"I propose to take you and Alicia to-morrow morning to Scotland.

Pray don't groan! I only suggest the journey with a matrimonial object.

In Scotland, Mrs.Baggs, if a man and woman accept each other as husband and wife, before one witness, it is a lawful marriage; and that kind of wedding is, as you see plainly enough, the only safe refuge for a bridegroom in my situation.

If you consent to come with us to Scotland, and serve as witness to the marriage, I shall be delighted to acknowledge my sense of your kindness in the eloquent language of the Bank of England, as expressed to the world in general on the surface of a five-pound note." I cautiously snatched away the brandy bottle as I spoke, and was in the drawing-room with it in an instant.

As I suppose, Mrs.Baggs tried to follow me, for I heard the door rattle, as if she had got out of her chair, and suddenly slipped back into it again.