"What!" Lemby rose with a dazed air, scarcely believing his ears.
"To his wife. To Lady Wyke." The lawyer smiled grimly.
[CHAPTER IX.]
Having in his adventurous life become accustomed to unexpected surprises, Lemby was rarely startled, and frequently boasted that nothing could astonish him. But on this occasion he was not only astonished but enraged. At the outset he blankly refused to believe the lawyer.
"You are talking nonsense," he declared, roughly. "How could Wyke have a wife when he was engaged to be married to my daughter?"
"That is a fair question, which I shall endeavour to answer fairly," replied Mr. Sandal, ignoring the crudity of speech. "Sir Hector, it appears, was married some twenty years ago to an actress. They did not get on well together, and parted by mutual consent. Lady Wyke, under her stage name of Miss Maisie Chain, went to America, and, after a long silence, news came to Sir Hector that she had perished in a theatre fire at Chicago. He quite believed that he was a widower, and therefore felt himself at liberty to propose to Miss Lemby."
"It's all nonsense," repeated the pirate, furiously.
"Well, I don't wonder at your saying so," said Sandal, calmly. "I was surprised myself when Lady Wyke turned up again. She has altered little."
"Oh! So you have seen her before!"
"Yes. I have been Sir Hector's lawyer for many years, as we were at school together and have always been friends. When he wished to marry Miss Chain I tried to persuade him not to, but he was wilful, and persisted in doing so. As I foretold, the match turned out to be an unhappy one. When Sir Hector came to me with the news that Lady Wyke was dead, I congratulated him on his release. She was a very determined and trying woman."