Lady Sophia, after his supposed death, had imparted to relatives the fact of his engagement, and the unscrupulous scoundrel, Mr.Oxford, had got hold of her and was forcing her to give evidence for him.

And after the evidence, the joke of every man in the street would be to the effect that Priam Farll, rather than marry the skinny spinster, had pretended to be dead.
"You see," Mr.Oxford added to him, "the important point about Lady Sophia's evidence is that in Paris she saw both you and your valet--the valet obviously a servant, and you obviously his master.

There can, therefore, be no question of her having been deceived by the valet posing as the master.

It is a most fortunate thing that by a mere accident I got on the tracks of Lady Sophia in time.

In the nick of time.