But in view of the possibility of his setting up her claim,
he asked me some questions on legal points, and of course I asked him to
let me see the papers of which he had spoken."
"Ah!" exclaimed Mr. Pawle, with a sigh of relieved satisfaction. "Then
you saw them?"
"Yes--he showed me the whole lot," replied Mr. Perkwite. "Not so many,
after all--those that were really pertinent, at any rate. He carried
those in a pocketbook; had so carried them, he told me, ever since
Marketstoke had handed them to him; they had never, he added, been out of
his possession, day or night, since Marketstoke's death. Now, on
examining the papers, I at once discovered two highly important facts.
Although Marketstoke went to and lived in Australia under the name of
Wickham, he had taken good care to get married in his own proper name,
and there, amongst the documents, was the marriage certificate, in which
he was correctly described. Further, his daughter had been correctly
designated in the register of her birth; there was a copy, properly
attested, of the entry."
Mr. Pawle glanced at Viner, and Viner knew what he was thinking of.
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