Mrs. Halliday, her sister, was with
her when she died. There was no question of marriage; nor is there the
record of any marriage contracted by Samuel."
"All that is no proof."
"Indeed! I should have thought the evidence sufficient. But, in any case,
the _onus probandi_ is not upon us. Can you prove the marriage of the
Samuel Meynell who died at Calais, or of the Susan Meynell who died in
London?"
"I can. Susan Meynell's legitimate son is in the next room. It's an
unpleasant kind of revelation to make, Val; as he, the son of one sister,
stands prior to your wife, the granddaughter of the other sister, in the
order of succession. AND HE TAKES ALL!"
"He takes all!" repeated Valentine, bewildered. "He! Susan Meynell's
son?--in the next room? What does all this mean?"
"It means that when Susan was deserted by the scoundrel who took her away
from her home, she found an honest fellow to marry her. The name of her
husband was Lenoble. Gustave Lenoble yonder, my daughter's husband, is
her only child by that marriage. A perfectly legal marriage, my dear
Val--everything _en regle_, I assure you. The business is in the hands of
Messrs. Dashwood and Vernon of Whitehall--a first-class firm; counsel's
opinion most decided as to Lenoble's position. They have been rather slow
about the preliminary steps; and, _entre nous_, I have not cared to hurry
them, for I wanted to get my daughter's marriage over quietly before we
began our proceedings in Chancery.
Pages:
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532