第50章

“Youmightfindhimflatlycontradicted，ifyoudidaskhimbyanotherauthorityequallylearnedandequallyeminent，“answeredSirPatrick。“Iamnotjoking——Iamonlystatingfacts。HaveyouheardoftheQueen’sCommission？“

“No。“

“Thenlistentothis。InMarch，’sixty-five，theQueenappointedaCommissiontoinquireintotheMarriage-LawsoftheUnitedKingdom。TheReportofthatCommissionispublishedinLondon；

andisaccessibletoanybodywhochoosestopaythepriceoftwoorthreeshillingsforit。Oneoftheresultsoftheinquirywas，thediscoverythathighauthoritieswereofentirelycontraryopinionsononeofthevitalquestionsofScottishmarriage-law。

AndtheCommissioners，inannouncingthatfact，addthatthequestionofwhichopinionisrightisstilldisputed，andhasneverbeenmadethesubjectoflegaldecision。AuthoritiesareeverywhereatvariancethroughouttheReport。AhazeofdoubtanduncertaintyhangsinScotlandoverthemostimportantcontractofcivilizedlife。IfnootherreasonexistedforreformingtheScotchmarriage-law，therewouldbereasonenoughaffordedbythatonefact。Anuncertainmarriage-lawisanationalcalamity。“

“Youcantellmewhatyouthinkyourselfaboutmyfriend’scase——can’tyou？“saidGeoffrey，stillholdingobstinatelytotheendthathehadinview。

“Certainly。NowthatIhavegivenyouduewarningofthedangerofimplicitlyrelyingonanyindividualopinion，Imaygivemyopinionwithaclearconscience。Isaythattherehasnotbeenapositivemarriageinthiscase。Therehasbeenevidenceinfavorofpossiblyestablishingamarriage——nothingmore。“

ThedistinctionherewasfartoofinetobeappreciatedbyGeoffrey’smind。Hefrownedheavily，inbewildermentanddisgust。

“Notmarried!“heexclaimed，“whentheysaidtheyweremanandwife，beforewitnesses？“

“Thatisacommonpopularerror，“saidSirPatrick。“AsIhavealreadytoldyou，witnessesarenotlegallynecessarytomakeamarriageinScotland。Theyareonlyvaluable——asinthiscase——tohelp，atsomefuturetime，inprovingamarriagethatisindispute。“

Geoffreycaughtatthelastwords。

“Thelandladyandthewaiter_might_makeitouttobeamarriage，then？“hesaid。

“Yes。And，remember，ifyouchoosetoapplytooneofmyprofessionalcolleagues，hemightpossiblytellyoutheyweremarriedalready。Astateofthelawwhichallowstheinterchangeofmatrimonialconsenttobeprovedbyinferenceleavesawidedooropentoconjecture。Yourfriendreferstoacertainlady，insomanywords，ashiswife。Theladyreferstoyourfriend，insomanywords，asherhusband。Intheroomswhichtheyhavetaken，asmanandwife，theyremain，asmanandwife，tillthenextmorning。Yourfriendgoesaway，withoutundeceivinganybody。Theladystaysattheinn，forsomedaysafter，inthecharacterofhiswife。Andallthesecircumstancestakeplaceinthepresenceofcompetentwitnesses。Logically——ifnotlegally——thereisapparentlyaninferenceoftheinterchangeofmatrimonialconsenthere。Isticktomyownopinion，nevertheless。Evidenceinproofofamarriage(Isay)——nothingmore。“

WhileSirPatrickhadbeenspeaking，Geoffreyhadbeenconsideringwithhimself。Bydintofhardthinkinghehadfoundhiswaytoadecisivequestiononhisside。

“Lookhere!“hesaid，droppinghisheavyhanddownonthetable。“

Iwanttobringyoutobook，Sir!Supposemyfriendhadanotherladyi