He complied, and joined in wedlock Violet Dalston and Henry Grainger.  The bride was the lady now pointed out to him in court; the bridegroom he had discovered, about two years ago, to be no other than the late Sir Harry Compton, baronet.  The initials Z.Z. were his, and written by him.  The parish clerk, a failing old man, had not officiated at the marriage; a nephew, he believed, had acted for him, but he had entered the marriage in the usual form afterwards.”

“How did you ascertain that Henry Grainger was the late Sir Harry Compton?”

“I was introduced to Sir Harry Compton in London, at the house of the Archbishop of York, by his Grace himself.”

“I remember the incident distinctly, Mr. Zimmerman,” said his Grace from the bench.

“Besides which,” added the rector, “my present living was presented to me, about eighteen months since, by the deceased baronet.  I must further, in justice to myself, explain that I immediately after the introduction, sought an elucidation of the mystery from Sir Harry; and he then told me that, in a freak of youthful passion, he had married Miss Dalston in the name of Grainger, fearing his uncle’s displeasure should it reach his ears; that his wife had died in her first confinement, after giving birth to a still-born child, and he now wished the matter to remain in oblivion.  He also showed me several letters, which I then believed genuine, confirming his story.  I heard no more of the matter till waited upon by the attorney for the plaintiff, Mr. Ferret.”

A breathless silence prevailed during the delivery of this evidence.  At its conclusion, the dullest brain in court comprehended that the cause was gained; and a succession of cheers, which could not be suppressed, rang through the court, and were loudly echoed from without.  Sir Jasper’s voice sounding high above all the rest.  Suddenly, too, as if by magic, almost everybody in court, save the jury and counsel, were decorated with orange and purple favors, and a perfect shower of them fell at the feet and about the persons of Lady Compton, her sister, who had by this time joined her, and the infant Sir Henry.  As soon as the expostulations and menaces of the judge had restored silence and order, his lordship, addressing Lord Emsdale’s senior counsel, said, “Well, Brother S ——­, what course do you propose to adopt ?”

“My lord,” replied Mr. S ——­ after a pause, “I and my learned friends have thought it our duty to advise Lord Emsdale that further opposition to the plaintiff’s claim would prove ultimately futile; and I have therefore to announce, my lord and gentlemen of the jury, that we acquiesce in a verdict for the plaintiff.”

“You have counseled wisely,” replied his lordship.  “Gentlemen of the jury, you will of course return a verdict for the plaintiff.”