expiration of seven years, I
know,' said Graham, wrinkling his brow.

'Certainly. And therefore she is--in the eyes of the law--a
bigamist'--the bishop shuddered--'although, God knows, she fully
believed her husband to be dead. But the religious point of view is the
one I take, doctor; as a Churchman, I cannot live with a woman whom I
know is not my wife. It was for that reason that I sent her away!'

'But you cannot keep her away for ever, bishop!--at all events, unless
you explain the position to her.'

'I dare not do that in her present state of health; the shock would kill
her. No, Graham, I see that sooner or later she must know, but I wished
for her absence that I might gain time to consider my terrible position.
I have considered it in every way--but, God help me! I can see no
hope--no escape. Alas! alas! I am sorely, sorely tried.'

Graham reflected. 'Are you perfectly certain that Jentham and Krant are
one and the same man?' he asked doubtfully.

'I am certain of it,' replied Pendle, decisively. 'I could not be
deceived in the dark gipsy face, in the peculiar cicatrice on the right
cheek. And he knew all about my wife, Graham--about her family, her
maiden name, the amount of her fortune, her taking up parish work in
Marylebone. Above all, he showed me the certificate of his marriage, and
a number of letters written to him by Amy, reproaching him with his
cruel desertion. Oh, there can be no doubt that this Jentham is--or
rather was--Stephen Krant.'

'It would seem so!' sighed Graham, heavily. 'Evidently there is no hope
of proving him to be an impostor in the face of such evidence.'

'He came to extort money, I suppose?'

'Need you ask!' said the bishop, bitterly. 'Yes, his sole object was
blackmail; he was content to let things remain as they are, provided his
silence was purchased at his own price. He told me that if I paid him
two hundred pounds he would hand over certificate and letters and
disappear, never to trouble me again.'

'I doubt if such a blackguard would keep his word, Pendle. Moreover,
although novelists and dramatists attach such a value to marriage
certificates, they are really not worth the paper they are written
on--save, perhaps, as immediate evidence. The register of the church in
which the ceremony took place is the important document, and that can
neither be handed over nor destroyed. Krant was giving you withered
leaves for your good gold, Pendle. Still, Needs must when Sir U