"But her joke was so deep and earnest that she made it the only condition upon which she would marry you at all, you say?"
"Yes, sir."
"And did you comply with that condition?"
"Yes, sir. Sooner than lose her I complied with that wicked condition. It did not seem wicked to me then. It only seemed foolish and purposeless. And, besides, I firmly believe I was half crazy at that time."
"Quite likely," said Mr. Berners, dryly. "What followed?"
"Well, sir, and gentlemen, we drove to the rectory. She took a blank card out of her pocket and with a pencil wrote Mr. Alden Lytton's name on it, and told me to send that in to the rector as if it were my own. When I looked at the name on the card, I exclaimed how much it looked like Mr. Lytton's own handwriting; and she said so much the better."
Again, at these words, a murmur of indignation ran through the court-room, which was, however, instantly suppressed, as every one wished to hear every word uttered by this witness.
He continued:
"I rang the bell at the rectory, and sent the card in by the servant who came to open the door. Presently I was invited into the rector's study. He addressed me as Mr. Lytton, and wanted to know how he could serve me. Then I told him what I had come for. And he consented to perform the marriage ceremony, but said that he must do it in the church, which was just next door to the rectory. I went back to the carriage for Mary—"
"Meaning Mrs. Grey?"