"One of Mr. Toots's hardest trials, however, was of his own seeking. On the approach of the Sunday which was to witness the last of those askings in church of which the Captain had spoken, Mr. Toots thus stated his feelings to Susan Nipper."

Florence and Walter are to be married, but for several previous Sundays the clergyman asks if anyone knows a reason why the marriage should not take place. I can't remember the form thereof, but will search for it.

I couldnt find the wording of the "askings".

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02255a.htm

From the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:

First the Banns of all that are to be married together must be published in the Church three several Sundays, during the time of Morning Service, or of Evening Service, (if there be no Morning Service,) immediately after the second Lesson; the Curate saying after the accustomed manner, I publish the Banns of Marriage between M. of ----- and N. of -----. If any of you know cause, or just impediment, why these two persons should not be joined together in holy Matrimony, ye are to declare it. This is the first [second, or third] time of asking.

http://www.eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/occasion/marriage.html

Bingley

How very, very odd to modern sensibilities. It would be very interesting to see a modern drama in which someone overtly questioned the marriage of two people in a ceremony. And the 'banns'! Doesn't that sound archaic? Yet somehow right, too? Is this a paradox? That we are drawn toward and against exclusion at the same moment? And isn't this somehow like quantum physics in which two particles can occupy the same place at the same time yet one particle can be in two places at the same time?

Listen, I'm just askings...

As far as I know, if you want to get married in a C of E church, you still have to have the banns published on 3 Sundays beforehand.

In reply to:

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It would be very interesting to see a modern drama in which someone overtly questioned the marriage of two people in a ceremony.

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If I remember rightly, it was at that point in the ceremony the deaf brother intervened in the film "Four Weddings and a Funeral", thus preventing Hugh Grant from marrying the wrong woman. Not quite as dramatic as the revelation in 'Jane Eyre' that Rochester was already married, though.

Bingley

Oh, yes, the Jane Eyre intrusion is the only one I would ever think of in a wedding ceremony. Utterly unforgettable, that one.

Thanks for recalling a contemporary instance.