"What, unmarried!" exclaimed the priest, with an affected look of horror. "That cannot be; that cannot be. I _must_ marry you, by Jove, to prevent scandal." "Exactly," replied Smeaton, with a smile. "That is in reality my object. We can be married as soon as we reach Nancy; but I think, on every account, it would be better that the ceremony should be performed before we set out." "Oh, certainly, certainly," replied Doctor Thickett. "Let me look at that paper again. I want to see how the case stands." Pushing the punch away from him, he examined the paper accurately, and at length, lifting his eyes, said: "You are, then, the Earl of Eskdale?" "He is none other, upon my say-so," chimed in Van Noost; "and, as we cannot cast many men out of one mould, as we cast statues, I will answer for it that there is not a copy of him extant." The priest, however, was deeply cogitating the contents of the paper. "This does not exactly say you are to marry her," he observed at length; "but, as it tells the young lady that, in perfect confidence of your honour and integrity, she is to do whatever you direct, I suppose we must take the consent for implied. Well, that is got over. Now then, the thing is, how to manage it. I don't care a rush for Sir John Newark; but I think _you_ will find him difficult to manage. How will you ever smuggle her out of the house, and up here to the church, between the hours of eight and twelve?" "I am afraid," replied Smeaton, "that the church must not be the place, and the hour somewhat different." "But, my good Lord, my good Lord," said Parson Thickett, "the canon. You forget the canon. Canon one hundred and four. Why, I should be punished, and you might be punished, too, by the act affecting clandestine marriages." "Which take place every day notwithstanding," added Smeaton. "Ay, ay, by Hedge parsons, Mayfair parsons, and Fleet parsons, but not by a regular Doctor of Divinity. Why, I might be suspended for six months from the execution of my office, and I am not sure that they would not touch the temporalities. As for the office, deuce take it. I don't care much for that. I want a trip to London, and that would give me a holiday." "Pray, how much might be the value in money of your loss, if suspended?" asked Smeaton. "Why, the matter of well nigh fifty good pounds," replied the parson; "and that is a mat sum to risk." "It is," assented the young nobleman; "but there is a way of insuring you against risk, my reverend friend. Suppose that, the moment you have concluded the marriage ceremony, I put into your hand this little rouleau, containing one hundred golden guineas of the late queen. You would be sure enough then. Moreover, the marriage need not be published immediately in this country; and, even if it were, I believe that none but the lady's lawful guardian could move in the business against you."