THE OPINION OF COUNSEL
Meantime we waited expectant, and in uncertainty. It was possible that
the pretended husband would withdraw his claims and that nothing more
would be heard of him. It was possible, I say, if we supposed the
pretender capable of honour, shame, or of pride, that he would say, in
so many words: "You deny the marriage; very well, I will not claim a
wife who says that she is no wife." It was, however, far more probable
that he would claim his wife and exercise his rights over her
property. What should then be done?
The subject exercised the "Society" greatly; every evening the
situation was considered from all possible points of view, and always
as to the best manner of protecting Molly. It was at this time that
the vicar wrote out the statement which he afterwards laid before
counsel 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 Lord
Fylingdale) and B. (standing for Molly).
2. It is not denied that a private marriage had been agreed upon by
both parties.
3. The marriage was to take place on a certain morning at the time of
six at a certain church. B. undertook to wear a certain pink silk
cloak with a hood drawn over her head, and a domino to conceal her
face, so that the people of the town should not recognise her and
crowd 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 been
arranged, wearing a domino to prevent recognition in the street, and a
cloak of pink silk with a hood.
6. The marriage ceremony was performed by a clergyman in due form and
on the production of a licence by A.
7. The marriage was duly entered in the register and signed, the woman
signing in the name of B.
8. There was present at the wedding, besides the clergyman, the parish
clerk, who gave away the bride, read the responses, and signed as
witness.
9. Part of the ceremony, including the essential words, was witnessed
by one John Pentecrosse, mate of _The Lady of Lynn_.
10. Since A. had no reason to suppose that B. would not keep her
promise, it would seem impossible for him to have found at the last
moment 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--especially
that of the last clause. Certainly, as I had not delivered Molly's
letter, A. had no reason for supposing that B. would fail to keep her
promise, and therefore no reason for suborning some other woman into a
conspiracy.
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 kept
information which represented A. in a light that made it impossible
for a virtuous woman to marry him.
4. This information was embodied in three letters addressed
respectively 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. stating
that she must have full explanation as to the charges brought against
him before proceeding further in the business.
6. This letter was not delivered, the bearer having his mind full of
other points connected with the affair.
7. At half-past five B. left her room and joined her mother in certain
household work. Nor did she leave her mother during the morning. This
fact is attested by the mother and a certain black woman, B.'s
servant.
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 till
seven and saw no one leave the house.
9. At seven or thereabouts the musicians, with the butchers, arrived
to congratulate the bride, and were sent away by Captain Crowle.
10. Later on, A.'s secretary arrived with a message from A. He was
informed by B. that no marriage had taken place.
11. Captain Crowle then waited on A. and demanded explanation. He
received answer that having married the lady, A. was not called upon
to give any explanations.
12. In the evening, before the whole company at the assembly, the
vicar charged A. with many acts unworthy of a man of honour, and,
among other things, with having conspired with a woman unknown to
personate B., and to set up the pretence of a marriage.
Opinion was asked as to the position of B. Would she be considered in
the eyes of the law as a married woman? Had A. any rights over her or
over her property? Could she marry another man? What steps should she
take 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; she
was doomed to be a wife at the mercy of a man more pitiless than a
tiger, yet not a wife, for she would die rather than marry him. She
must wait until heaven should take pity upon her and despatch this
man. Such men, it is observed, do never live long, but they may live
long enough to inflict irreparable mischief upon their unfortunate
victims.
Molly read the case thus drawn up very carefully. "My only trust," she
said, "is in the evidence of mother and Nigra. I confess that I cannot
understand how, without knowing that I should fail, he could possibly
procure that woman to personate me. Has he the power of working
miracles?"
"There is no miracle here," I said, "except the miracle of wickedness
greater than would be thought possible. Patience, Molly! Sooner or
later 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--Lord
Fylingdale, the parson, who is, doubtless, well paid for his villainy,
and the woman, whoever she may be. We shall find out the truth through
the 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 Fylingdale
was making himself assured as to the strength of his position and his
rights. However, we were not to wait very long.
"I am of opinion," said the vicar, after many discussions on the case
thus drawn out, "that we should lay the facts before some counsel
learned in the law, and ascertain our position. If we are to contest
the 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 meant
the last penny of his ward's fortune, in which, as you will hear, he
was quite wrong, because he had now no power to spend any of it.
It was, therefore, determined that the vicar should undertake the
journey to London; that my father should accompany him; that they
should not only obtain the advice and opinion of a lawyer, but that
they should ascertain, through the bookseller, my father's cousin, or
any other person, what they could concerning the private life of his
lordship. "There is no saying what we may discover," said the vicar.
"How, if there is another wife still living? Even a noble lord cannot
have two wives at the same time."
It seems strange that one must make greater preparations for a journey
to London by land than a voyage to Lisbon by sea. As regards the
latter, my kit is put together in an hour or two, and I am then ready
to embark. But as regards the former, these two travellers first
considered the easiest way; then the cost of the journey, and that of
their stay in London; then the departure of others, so as to form a
company against highway robbers; they then arranged for the halting
and resting-places; hired their horses, for they were to ride all the
way; engaged a servant; made their wills, and so at last were ready to
begin the journey. Their company consisted of two or three riders to
merchants of London, who travel all over the country visiting the
shop-keepers in the interests of their masters. They are excellent
fellow-travellers, being accustomed to the road, having no fear of
highwaymen, knowing the proper charges that should be made at the
roadside inns, and knowing, as well, what each house can be best
trusted to provide, the home brewed ale being good at one house, and
the wine at another--and so forth. They reckoned five days for the
journey if the weather continued fine--it was then July, and the
height of summer. The vicar thought that perhaps a week or ten days
would suffice for their business in town, and therefore we might
expect them back in three weeks. Captain Crowle would have gone with
them, but was fearful of losing his ward. For the first time in his
life he barred and bolted his doors at night, and if he went abroad he
left his house in the custody of his gardener, a stout country lad who
would make a sturdy fight in case of any attempt at violence. But
violence was not a weapon which was in favour with his lordship. And
if it had been, the whole town would have risen in defence of Molly.
For three weeks, therefore, we waited. I, for my part, in greater
anxiety than the rest, because my ship had now received her cargo, and
I feared that we should have to weigh anchor and slip down the river
before the return of our messengers. And at this time when we knew not
what would happen or what we should do many wild schemes came into my
head. We would carry the girl away; we would foreclose her mortgages,
sell her lands, and carry her fortune with her; we would sail in one
of her own ships across the Atlantic and make a new home for her in
the American colonies. However, in the end we had, as you shall learn,
to accept misfortune and to resign ourselves to what promised to be a
lifelong penalty inflicted for no sins of Molly's--who was as free
from sin as any woman, not a saint, can hope to be--but by the
wickedness of a man whose life and ways were far removed from Molly,
and might have been supposed to be incapable of afflicting her in any
way.
Our friends, therefore, started on their journey, arriving in due time
at London, when they began their business without delay. Briefly, they
were recommended to a very learned counsel, old, and in great
practice, whose opinions were more highly valued than those perhaps of
any other lawyer. He was avaricious, and it was necessary to pay him a
very handsome fee before he would consider the case. When he accepted
the fee he gave it his most careful consideration. His opinion was as
follows:
"The fact that there was a marriage between A. and some woman--B. or
another--is undoubted. The evidence of the parish clerk may be set
aside except to prove this fact, because it does not appear that the
bride removed her domino. It might, however, become a part of B.'s
case 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 a
hood over her head, and a domino concealing her face, who signed the
name of Mary Miller. For the same reason the evidence of John
Pentecrosse rests only on the dress of the bride, and may therefore be
taken as worth that and no more.
"At the same time the dress of the bride is important. A. had no
intimation of B.'s refusal to keep her promise. At six o'clock, as is
allowed, he presented himself. If B. was not there, how should he be
able, 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 name
falsely? The theory is impossible, for it demands a whole chain of
fortuitous occurrences and coincidences, as that A. should find a
woman of abandoned character accidentally near the church, ready to
commit this crime, dressed as B. was expected to dress, and considered
worthy of trust with so great a secret. On the other hand we have
evidences of an apparently conclusive kind. B.'s guardian, who was
taking the morning air in his garden, says positively that no one left
the house. B.'s mother and her black servant declare that B. was in
the kitchen with them all the morning. This, I say, seems at first
conclusive. But the court would probably hold that a mother's evidence
is likely to be in the supposed interests of her child, while a
negress would be expected, if she were attached to her mistress, to
give any evidence that she thought likely to be of service or was
directed to give.
"The case is remarkable, and, so far as I know, without precedent. It
is supported on either side by flat assertions which are either true
or deliberate perjuries. As regards the bad character of A., I think
it would have very little weight. Setting aside, that is, his evil
reputation, which might perhaps taint his evidence, and also setting
aside the partiality of a mother, which might also, perhaps, taint her
evidence, we have the broad and simple facts that A. had no warning of
B.'s intention to keep away; that he presented himself according to
arrangement; that he was met by a woman dressed exactly as had been
arranged with B.; that they were married; and that the register was
signed by the woman in the name of B.
"I am of opinion, therefore, that if this case is brought into court
there will be pleadings on either side of great interest, and that the
court will decide in favour of A.; that if the case goes up for appeal
it will again be decided in favour of A.; and that if the case were
taken 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 the
event which I think probable, fall into the hands of A. thus adjudged
to be her husband.
"I advise, therefore, that submission be made to A.; that even though
B. continues to deny the marriage, A. shall be invited to make her a
suitable provision and shall undertake not to molest her or to compel
her to leave her guardian and to live with him."
With this opinion to guide him, the vicar wrote to Lord Fylingdale
asking for an interview.
He was received with a show of cold politeness. "You have given me
reason, sir, to remember your face. However, I pass over the injuries
which you allowed yourself to utter. You are come, I presume, in the
name 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 opinion
on this business."
"So have I."
"It is, on the whole, to the effect that if we dispute your lordship's
claims we shall probably lose."
"My own counsel is also of that opinion."
"For my own part I shall advise my friends to accept what seems
impossible to deny."
"You will do well. I shall be pleased, I confess, to see the business
settled without taking it into court."
"I should like, if possible, to carry home with me some concessions of
your lordship in response to this submission."
"What concessions? It seems to me that the countess has no right to
insist upon any concession. The whole of her property, as you know, is
my own."
"I fear that is the case."
"I shall probably make certain changes in the administration of the
property, now my property. I shall relieve the worthy captain of its
control. As regards any other point you must acknowledge that you have
treated me with insults intolerable; you are not in a position to make
terms. But what do you ask?"
"First, freedom from personal molestation."
"That is granted at once. You may tell the countess that on no
consideration will I see her, nor shall I exercise any marital rights.
When she consents to confess her falsehood, and to ask pardon for her
offences, 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. The
law says, or, is prepared to say, that she is. By the law I am
compelled to maintain her. Let her, therefore, invoke the intervention
of the law. To procure this she will have to confess her many
perjuries. Till then, nothing. Do you understand, sir? Nothing."