The lights behind the blindless windows illuminated interiors and showed men bending over desks and drawing-boards, some near the windows with their faces sharply cut in profile.

Septimus wondered vaguely whether any one of those visible would be his solicitor.
A member of the first firm he sought happened to be disengaged, a benevolent young man wearing gold spectacles, who received his request for guidance with sympathetic interest and unfolded to him the divers methods whereby British subjects could get married all over the world, including the High Seas on board one of His Majesty's ships of the Mercantile Marine.
Solicitors are generally bursting with irrelevant information.

When, however, he elicited the fact that one of the parties had a flat in London which would technically prove the fifteen days' residence, he opened his eyes.
"But, my dear sir, unless you are bent on a religious ceremony, why not get married at once before the registrar of the Chelsea district?
There are two ways of getting married before the registrar--one by certificate and one by license.

By license you can get married after the expiration of one whole day next after the day of the entry of the notice of marriage.

That is to say, if you give notice to-morrow you can get married not the next day, but the day after.