第4章

Hewasthereatthatmoment。Theservantopenedthedoor，andannounced——“Mr。Delamayn。“

Externallyspeaking，therisingsolicitor，whowasgoingtotryhisluckattheBar，lookedlikeamanwhowasgoingtosucceed。

Hishard，hairlessface，hiswatchfulgrayeyes，histhin，resolutelips，saidplainly，insomanywords，“Imeantogetonintheworld；and，ifyouareinmyway，Imeantogetonatyourexpense。“Mr。Delamaynwashabituallypolitetoeverybody——buthehadneverbeenknowntosayoneunnecessarywordtohisdearestfriend。Amanofrareability；amanofunblemishedhonor(asthecodeoftheworldgoes)；butnotamantobetakenfamiliarlybythehand。Youwouldneverhaveborrowedmoneyofhim——butyouwouldhavetrustedhimwithuntoldgold。Involvedinprivateandpersonaltroubles，youwouldhavehesitatedataskinghimtohelpyou。Involvedinpublicandproducibletroubles，youwouldhavesaid，Hereismyman。Suretopushhisway——nobodycouldlookathimanddoubtit——suretopushhisway。

“Kendrewisanoldfriendofmine，“saidMr。Vanborough，addressinghimselftothelawyer。“Whateveryouhavetosayto_me_youmaysaybefore_him。_Willyouhavesomewine？“

“No——thankyou。“

“Haveyoubroughtanynews？“

“Yes。“

“Haveyougotthewrittenopinionsofthetwobarristers？“

“No。“

“Whynot？“

“’Becausenothingofthesortisnecessary。Ifthefactsofthecasearecorrectlystatedthereisnottheslightestdoubtaboutthelaw。“

WiththatreplyMr。Delamayntookawrittenpaperfromhispocket，andspreaditoutonthetablebeforehim。

“Whatisthat？“askedMr。Vanborough。

“Thecaserelatingtoyourmarriage。“

Mr。Kendrewstarted，andshowedthefirsttokensofinterestintheproceedingswhichhadescapedhimyet。Mr。Delamaynlookedathimforamoment，andwenton。

“Thecase，“heresumed，“asoriginallystatedbyyou，andtakendowninwritingbyourhead-clerk。“

Mr。Vanborough’stemperbegantoshowitselfagain。

“Whathavewegottodowiththatnow？“heasked。“Youhavemadeyourinquiriestoprovethecorrectnessofmystatement——haven’tyou？“

“Yes。“

“AndyouhavefoundoutthatIamright？“

“Ihavefoundoutthatyouareright——ifthecaseisright。I

wishtobesurethatnomistakehasoccurredbetweenyouandtheclerk。Thisisaveryimportantmatter。Iamgoingtotaketheresponsibilityofgivinganopinionwhichmaybefollowedbyseriousconsequences；andImeantoassuremyselfthattheopinionisgivenonasoundbasis，first。Ihavesomequestionstoaskyou。Don’tbeimpatient，ifyouplease。Theywon’ttakelong。“

Hereferredtothemanuscript，andputthefirstquestion。

“YouweremarriedatInchmallock，inIreland，Mr。Vanborough，thirteenyearssince？“

“Yes。“

“Yourwife——thenMissAnneSilvester——wasaRomanCatholic？“

“Yes。“

“HerfatherandmotherwereRomanCatholics？“

“Theywere。“

“_Your_fatherandmotherwereProtestants？and_you_werebaptizedandbroughtupintheChurchofEngland？“

“Allright!“

“MissAnneSilvesterfelt，andexpressed，astrongrepugnancetomarryingyou，becauseyouandshebelongedtodifferentreligiouscommunities？“

“Shedid。“

“YougotoverherobjectionbyconsentingtobecomenRomanCatholic，likeherself？“

“Itwastheshortestwaywithheranditdidn’tmatterto_me_。“

“YouwereformallyreceivedintotheRomanCatholicChurch？“

“Iwentthroughthewholeceremony。“

“Abroadorathome？“

“Abroad。“

“Howlongwasitbeforethedateofyourmarriage？“

“SixweeksbeforeIwasmarried。“

Referringperpetuallytothepaperinhishand，Mr。Delamaynwasespeciallycarefulincomparingthatlastanswerwiththeanswergiventothehead-clerk。

“Quiteright，“hesaid，andwentonwithhisquestions。

“ThepriestwhomarriedyouwasoneAmbroseRedman——ayoungmanrecentlyappointedtohisclericalduties？“

“Yes。“

“DidheaskifyouwerebothRomanCatholics？“

“Yes。“

“Didheaskanythingmore？“

“No。“

“AreyousureheneverinquiredwhetheryouhadbothbeenCatholics_formorethanoneyearbeforeyoucametohimtobemarried？_“

“Iamcertainofit。“

“Hemusthaveforgottenthatpartofhisduty——orbeingonlyabeginner，hemaywellhavebeenignorantofitaltogether。Didneitheryounortheladythinkofinforminghimonthepoint？“

“NeitherInortheladyknewtherewasanynecessityforinforminghim。“

Mr。Delamaynfoldedupthemanuscript，andputitbackinhispocket。

“Right，“hesaid，“ineveryparticular。“

Mr。Vanborough’sswarthycomplexionslowlyturnedpale。HecastonefurtiveglanceatMr。Kendrew，andturnedawayagain。

“Well，“hesaidtothelawyer，“nowforyouropinion!Whatisthelaw？“

“Thelaw，“answeredMr。Delamayn，“isbeyondalldoubtordispute。YourmarriagewithMissAnneSilvesterisnomarriageatall。“

Mr。Kendrewstartedtohisfeet。

“Whatdoyoumean？“heasked，sternly。

Therisingsolicitorliftedhiseyebrowsinpolitesurprise。IfMr。Kendrewwantedinformation，whyshouldMr。Kendrewaskforitinthatway？“Doyouwishmetogointothelawofthecase？“heinquired。

“Ido。“

Mr。Delamaynstatedthelaw，asthatlawstillstands——tothedisgraceoftheEnglishLegislatureandtheEnglishNation。

“BytheIrishStatuteofGeorgetheSecond，“hesaid，“everymarriagecelebratedbyaPopishpriestbetweentwoProtestants，orbetweenaPapistandanypersonwhohasbeenaProtestantwithintwelvemonthsbeforethemarriage，isdeclarednullandvoid。AndbytwootherActsofthesamereignsuchacelebrationofmarriageismadeafelonyonthepartofthepriest。TheclergyinIrelandofotherreligiousdenominationshavebeenrelievedfromthislaw。ButitstillremainsinforcesofarastheRomanCatholicpriesthoodisconcerned。“

“Issuchastateofthingspossibleintheagewelivein!“

exclaimedMr。Kendrew。

Mr。Delamaynsmiled。Hehadoutgrownthecustomaryillusionsastotheagewelivein。

“ThereareotherinstancesinwhichtheIrishmarriage-lawpresentssomecuriousanomaliesofitsown，“hewenton。“Itisfelony，asIhavejusttoldyou，foraRomanCatholicpriesttocelebrateamarriagewhichmaybelawfullycelebratedbyaparochialclergyman，aPresbyterianminister，andaNon-conformistminister。Itisalsofelony(byanotherlaw)onthepartofaparochialclergymantocelebrateamarriagethatmaybelawfullycelebratedbyaRomanCatholicpriest。Anditisagainfelony(byyetanotherlaw)foraPresbyterianministerandaNon-conformistministertocelebrateamarriagewhichmaybelawfullycelebratedbyaclergymanoftheEstablishedChurch。Anoddstateofthings。Foreignersmightpossiblythinkitascandalousstateofthings。Inthiscountrywedon’tappeartomindit。Returningtothepresentcase，theresultsstandthus：