Hewasthereatthatmoment。Theservantopenedthedoor，andannounced——“Mr。Delamayn。“
Externallyspeaking，therisingsolicitor，whowasgoingtotryhisluckattheBar，lookedlikeamanwhowasgoingtosucceed。
Hishard，hairlessface，hiswatchfulgrayeyes，histhin，resolutelips，saidplainly，insomanywords，“Imeantogetonintheworld；and，ifyouareinmyway，Imeantogetonatyourexpense。“Mr。Delamaynwashabituallypolitetoeverybody——buthehadneverbeenknowntosayoneunnecessarywordtohisdearestfriend。Amanofrareability；amanofunblemishedhonorasthecodeoftheworldgoes；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。ItisalsofelonybyanotherlawonthepartofaparochialclergymantocelebrateamarriagethatmaybelawfullycelebratedbyaRomanCatholicpriest。AnditisagainfelonybyyetanotherlawforaPresbyterianministerandaNon-conformistministertocelebrateamarriagewhichmaybelawfullycelebratedbyaclergymanoftheEstablishedChurch。Anoddstateofthings。Foreignersmightpossiblythinkitascandalousstateofthings。Inthiscountrywedon’tappeartomindit。Returningtothepresentcase，theresultsstandthus：