“Imustmostrespectfullyexpressmyapprovalalsoofthecoursewhichtheyoungladyhastaken，“hesaid。“Amoredangerouscompromisethanthecompromisewhichwehavejustheardsuggesteditisdifficulttoimagine。WithalldeferencetoSirPatrickLundie，hisopinionoftheimpossibilityofprovingthemarriageatCraigFernieremainstobeconfirmedastherightone。Myownprofessionalopinionisopposedtoit。TheopinionofanotherScottishlawyerinGlasgowis，tomycertainknowledge，opposedtoit。Iftheyoungladyhadnotactedwithawisdomandcouragewhichdoherhonor，shemighthavelivedtoseethedaywhenherreputationwouldhavebeendestroyed，andherchildrendeclaredillegitimate。WhoistosaythatcircumstancesmaynothappeninthefuturewhichmayforceMr。BrinkworthorMissSilvester——oneortheother——toasserttheverymarriagewhichtheyrepudiatenow？Whoistosaythatinterestedrelativespropertybeingconcernedheremaynotinthelapseofyears，discovermotivesoftheirownforquestioningtheassertedmarriageinKent？I
acknowledgethatIenvytheimmenseself-confidencewhichemboldensSirPatricktoventure，whatheiswillingtoventureuponhisownindividualopiniononanundecidedpointoflaw。“
Hesatdownamidstamurmurofapproval，andcastaslyly-expectantlookathisdefeatedadversary。“If_that_
doesn’tirritatehimintoshowinghishand，“thoughtMr。Moy，“nothingwill!“
SirPatrickslowlyraisedhishead。Therewasnoirritation——therewasonlydistressinhisface——whenhespokenext。