第85章

“Itisnoteasytotellyou，“hesaid，“withoutenteringintothelegalaspectofthecase。IshallonlypuzzleyouifIdothat。

Supposewelookatthematterinitssocialbearings——Imean，asitmaypossiblyaffectyouandBlanche，andyourunbornchildren？“

Arnoldgavethehatatightertwistthanever。“Ineverthoughtofthechildren，“hesaid，withalookofconsternation。

“Thechildrenmaypresentthemselves，“returnedSirPatrick，dryly，“forallthat。Nowlisten。ItmayhaveoccurredtoyourmindthattheplainwayoutofourpresentdilemmaisforyouandMissSilvester，respectively，toaffirmwhatweknowtobethetruth——namely，thatyouneverhadtheslightestintentionofmarryingeachother。Bewareoffoundinganyhopesonanysuchremedyasthat!Ifyoureckononit，youreckonwithoutGeoffreyDelamayn。Heisinterested，remember，inprovingyouandMissSilvestertobemanandwife。Circumstancesmayarise——Iwon’twastetimeinguessingatwhattheymaybe——whichwillenableathirdpersontoproducethelandladyandthewaiteratCraigFernieinevidenceagainstyou——andtoassertthatyourdeclarationandMissSilvester’sdeclarationaretheresultofcollusionbetweenyoutwo。Don’tstart!Suchthingshavehappenedbeforenow。MissSilvesterispoor；andBlancheisrich。Youmaybemadetostandintheawkwardpositionofamanwhoisdenyinghismarriagewithapoorwoman，inordertoestablishhismarriagewithanheiress：MissSilvesterpresumablyaidingthefraud，withtwostronginterestsofherownasinducements——theinterestofassertingtheclaimtobethewifeofamanofrank，andtheinterestofearningherrewardinmoneyforresigningyoutoBlanche。Thereisacasewhichascoundrelmightsetup——andwithsomeappearanceoftruthtoo——inacourtofjustice!“

“Surely，thelawwouldn’tallowhimtodothat？“

“Thelawwillargueanything，withanybodywhowillpaythelawfortheuseofitsbrainsanditstime。Letthatviewofthematteralonenow。Delamayncansetthecasegoing，ifhelikes，withoutapplyingtoanylawyertohelphim。HehasonlytocauseareporttoreachBlanche’searswhichpubliclyassertsthatsheisnotyourlawfulwife。Withhertemper，doyousupposeshewouldleaveusaminute’speacetillthematterwasclearedup？

Ortakeittheotherway。Comfortyourself，ifyouwill，withtheideathatthisaffairwilltroublenobodyinthepresent。Howarewetoknowitmaynotturnupinthefutureundercircumstanceswhichmayplacethelegitimacyofyourchildrenindoubt？Wehaveamantodealwithwhosticksatnothing。Wehaveastateofthelawwhichcanonlybedescribedasonescandalousuncertaintyfrombeginningtoend。Andwehavetwopeople(BishopriggsandMrs。Inchbare)whocan，andwill，speaktowhattookplacebetweenyouandAnneSilvesterattheinn。ForBlanche’ssake，andforthesakeofyourunbornchildren，wemustfacethismatteronthespot——andsettleitatonceandforever。Thequestionbeforeusnowisthis。ShallweopentheproceedingsbycommunicatingwithMissSilvesterornot？“

AtthatimportantpointintheconversationtheywereinterruptedbythereappearanceofBlanche。Hadshe，byanyaccident，heardwhattheyhadbeensaying？

No；itwastheoldstoryofmostinterruptions。Idlenessthatconsidersnothing，hadcometolookatIndustrythatbearseverything。Itisalawofnature，apparently，thatthepeopleinthisworldwhohavenothingtodocannotsupportthesightofanuninterruptedoccupationinthehandsoftheirneighbors。BlancheproducedanewspecimenfromArnold