'
'What forces you to that conclusion, my lady?'
'A letter I received from himself, in which he makes a proposal so
extraordinary that I am almost disinclined to accede to it, even
though it leads to the discovery of my necklace. However, I am
determined to leave no means untried if I receive the support of my
friend, Monsieur Valmont.'
'My lady,' said I, with a bow, 'it is but yours to command, mine to
obey. What were the contents of that letter?'
'Read it,' she replied, taking the folded sheet from her pocket, and
handing it to me.
She had been quite right in characterising the note as an
extraordinary epistle. The Honourable John Haddon had the temerity to
propose that she should go through a form of marriage with him in the
old church we had just left. If she did that, he said, it would
console him for the mad love he felt for her. The ceremony would have
no binding force upon her whatever, and she might bring whom she
pleased to perform it. If she knew no one that she could trust, he
would invite an old college chum, and bring him to the church next
morning at half-past seven o'clock. Even if an ordained clergyman
performed the ceremony, it would not be legal unless it took place
between the hours of eight in the morning, and three in the
afternoon.
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