“Lord, we didn’t mean to wait for the last minnit, when the ceremony was over, but to stop it at the very beginning, where the parson asks, ‘if any one knows just cause,’ you know. But that consarned beast of an old mule of Miss Sibby’s wouldn’t make time. There, that’s all!”
At this moment a note was brought in and handed to Mrs. Force.
She opened it, and read:
“Notwithstanding all seeming proof, I solemnly swear to you that I never was married to the woman Wright; that I was free to contract matrimony when I married your daughter, and that she is my lawful wife. I must see you alone, when I will prove this to your satisfaction.
A. A.”
CHAPTER XXV
THE GUEST SHOCKS HER HOST
Mrs. Force turned pale as death while she read the note. When she finished it, she stooped forward and dropped it into the red heart of the coal fire.