It was not easy to see his way to the true connection between the lady and gentleman in the parlor and the two letters now in his own possession.

They might be themselves the writers of the letters, or they might be only friends of the writers.

Who was to decide?
In the first case, the lady's object would appear to have been as good as gained; for the two had certainly asserted themselves to be man and wife, in his own presence, and in the presence of the landlady.

In the second case, the correspondence so carelessly thrown aside might, for all a stranger knew to the contrary, prove to be of some importance in the future.

Acting on this latter view, Mr.Bishopriggs--whose past experience as "a bit clerk body," in Sir Patrick's chambers, had made a man of business of him--produced his pen and ink, and indorsed the letter with a brief dated statement of the circumstances under which he had found it.