“Itisnoteasytotellyou，“hesaid，“withoutenteringintothelegalaspectofthecase。IshallonlypuzzleyouifIdothat。
Supposewelookatthematterinitssocialbearings——Imean，asitmaypossiblyaffectyouandBlanche，andyourunbornchildren？“
Arnoldgavethehatatightertwistthanever。“Ineverthoughtofthechildren，“hesaid，withalookofconsternation。
“Thechildrenmaypresentthemselves，“returnedSirPatrick，dryly，“forallthat。Nowlisten。ItmayhaveoccurredtoyourmindthattheplainwayoutofourpresentdilemmaisforyouandMissSilvester，respectively，toaffirmwhatweknowtobethetruth——namely，thatyouneverhadtheslightestintentionofmarryingeachother。Bewareoffoundinganyhopesonanysuchremedyasthat!Ifyoureckononit，youreckonwithoutGeoffreyDelamayn。Heisinterested，remember，inprovingyouandMissSilvestertobemanandwife。Circumstancesmayarise——Iwon’twastetimeinguessingatwhattheymaybe——whichwillenableathirdpersontoproducethelandladyandthewaiteratCraigFernieinevidenceagainstyou——andtoassertthatyourdeclarationandMissSilvester’sdeclarationaretheresultofcollusionbetweenyoutwo。Don’tstart!Suchthingshavehappenedbeforenow。MissSilvesterispoor；andBlancheisrich。Youmaybemadetostandintheawkwardpositionofamanwhoisdenyinghismarriagewithapoorwoman，inordertoestablishhismarriagewithanheiress：MissSilvesterpresumablyaidingthefraud，withtwostronginterestsofherownasinducements——theinterestofassertingtheclaimtobethewifeofamanofrank，andtheinterestofearningherrewardinmoneyforresigningyoutoBlanche。Thereisacasewhichascoundrelmightsetup——andwithsomeappearanceoftruthtoo——inacourtofjustice!“
“Surely，thelawwouldn’tallowhimtodothat？“