Page:Braddon--The Trail of the Serpent.djvu/263

Rh "Monsieur de Cevennes, that which I have to say to you relates to your marriage."

"My marriage. Suppose I say that I never was married, my amiable friend?"

"I shall then reply, monsieur, that I not only am informed of all the circumstances of your marriage, but what is more, I am possessed of a proof of that marriage."

"Supposing there was such a marriage, which I am prepared to deny, there could only be two proofs—the witnesses and the certificate."

"The witnesses, monsieur, are dead," said Raymond.

"Then that would reduce the possible proofs to one—the certificate."

"Nay, monsieur, there might be another evidence of the marriage."

"And that would be?"

"The issue of it. You had two sons by that marriage, monsieur. One of those sons died eight years ago."

"And the other?" asked the Marquis.

"Still lives. I shall have something to say about him by-and-by."

"It is a subject in which I take no sort of interest," said the Marquis, throwing himself back into his chair, and abandoning himself once more to Marc Antony. "I may have been married, or I may not have been married—it is not worth my while to deny that fact to you; because if I confess it to you, I can of course deny it the moment I cross the threshold of that door—I may have sons, or I may not have sons; in either case, I have no wish to hear of them, and anything you may have to say about them is, it appears to me, quite irrelevant to the matter in hand; which merely is your going to prison for forgery, or your not going to prison for forgery. But what I most earnestly recommend, my very dear young friend, is, that you take the cab and handcuffs quietly, and go! That will, at least, put an end to fuss and discussion; and oh, what an inexpressible relief there is in that! I always envy Noah, floundering about in that big boat of his: no new books; no houses of parliament; no poor relations; no Times newspaper; and no taxes—'universal as you were,' as Mr. Carlyle says; plenty to eat, and everything come to an end; and that foolish Noah must needs send out the dove, and begin it all over again. Yes, he began it all over again, that preposterous Noah. Whereby, cab, handcuffs, forgery, long conversation, and police persons outside that door; all of which might have been prevented if Noah had kept the dove indoors, and had been unselfish enough to bore a hole in the bottom of his boat."

"If you will listen to me, Monsieur le Marquis, and keep your