s to produce a general impression
that Armadale intended to marry me; in the second place, that my
husband's early life had not been of a kind to exhibit him favorably
in the eyes of the world; in the third place, that we had been married,
without any witnesses present who knew us, at a large parish church
in which two other couples had been married the same morning, to
say nothing of the dozens on dozens of other couples (confusing all
remembrance of us in the minds of the officiating people) who had
been married since. When I had put the doctor in possession of these
facts--and when he had further ascertained that Midwinter and I had gone
abroad among strangers immediately after leaving the church; and that
the men employed on board the yacht in which Armadale had sailed from
Somersetshire (before my marriage) were now away in ships voyaging to
the other end of the world--his confidence in my prospects showed itself
plainly in his face. 'So far as I can see,' he said, 'your husband's
claim to you (after you have stepped into the place of the dead Mr.
Armadale's widow) would rest on nothing but his own bare assertion.
And _that_ I think you may safely set at defiance. Excuse my apparent
distrust of the gentleman. But there might be a misunderstanding between
you in the future, and it is highly desirable to ascertain beforehand
exactly what he could or could not do under those circumstances. And now
that we have done with the main obstacle that _I_ see in the way of your
success, let us by all means come to the obstacle that _you_ see next!'

"I was willing enough to come to it. The tone in which he spoke
of Midwinter, though I myself was responsible for it, jarred on me
horribly, and roused for the moment some of the old folly of feeling
which I fancied I had laid asleep forever. I rushed at the chance of
changing the subject, and mentioned the discrepancy in the register
between the hand in which Midwinter had signed the name of Allan
Armadale, and the hand in which Armadale of Thorpe Ambrose had been
accustomed to write his name, with an eagerness which it quite diverted
the doctor to see.

"'Is _that_ all?' he asked, to my infinite surprise and relief, when
I had done. 'My dear lady, pray set your mind at ease! If the late Mr.
Armadale's lawyers want a proof of your marriage, they won't go to the
church-register for it, I can promise you!'

"'What!' I exclaimed, in astonishment. 'Do you mean to say that the
entry