I Forbid the Banns! — page 386: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

370 “T FORBID THE BANNS!” difficulty in finding her, Sir Ecroyd. Meanwhile, however —the—threatening letter ?”’ “Ts a bogus one, in your opinion, Tracey—not worth following up.” “Quite so, Sir Ecroyd—not worth following up, Torn up, Sir Ecroyd—torn up and flung out of the window. Good afternoon, Sir Ecroyd.” Inthe lobby on his way out Tracey met the Minister for Public Safety, and touched his hat, “Ah, Tracey ; by the way—what about that letter?” said that minister. “ Practical joke, as usual, sir,” replied Tracey. ‘“ Fraud in every line of it. Why, it wouldn’t deceive a child, sir—a child ! it wouldn’t deceive an expert, sir.” “ Soclumsy as that? Where is it, Tracey?” ‘‘Sir Ecroyd tore it up and threw it out of the window, sir. If I had only known that you wanted to see it, sir : “*Oh, no, no; I don’t want to see it. I wonder that Sir Ecroyd didn’t perceive that it was not genuine.”’ Tracey touched his hat again, and departed into the comparatively pure air which may be breathed outside St. Stephen’s. In the course of an hour Mr. Tracey had visited the private inquiry offices of Messrs. Renard & Lupus, and had learned that a Mr. Charlton had intrusted them with the duty of discovering the whereabouts of his wife. They were obliging enough to give Mr. Tracey all the particulars which had been communicated to them by their client ; and although Mr. Tracey knew that Sir Ecroyd was too clever to be otherwise than frank with him on the subject of the search for the lady, he thought there was no harm in veri- fying the details regarding her which he had received from the minister. The only piece of original intelligence that he got from these private inquiry agents was to the effect GEomicbdooksico