"Ten o'clock.--I have been looking over the copy of my marriage
certificate, with which I took care to provide myself on the
wedding-day; and I have discovered, to my inexpressible dismay, an
obstacle to my appearance in the character of Armadale's widow which I
now see for the first time.

"The description of Midwinter (under his own name) which the certificate
presents answers in every important particular to what would have been
the description of Armadale of Thorpe Ambrose, if I had really married
him. 'Name and Surname'--Allan Armadale. 'Age'--twenty-one,
instead of twenty-two, which might easily pass for a mistake.
'Condition'--Bachelor. 'Rank or profession'--Gentleman. 'Residence at
the time of Marriage'--Frant's Hotel, Darley Street. 'Father's Name and
Surname'--Allan Armadale. 'Rank or Profession of Father'--Gentleman.
Every particular (except the year's difference in their two ages) which
answers for the one answers for the other. But suppose, when I produce
my copy of the certificate, that some meddlesome lawyer insists on
looking at the original register? Midwinter's writing is as different as
possible from the writing of his dead friend. The hand in which he has
written 'Allan Armadale' in the book has not a chance of passing for
the hand in which Armadale of Thorpe Ambrose was accustomed to sign his
name.

"Can I move safely in the matter, with such a pitfall as I see here open
under my feet? How can I tell? Where can I find an experienced person to
inform me? I must shut up my diary and think."

"Seven o'clock.--My prospects have changed again since I made my last
entry. I have received a warning to be careful in the future which I
shall not neglect; and I have (I believe) succeeded in providing myself
with the advice and assistance of which I stand in need.

"After vainly trying to think of some better person to apply to in the
difficulty which embarrassed me, I made a virtue of necessity, and set
forth to surprise Mrs. Oldershaw by a visit from her darling Lydia! It
is almost needless to add that I determined to sound her carefully, and
not to let any secret of importance out of my own possession.

"A sour and solemn old maid-servant admitted me into the house. When I
asked for her mistress, I was reminded with the bitterest emphasis that
I had committed the impropriety of calling on a Sunday. Mrs. Oldershaw
was at home, solely in consequence of being too unwell to go to church!
The servant