“Yes, uncle, there is a way out of it, if you would only take it.”
“What way, Le?”
“The divorce court.”
“Le! The very word, divorce, is an offense to decent ears.”
“Uncle! the most straitlaced of all the Christian sects permit divorce under certain circumstances. The Westminster Catechism, that strictest of all moral and religious codes, provides for it.”
“If all the world’s church and state were to meet in convention and provide for it I would have none of it—except—except—as the very last resort; and then, Le, I should feel it as the very greatest humiliation of my life.”
“Oh, uncle!”
“Listen, Le: Now that we know that Anglesea’s wife was living at the time of his marriage with the Widow Wright, we also know that marriage was unlawful; and now that we furthermore know that his wife was dead at the time of his marriage with Odalite Force we also know that this last marriage was lawful.”
“Uncle! uncle! I cannot bear——”
“One moment, Le. Do not be so impetuous. I said lawful—however wicked and immoral. And because it was lawful, Le, my dear daughter is bound by it, to a certain extent, and cannot form any matrimonial engagement while this bond exists.”