"And then you got a brainwave, didn't you, Hipper— a hell of a brainwave? I must say it was very clever. You told Gale that if he liked to give you that letter, all you had to do was to wait a week or two after the decree nisi was pronounced— but before it was made absolute— and then send the letter to the King's Proctor and tell him that you'd found it in the course of your investigations; that as a responsible citizen you could not be connected with a collusive divorce case. You knew exactly what would happen. The decree nisi would be rescinded. Gale would still be the husband of Querida Gale, still getting five thousand a year while he was her husband, plus the forty thousand pounds for which he'd taken her. I wonder how much he agreed to pay you out of that sum, Hipper."
Vallon paused
