Jenifer's Prayer, Part II [pp. 183-197]

Jenifer's Prayer.
Jenifer smiled, as the holy man spoke
in a playful tone, and she said, "It
is the anniversary, father." "Of
Eleanor's marriage. Yes. I remembered her at mass. Has she
heard anything of him?" "Yes,
father; she has heard his real name,
she thinks. She has always suspected, from the time that she first
began to suspect evil, that she had
never known him by his real nameshe never believed his name to be
Henry Evelyn, as he said when he
married her."
"And what is his real name?"
"Horace Erskine," said Jenifer.
"What!" exclaimed Father Daniels, with an unusual tone of alarm
in his voice. "The man who was
talked of for Lady Greystock before
she married-the nephew of Mrs.
Brewer's sister's husband!" "Yes,
sir." "Is she sure?" "No. She
has not seen him. But she has
traced him, she thinks. Corny
Nugent, who is her second cousin,
and knew them both when the marriage took place, went as a servant to
the elder Mr. Erskine, and knew
Henry Evelyn, as they called him
in Ireland, when he came back from
abroad. He thought he knew him.
Then Horace Erskine, finding he
was an Irishman, would joke him
about his religion, and how he was
the only Catholic in the house, and
how he was obliged to walk five miles
to mass. Time was when Mr. Erskine, the uncle, would not have kept
a Catholic servant. But since Mr.
and Mrs. Brewer married, he has
been less bigoted. He took Corny
Nugent in London. It was just a
one season's engagement. But when
they were to return to Scotland they
proposed to keep him on, and he
stayed. After a little Horace Erskine asked him about Ireland; and
even if he knew such and such
places; and then he came by degrees
to the very place-the very peopleto his own knowledge of them.
Corny gave crafty answers. But he
disliked the sight of the man, and
the positions he put him into.
So he left. HIe left three months
ago. And he found out Eleanor's
direction, and told her that surelysurely and certainly-her husband,
Henry Evelyn, was no other than
his late master's nephew, who had
been trying to marry more than one,
only always some unlooked-for and
unaccountable thing had happened
to prevent it. Our Lady be praised,
for her prayers have kept off that
last woe-I make no doubt-thank
God!"
"How many years is it since
they married?" "Eleven, to-day. I
keep the anniversary. He is older
than he looks. lie is thirty-two,
this year, if he did not lie about his
age, as well as everything else. He
told Father Power he was of age.
He said, too-God forgive him-that
he was a Catholic."
"But when I followed Father Power at Rathcoyle," said the priest,
"there was no register of the marriag,e. I was sent for on the afternoon of the marriage day. I found
Father Power in a dying state. IIe
was anl old man, and had long been
infirm. The marriage was not entered. It was known to have taken
place. Your niece and her husband
were gone. I walked out that evening to your brother's farm. IHe
knew nothing of the marriage. Ile
had received a note to say that
Eleanor was gone with her husband,
and that they would hear from them
when they got to England. Why
Father Power, who was a saintly
man, married them, I do not know.
It was unlawful for him to marry a
Catholic and a Protestant. If your
sister went through no other marriage, she has no claim on her Protestant husband. If she could prove
that he passed himself off as a
Catholic, she might have some
ground against him-but, can she?"
"No, sir; on the contrary, she
knew that she was marrying a Protestant; she had hopes of converting him; she learnt from him
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