“I have been patient for three long years, only to be grievously disappointed at the end!” bitterly exclaimed the boy.
“Come, Le, listen to my plan. You know that we are all invited over to England to pay a long-promised visit to my brother-in-law, the Earl of Enderby. You know that you and Odalite were to have gone there after your marriage tour to join us at Castle Enderby.”
“And that plan has all fallen through with the rest,” complained Le.
“Not entirely, my boy. You cannot have a honeymoon anywhere just now. But we can go abroad together, and spend the summer in England. We can take advantage of our visit to investigate the particulars of Lady Mary Anglesea’s death. If we find that she died previous to the marriage of that villain with the Widow Wright, then was that marriage legal, and Mrs. Ann Anglesea is Angus Anglesea’s lawful wife, and our Odalite is free. If this should be the case, Le, I would offer no obstacle, suggest no delay, to your immediate marriage. By the way, Le, was that file of the Times you spoke of a complete one?”
“Oh, no, sir. Nor could I find a complete file in the city. From Mr. Herbert’s file the twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth and thirtieth of August were missing, and there was no notice of Lady Mary Anglesea’s death in any that remained.”
“Well, we can find a perfect file in London. We can also find the Anglesea parish register, and possibly some monument or tablet or memorial window of the deceased lady which will give us the true date of her death. We cannot possibly fail to find it, Le. We shall be sure to do so. And if the discovery proves Odalite to be free, you shall have her the next hour, or as soon as a minister can be found to marry you.”
“And, on the other hand, uncle, if the facts do not show her to be legally free, still you will never, never yield her to that man?” anxiously persisted Le.
“I have told you no—never! I would see her dead first. Be assured of that. Why, Le, that scoundrel knows that he can never touch a hair of my daughter’s head.”
“Then why did he enact the villainy of last night and this morning if it were not in the hope of getting her into his possession?” demanded the youth.
“He acted from a low malice, to annoy us; if possible, to humiliate us. He knew that that was all he could do, and he did it. There, Le. There is your car, and the other young folks are going to board it. Follow them, my boy.”