“Some days since, I happened to open a drawer which had been unopened for a long time, and hidden under a lot of other documents I found the diary which you entrusted to me. The sight of the manuscript reminded me of you and your missing cousin; so I suppose it was only natural that I should turn over the pages,--not in the hope of finding any new meaning in them, however, for I had studied them too carefully for that. I turned them over, and while debating the question of a mock marriage, the thought suddenly flashed upon me that it would be at least very easy to ascertain if any genuine ceremonial had taken place in London. Remember, Mr. Tredethlyn, I did not for one moment imagine that there _had_ been a real marriage, and I fully believed that the trouble I was about to take would be wasted trouble. If I had not from the first been firmly convinced that the writer of the diary contemplated a sham marriage, and nothing but a sham marriage, I should, at the outset, have done that which I only did the other day.” Francis Tredethlyn’s impatience was so very evident, that the lawyer, slow as he generally was, quickened his pace a little as he went on. “I was determined to institute an investigation of the books of every registrar’s office in the metropolis during the months of January, February, and March, 1849. I entrusted a confidential clerk with this task, and three days afterwards he brought me the result of his investigation. On the 27th February, 1849, Robert Lesley was married to Susan Turner, in the office of the district registrar for Marylebone. The registrar’s name was Joseph Pepper; the names of the witnesses were Mary Banks and Jemima Banks, of No. 7, Woolcote Villas, St. John’s Wood.” “Thank God!” ejaculated Francis Tredethlyn, reverently. “Thank God, for my little Susan’s sake, that this man was not the scoundrel we took him for.” “Whether such a marriage, contracted under a false name on your cousin’s part, and it is very possible, also under a false name on the part of the writer of the diary,--whether such a marriage might not be open to dispute, is another question. However, the ceremonial, so far as it went, was genuine, and in any case there would be some little difficulty in setting it aside.” “It shall not be set aside!” cried Francis, “if I have the power to enforce it. Thank God for this, Mr. Kursdale, and thank you for the thought, late as it came, that led to the discovery of the truth.” “You must remember, though, my dear Mr. Tredethlyn,” remonstrated the solicitor, who was almost alarmed by the young man’s eagerness, “you must bear in mind that it is just possible there may have been some other Susan Turner and some other Robert Lesley married in the month of February, 1849, and that this registration may refer to them.”