第114章

“Thepersonsherepresent，Mr。Moy，arenowabouttoseethemoralmeritoftheScotchlawofmarriage(asapprovedbyEngland)practicallyinoperationbeforetheirowneyes。Theywilljudgeforthemselvesofthemorality(ScotchorEnglish)

whichfirstforcesadesertedwomanbackonthevillainwhohasbetrayedher，andthenvirtuouslyleaveshertobeartheconsequences。“

Withthatanswer，heturnedtoAnne，andshowedhertheletter，openinhishand。

“Forthelasttime，“hesaid，“doyouinsistonmyappealingtothis？“

Sherose，andbowedherheadgravely。

“Itismydistressingduty，“saidSirPatrick，“todeclare，inthislady’sname，andonthefaithofwrittenpromisesofmarriageexchangedbetweentheparties，thenresidinginScotland，thatsheclaimstobenow——andtohavebeenontheafternoonofthefourteenthofAugustlast——Mr。GeoffreyDelamayn’sweddedwife。“

AcryofhorrorfromBlanche，alowmurmurofdismayfromtherest，followedtheutteranceofthosewords。

Therewasapauseofaninstant。

ThenGeoffreyroseslowlytohisfeet，andfixedhiseyesonthewifewhohadclaimedhim。

Thespectatorsoftheterriblesceneturnedwithoneaccordtowardthesacrificedwoman。ThelookwhichGeoffreyhadcastonher——thewordswhichGeoffreyhadspokentoher——werepresenttoalltheirminds。Shestood，waitingbySirPatrick’sside——hersoftgrayeyesrestingsadlyandtenderlyonBlanche’sface。Toseethatmatchlesscourageandresignationwastodoubttherealityofwhathadhappened。Theywereforcedtolookbackatthemantopossesstheirmindswiththetruth。

Thetriumphoflawandmoralityoverhimwascomplete。Heneverutteredaword。Hisfurioustemperwasperfectlyandfearfullycalm。WiththepromiseofmercilessvengeancewrittenintheDevilswritingonhisDevil-possessedface，hekepthiseyesfixedonthehatedwomanwhomhehadruined——onthehatedwomanwhowasfastenedtohimashiswife。

HislawyerwentovertothetableatwhichSirPatricksat。SirPatrickhandedhimthesheetofnote-paper。

Hereadthetwoletterscontainedinitwithabsorbedanddeliberateattention。Themomentsthatpassedbeforeheliftedhisheadfromhisreadingseemedlikehours。“Canyouprovethehandwritings？“heasked。“Andprovetheresidence？“

SirPatricktookupasecondmorselofpaperlyingreadyunderhishand。

“Therearethenamesofpersonswhocanprovethewriting，andprovetheresidence，“hereplied。“Oneofyourtwowitnessesbelowstairs(otherwiseuseless)canspeaktothehouratwhichMr。Brinkwortharrivedattheinn，andsocanprovethattheladyforwhomheask