CHAPTER XXXVIII
THE OPINION OF COUNSEL
Meantime we waited expectant, and in uncertainty. It was possible thatthe pretended husband would withdraw his claims and that nothing morewould be heard of him. It was possible, I say, if we supposed thepretender capable of honour, shame, or of pride, that he would say, inso many words: "You deny the marriage; very well, I will not claim awife who says that she is no wife." It was, however, far more probablethat he would claim his wife and exercise his rights over herproperty. What should then be done?
The subject exercised the "Society" greatly; every evening thesituation was considered from all possible points of view, and alwaysas to the best manner of protecting Molly. It was at this time thatthe vicar wrote out the statement which he afterwards laid beforecounsel in London in order to obtain an opinion on its legal aspect.
The case drawn up by him was as follows:
1. There was a betrothal between the two parties A. (standing for LordFylingdale) and B. (standing for Molly).
2. It is not denied that a private marriage had been agreed upon byboth parties.
3. The marriage was to take place on a certain morning at the time ofsix at a certain church. B. undertook to wear a certain pink silkcloak with a hood drawn over her head, and a domino to conceal herface, so that the people of the town should not recognise her andcrowd into the church.
4. At the appointed hour of six A. presented himself at the church.
5. At the same hour a woman also presented herself dressed as had beenarranged, wearing a domino to prevent recognition in the street, and acloak of pink silk with a hood.
6. The marriage ceremony was performed by a clergyman in due form andon the production of a licence by A.
7. The marriage was duly entered in the register and signed, the womansigning in the name of B.
8. There was present at the wedding, besides the clergyman, the parishclerk, who gave away the bride, read the responses, and signed aswitness.
9. Part of the ceremony, including the essential words, was witnessedby one John Pentecrosse, mate of _The Lady of Lynn_.
10. Since A. had no reason to suppose that B. would not keep herpromise, it would seem impossible for him to have found at the lastmoment some other woman to personate B.
This was the case for A., put as strongly and as plainly as possible.I confess that when I read it I was staggered by the case--especiallythat of the last clause. Certainly, as I had not delivered Molly'sletter, A. had no reason for supposing that B. would fail to keep herpromise, and therefore no reason for suborning some other woman into aconspiracy.
However, then followed Molly's case.
1. She had accepted A.'s offer of marriage.
2. She had promised to meet A. at 6 A.M.
3. She had received the evening before this promise was to be keptinformation which represented A. in a light that made it impossiblefor a virtuous woman to marry him.
4. This information was embodied in three letters addressedrespectively to the vicar, to the schoolmaster and to Captain Crowle.They can be produced on evidence.
5. On receipt of this information she wrote a letter to A. statingthat she must have full explanation as to the charges brought againsthim before proceeding further in the business.
6. This letter was not delivered, the bearer having his mind full ofother points connected with the affair.
7. At half-past five B. left her room and joined her mother in certainhousehold work. Nor did she leave her mother during the morning. Thisfact is attested by the mother and a certain black woman, B.'sservant.
8. The only way out of the house into the street is by the garden.Captain Crowle was walking in the garden from half-past five tillseven and saw no one leave the house.
9. At seven or thereabouts the musicians, with the butchers, arrivedto congratulate the bride, and were sent away by Captain Crowle.
10. Later on, A.'s secretary arrived with a message from A. He wasinformed by B. that no marriage had taken place.
11. Captain Crowle then waited on A. and demanded explanation. Hereceived answer that having married the lady, A. was not called uponto give any explanations.
12. In the evening, before the whole company at the assembly, thevicar charged A. with many acts unworthy of a man of honour, and,among other things, with having conspired with a woman unknown topersonate B., and to set up the pretence of a marriage.
Opinion was asked as to the position of B. Would she be considered inthe eyes of the law as a married woman? Had A. any rights over her orover her property? Could she marry another man? What steps should shetake to protect herself and her property? Observe, that unless B.could be declared not to be the wife of A. she could not alienate,give away, or part with any of her property; she could not marry; shewas doomed to be a wife at the mercy of a man more pitiless than atiger, yet not a wife, for she would die rather than marry him. Shemust wait until heaven should take pity upon her and despatch thisman. Such men, it is observed, do never live long, but they may livelong enough to inflict irreparable mischief upon their unfortunatevictims.
Molly read the case thus drawn up very carefully. "My only trust," shesaid, "is in the evidence of mother and Nigra. I confess that I cannotunderstand how, without knowing that I should fail, he could possiblyprocure that woman to personate me. Has he the power of workingmiracles?"
"There is no miracle here," I said, "except the miracle of wickednessgreater than would be thought possible. Patience, Molly! Sooner orlater we shall find it out."
"It will be later, I fear."
"There are three at least in the plot. The clerk has been deceived;Sam Semple has not been consulted. These are the three--LordFylingdale, the parson, who is, doubtless, well paid for his villainy,and the woman, whoever she may be. We shall find out the truth throughthe woman."
"Since his marriage would give him the command of my property, Jack,and since he was ruined, why does he make no sign?"
This was a week or two after the event. I suppose that Lord Fylingdalewas making himself assured as to the strength of his position and hisrights. However, we were not to wait very long.
"I am of opinion," said the vicar, after many discussions on the casethus drawn out, "that we should lay the facts before some counsellearned in the law, and ascertain our position. If we are to contestthe claim in court, we have, at least, the money to spend upon it."
"We will spend," said the captain, "our last penny upon it." He meantthe last penny of his ward's fortune, in which, as you will hear, hewas quite wrong, because he had now no power to spend any of it.
It was, therefore, determined that the vicar should undertake thejourney to London; that my father should accompany him; that theyshould not only obtain the advice and opinion of a lawyer, but thatthey should ascertain, through the bookseller, my father's cousin, orany other person, what they could concerning the private life of hislordship. "There is no saying what we may discover," said the vicar."How, if there is another wife still living? Even a noble lord cannothave two wives at the same time."
It seems strange that one must make greater preparations for a journeyto London by land than a voyage to Lisbon by sea. As regards thelatter, my kit is put together in an hour or two, and I am then readyto embark. But as regards the former, these two travellers firstconsidered the easiest way; then the cost of the journey, and that oftheir stay in London; then the departure of others, so as to form acompany against highway robbers; they then arranged for the haltingand resting-places; hired their horses, for they were to ride all theway; engaged a servant; made their wills, and so at last were ready tobegin the journey. Their company consisted of two or three riders tomerchants of London, who travel all over the country visiting theshop-keepers in the interests of their masters. They are excellentfellow-travellers, being accustomed to the road, having no fear ofhighwaymen, knowing the proper charges that should be made at theroadside inns, and knowing, as well, what each house can be besttrusted to provide, the ho
me brewed ale being good at one house, andthe wine at another--and so forth. They reckoned five days for thejourney if the weather continued fine--it was then July, and theheight of summer. The vicar thought that perhaps a week or ten dayswould suffice for their business in town, and therefore we mightexpect them back in three weeks. Captain Crowle would have gone withthem, but was fearful of losing his ward. For the first time in hislife he barred and bolted his doors at night, and if he went abroad heleft his house in the custody of his gardener, a stout country lad whowould make a sturdy fight in case of any attempt at violence. Butviolence was not a weapon which was in favour with his lordship. Andif it had been, the whole town would have risen in defence of Molly.
For three weeks, therefore, we waited. I, for my part, in greateranxiety than the rest, because my ship had now received her cargo, andI feared that we should have to weigh anchor and slip down the riverbefore the return of our messengers. And at this time when we knew notwhat would happen or what we should do many wild schemes came into myhead. We would carry the girl away; we would foreclose her mortgages,sell her lands, and carry her fortune with her; we would sail in oneof her own ships across the Atlantic and make a new home for her inthe American colonies. However, in the end we had, as you shall learn,to accept misfortune and to resign ourselves to what promised to be alifelong penalty inflicted for no sins of Molly's--who was as freefrom sin as any woman, not a saint, can hope to be--but by thewickedness of a man whose life and ways were far removed from Molly,and might have been supposed to be incapable of afflicting her in anyway.
Our friends, therefore, started on their journey, arriving in due timeat London, when they began their business without delay. Briefly, theywere recommended to a very learned counsel, old, and in greatpractice, whose opinions were more highly valued than those perhaps ofany other lawyer. He was avaricious, and it was necessary to pay him avery handsome fee before he would consider the case. When he acceptedthe fee he gave it his most careful consideration. His opinion was asfollows:
"The fact that there was a marriage between A. and some woman--B. oranother--is undoubted. The evidence of the parish clerk may be setaside except to prove this fact, because it does not appear that thebride removed her domino. It might, however, become a part of B.'scase that the clergyman did not witness the removal of the domino.What the clerk saw was a woman dressed in a pink silk cloak with ahood over her head, and a domino concealing her face, who signed thename of Mary Miller. For the same reason the evidence of JohnPentecrosse rests only on the dress of the bride, and may therefore betaken as worth that and no more.
"At the same time the dress of the bride is important. A. had nointimation of B.'s refusal to keep her promise. At six o'clock, as isallowed, he presented himself. If B. was not there, how should he beable, at a moment's notice, to procure a woman to personate her,wearing a cloak of the same colour as B.'s, and ready to sign her namefalsely? The theory is impossible, for it demands a whole chain offortuitous occurrences and coincidences, as that A. should find awoman of abandoned character accidentally near the church, ready tocommit this crime, dressed as B. was expected to dress, and consideredworthy of trust with so great a secret. On the other hand we haveevidences of an apparently conclusive kind. B.'s guardian, who wastaking the morning air in his garden, says positively that no one leftthe house. B.'s mother and her black servant declare that B. was inthe kitchen with them all the morning. This, I say, seems at firstconclusive. But the court would probably hold that a mother's evidenceis likely to be in the supposed interests of her child, while anegress would be expected, if she were attached to her mistress, togive any evidence that she thought likely to be of service or wasdirected to give.
"The case is remarkable, and, so far as I know, without precedent. Itis supported on either side by flat assertions which are either trueor deliberate perjuries. As regards the bad character of A., I thinkit would have very little weight. Setting aside, that is, his evilreputation, which might perhaps taint his evidence, and also settingaside the partiality of a mother, which might also, perhaps, taint herevidence, we have the broad and simple facts that A. had no warning ofB.'s intention to keep away; that he presented himself according toarrangement; that he was met by a woman dressed exactly as had beenarranged with B.; that they were married; and that the register wassigned by the woman in the name of B.
"I am of opinion, therefore, that if this case is brought into courtthere will be pleadings on either side of great interest, and that thecourt will decide in favour of A.; that if the case goes up for appealit will again be decided in favour of A.; and that if the case weretaken up to the lords that court would also decide in favour of A.
"If action is taken it must be at the cost and charge of the guardian,because the lady's property, in default of settlements, would, in theevent which I think probable, fall into the hands of A. thus adjudgedto be her husband.
"I advise, therefore, that submission be made to A.; that even thoughB. continues to deny the marriage, A. shall be invited to make her asuitable provision and shall undertake not to molest her or to compelher to leave her guardian and to live with him."
With this opinion to guide him, the vicar wrote to Lord Fylingdaleasking for an interview.
He was received with a show of cold politeness. "You have given mereason, sir, to remember your face. However, I pass over the injurieswhich you allowed yourself to utter. You are come, I presume, in thename of my unfortunate wife, who, for some reason unknown to me,denies her own marriage. Well, sir, your message?"
"My message, my lord, is briefly this. We have taken counsel's opinionon this business."
"So have I."
"It is, on the whole, to the effect that if we dispute your lordship'sclaims we shall probably lose."
"My own counsel is also of that opinion."
"For my own part I shall advise my friends to accept what seemsimpossible to deny."
"You will do well. I shall be pleased, I confess, to see the businesssettled without taking it into court."
"I should like, if possible, to carry home with me some concessions ofyour lordship in response to this submission."
"What concessions? It seems to me that the countess has no right toinsist upon any concession. The whole of her property, as you know, ismy own."
"I fear that is the case."
"I shall probably make certain changes in the administration of theproperty, now my property. I shall relieve the worthy captain of itscontrol. As regards any other point you must acknowledge that you havetreated me with insults intolerable; you are not in a position to maketerms. But what do you ask?"
"First, freedom from personal molestation."
"That is granted at once. You may tell the countess that on noconsideration will I see her, nor shall I exercise any marital rights.When she consents to confess her falsehood, and to ask pardon for heroffences, I may perhaps extend my personal protection, not otherwise."
"As for her allowance--her maintenance?"
"Your reverence is not serious. She says that she is not my wife. Thelaw says, or, is prepared to say, that she is. By the law I amcompelled to maintain her. Let her, therefore, invoke the interventionof the law. To procure this she will have to confess her manyperjuries. Till then, nothing. Do you understand, sir? Nothing."
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