“I shall be if the British Consul or acting-Consul is present, and registers the marriage,” said Maurice. “The Professor has been looking it up. Now, Wylie, this is where you come in. We want you to get round your friend Sir Frank Francis. The best of it is”—Maurice’s voice became unsteady—“that if the Ladoguins have told him anything about Eirene’s disappearance, he’ll suspect you of having carried her off, and of wanting his kind offices for yourself. So the first thing you’ll have to do will be to disabuse his mind on that point. Then you must swear him to secrecy, and tell him the real state of the case. Tell him nothing would have induced us to patronise the rival establishment if we hadn’t felt certain that, if we came to him, his conscience would have driven him to give Ladoguin an opportunity of forbidding the banns. As it is, he is only asked to attend at the Dacian church and Consulate, and register the marriage of a British subject in the usual way. If he feels that even that is too much, ask him to take a day off, and appoint his chief clerk acting-Consul for the occasion.”
“But if he won’t, what is to happen?” said Zoe.
“Why, we should have to escape in a half-married condition, and find a less Scythia-ridden British Consul. But Wylie must put things so movingly that he won’t have the heart to refuse. After all, I am the head of Eirene’s family, and who has the right to arrange for her marriage if I haven’t? And if I choose to marry her myself, instead of handing her over to some one else, and she doesn’t object, who has any right to prevent me?”
“All very well,” said Wylie. “It sounds most logical and convincing, but you know there are a good many people who both could and would prevent you. Don’t be afraid; I’ll exhaust my eloquence on Sir Frank, and if nothing else will bring him, I’ll persuade him it’s his duty to be present to make sure that I am not marrying the Princess after all. Well, consider the ceremony safely accomplished. What next?”
“Next we are to be very snobbish, and send detailed announcements of our marriage—showing that it means the union of the elder and younger branches of the descendants of John Theophanis—to the principal papers of the world. Also, Eirene is to announce it to the various royalties whose acquaintance she enjoys.”
“And where are you to be when the announcement bursts upon the universe?”
“At home, I hope, for our honeymoon. The Professor seems inclined to allow us a breathing-space. I can’t quite make out what he’s up to, but apparently he thinks of nothing at present but getting the wedding over. I fancy winter is a close time in Emathia, too. I should like to show Stone Acton to Eirene, and we should be out of the way until the fuss had blown over.”
“Well, I hope you mean to apply for police protection,” growled Wylie.
“Or import a detachment of Pinkerton men from America to garrison the house, with instructions to shoot at sight any foreigner who appears in the village,” suggested Zoe.
“And what next?” persisted Wylie.