"Yes," said Curtis, with the judicial nod of a man who states a comparatively obvious fact.
"Have you that license?"
"No."
"Where is it?"
"Reposing in the writing-desk of the Rev. Thomas J. Hughes, a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church, who lives in 56th Street, near Seventh Avenue."
"And what is it doing there, pray?"
"I used it. I have married Lady Hermione Grandison."
Steingall permitted himself the rare luxury of a semi-hysterical break in his voice.
"What!" he cried. "Is she the daughter of the Earl of Valletort?"
"Precisely, though you astonish me by the ease with which you connect two such widely different names. Such knowledge usually implies a close acquaintance with the amiable foibles of the British aristocracy."