Pagina 531 van 657

Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in rough scenes and

under strange conditions. So far I had got before I ever heard

Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us of a man in a pew, of

the change in the bride's manner, of so transparent a device for

obtaining a note as the dropping of a bouquet, of her resort to

her confidential maid, and of her very significant allusion to

claim-jumping-which in miners' parlance means taking possession

of that which another person has a prior claim to-the whole

situation became absolutely clear. She had gone off with a man,

and the man was either a lover or was a previous husband-the

chances being in favour of the latter."

"And how in the world did you find them?"