell me what you think yourself about my friend's case--can't
you?" said Geoffrey, still holding obstinately to the end that he had in
view.

"Certainly. Now that I have given you due warning of the danger of
implicitly relying on any individual opinion, I may give my opinion with
a clear conscience. I say that there has not been a positive marriage in
this case. There