“Oh, that’s it. You don’t believe a word I have been saying, then?”
“I believe all you have said, but I tell you again, I should be much more satisfied if you would bring with you the marriage certificate when you next call. Now do you understand?”
“Of course I understand, as far as it goes. Well, I’m blest if this aint a new start.”
“Well, never mind. Let it be for the present. I will explain more fully when we next meet. Now go, for I am perishing with cold.”
The gipsy bade his companion good night, and left the house without further ado.
CHAPTER XCIII.
THE UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY—HUSBAND AND WIFE.
Mr. William Rawton, after he left the doctor’s establishment, betook himself to a common lodging-house, where he slept for the remainder of the night.
He had found a friend, it is true, and the assistance afforded him was most welcome, as it saved him from perishing from actual want and privation; but the more he considered the matter over, the more puzzled he was to account for Dr. Bourne’s manner and demeanour. That there was something beneath the surface Bill had guessed long before he took his departure from his patron’s house. What that something was he could not possibly divine or even guess.
The thought crossed the gipsy’s mind that the certificate of his marriage was wanted to prove his (the gipsy’s) identity, and possibly criminal proceedings would follow.