“Your course in that affair needs no excuse, but rather the gratitude of all who are interested in Lady Elfrida,” said Mr. Force.
“I thank you, sir. I did indeed act in the interest of the young lady. I went to Scotland with the young pair and saw them properly married, in the parlor of the manse, by the minister, at Kilton, Dumfries, North Briton; and in addition to the certificate given to the bride, I took a duplicate, duly signed and witnessed, because I thought it just possible the young lady might mislay or lose her lines.”
“You are sure that the place at which you stopped for the marriage was Kilton, in Scotland, and not Kelton, a few miles south in England?” inquired Mr. Force.
Anglesea lifted his eyes from the paper in his hand and looked at the questioner with surprise.
“They are so near together on the same line, and the sound of the names are so similar, that the mistake might easily have been made—on a night journey,” Mr. Force explained.
“It might, but it was not. Here is the certificate. Will you examine it?” said the general, laying the document before the squire.
Sure enough, there was the printed heading:
Parish of Kilton, Dumfries, N. B.
And then followed the date and the record of the marriage between Luigi Saviola, of Naples, Italy, and Elfrida Glennon, of Northumberland, England, signed by the minister and attested by two witnesses.
Abel Force heaved so deep a sigh of relief that Lord Enderby bent toward him and inquired: