On ordinary occasions of neighborly visiting for so short a distance as that between the parsonage and the Hall the curate and his wife and daughter would have walked, but with such—to them—grand toilets, the two women required a carriage, which now, with his improved prospects, Mr. Campbell could well afford.
So a passing boy was called from the road and dispatched to the Red Fox to engage Nahum with his mare “Miss Nancy,” and the nondescript vehicle called by the proprietor a “fly,” by the curate a “carryall,” and by the village boys a “shandy-ray-dan.”
At precisely six o’clock this imposing conveyance was at the gate of the parsonage waiting for the parson and his party.
Meanwhile, at Haymore Hall, preparations were completed for the reception of the most incompatible company that ever could be gathered together.
Let us take a look at the people in the house and at the guests they were expecting
First, as to the inmates, there were Ran and Judy—Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Hay—their solicitor, Mr. Will Walling; their brother, young Michael Man; the hunter, Samson Longman, and the old miner, Andrew Quin.
The three last-mentioned men—Man, Longman and Quin—could all swear to the identity of the squire in possession as the real Mr. Randolph Hay, and to the fraudulent claimant as an adventurer known to them by the name of Geoffrey Delamere and the nickname of Gentleman Geff.
To this party was coming Mr. and Mrs. Campbell and their daughter, Mrs. Montgomery, who could all testify to the identity of the same fraudulent claimant and bigamous bridegroom, as an ex-captain of foot in her majesty’s service, whom they had known and who had married Jennie Campbell under his real name of Kightly Montgomery.
And also Mr. and Mrs. John Legg, who could certainly point out the deceived “bride,” the so-called Mrs. Randolph Hay, once called Miss Lamia Leegh, as their daughter, Lydia Legg, and the clerical impostor, the Rev. Cassius Leegh, as their son Clay Legg.
All these hosts and guests would make up the receiving party who, at eight o’clock that evening, would be waiting to welcome Gentleman Geff, his lady and her brother.