Page 161 of The Belle of Belgrave Square

“Forgive me,” she said at last. “This isn’t a social call. It’s about a legal matter. I’m afraid I didn’t know where to find your offices.”

“Not at all,” Mr. Finchley said. “These days I’m at home more than I’m at my office.”

“You can blame me for that.” Mrs. Finchley exchanged a private smile with her husband before withdrawing. “Shall I send in tea?”

“Oh no,” Julia said. “I won’t be staying long.”

Mrs. Finchley seemed to understand. Professing herself to be available if either of them should have need of her, she exited the room in a rustle of fabric.

Mr. Finchley motioned for Julia to sit down.

She took a seat in one of the carved chairs, folding her hands in her lap as he sat across from her.

“How can I help you, ma’am?” he asked.

Repressed anxiety made Julia’s stomach tremble. It was difficult enough being back in London, but to have ventured out on her own—entirely alone—with no maid or anyone else to support her had taken a level of courage she hadn’t known she possessed.

She was driven by the same compulsion that had prompted her to challenge the shopkeeper in Hardholme—a deep desire to protect her family. She wanted to protect herself, too. To reassure herself that she was married, in law as well as in spirit.

“My husband recently told me that he consulted with you before our marriage,” she said. “He mentioned having asked your advice on a hypothetical question.”

Mr. Finchley neither confirmed nor denied it.

Julia pressed on in spite of his silence. “I wondered if I might consult with you on the same subject?”

A glint of sympathy flickered in Mr. Finchley’s gaze. “You may ask me whatever you like, of course. I’ll advise you if I can.”

“Very well.” She cleared her throat. “Could you please tell me . . . If a person—a man—married someone under a false name, would that marriage be legal?”

Mr. Finchley didn’t bat an eye. “That depends. Were the banns published?”

“Does it matter?”

“Very much so. The object of publication is publicity. If a false name is used when calling the banns, it defeats the entire purpose of the exercise. A marriage in those circumstances would be invalid.” He paused. “Now, if it were a marriage by license . . .”

“Yes?” She leaned forward in her seat.

“A license isn’t a matter of public notoriety. If one of the parties used a false name to obtain it, the marriage might still be held valid, providing certain criteria are met.”

“What criteria?”

“That depends,” he said again. “Did the man’s wife know it was a false name at the time they wed?”

“She did not.”

“And did the vicar? Or any of the witnesses?”

“No, indeed.”

“Then yes, the marriage would be legal.”

Julia’s brows knit. It was too convenient. Almost too good to be true. She didn’t dare trust it. “How can it be? Surely, it’s fraud or some other crime?”

“On the husband’s part? Probably. But the husband’s crime does nothing to invalidate the marriage. When you wed, you marry a person, not a name.”

A person, not a name.

She wanted desperately to believe it. “You’re certain of this?”