m were one and the same. For the
satisfaction of all parties concerned, it was indispensable that proof
positive should be procured, and the matter settled beyond all doubt.
The position, as affecting both the private feelings and social status
of Bishop and Mrs Pendle, was too serious a one to be dealt with
otherwise than in the most circumspect manner.

After Miss Whichello's visit and revelation, Dr Pendle immediately
sought out his wife to explain that after all doubts and difficulties,
and lies and forgeries, they were as legally bound to one another as any
couple in the three Kingdoms; that their children were legitimate and
could bear their father's name, and that the evil which had survived the
death of its author was now but shadow and wind--in a word,
non-existent. Mrs Pendle, who had borne the shock of her pseudo
husband's resurrection so bravely, was quite overwhelmed by the good
news of her re-established position, and fainted outright when her
husband broke it to her. But for Lucy's sake--as the bishop did not wish
Lucy to know, or even suspect anything--she afterwards controlled her
feelings better, and, relieved from the apprehension of coming danger,
speedily recovered her health and spirits. She was thus, at a week's
end, enabled to attend in the library a council of six people summoned
by her husband to adjust the situation. The good bishop was nothing if
not methodical and thorough; and he was determined that the matter of
the false and true marriages should be threshed out to the last grain.
Therefore, the council was held _ex aequo et bono_.

On this momentous occasion there were present the bishop himself and Mrs
Pendle, who sat close beside his chair; also Miss Whichello, fluttered
and anxious, in juxtaposition with Dr Graham; and Gabriel, who had
placed himself near Baltic the sedate and solemn-faced. When all were
assembled, the bishop lost no time in speaking of the business which had
brought them together. He related in detail the imposture of Jentham,
the murder by Mosk, who since had taken his own life, and the revelation
of Miss Whichello, ending with the production of the documents proving
the several marriages, and a short statement explaining the same.

'Here,' said Dr Pendle, 'is the certificate of marriage between Pharaoh
Bosvile and Ann Whichello, dated December 1869. They lived together as
man and wife for six months up to May 1870, after which Bosvile deserted
the unhappy lady.'