It was the marriage certificate which the old rector had given Marion on the evening of her marriage.
He laughed long, loud, and scornfully as he saw it.
“I always thought Austin Osgood carried matters a little too far when he dared to sign the old rector’s name to a real marriage certificate, and give it to Marion. But I suppose it made it seem more real to the girl, only I wonder at her keeping the useless paper after she discovered the fraud. As for Austin, I told you before, I never saw him again. Perhaps he, also, thought he had gone too far in the matter, and was afraid he might be overhauled for forgery.”
Earle did not make any reply to these remarks; he merely returned the certificate to the cardboard pocket and took up another paper.
“Here is some information that I stumbled upon purely by accident—no, I should not say that,” he added, in a reverent tone; “I ought to say, a Divine Providence led me to it. Shall I read it to you, or will you read it for yourself? It is very closely connected with that little drama in St. John’s Chapel at Winchelsea.”
Mr. Dalton moved uneasily in his chair. Somehow the words of this grave, calm young man, with his self-contained bearing, and a suspicion of great reserve force about him, made him feel as if he might have the advantage in his hands.
He began to fear that those papers might contain something very disagreeable, and something that had been reserved especially for him.
What could Earle Wayne have been searching for him for during all these years?
Surely not merely to acquaint him with the fact that he knew he was the illegitimate son of himself and Marion Vance.
But he held out his hand for the paper, preferring to read it for himself.