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：