‘I heard it in the confessional,’ replied the young priest. ‘In the confessional?’ ‘Yes; Father Henniker was taken suddenly ill this afternoon, with one of his heart attacks, and I was called upon to take his place. After a while a man entered, whom I recognised at the first glance. It was--’ ‘Hush! hush! stop my dear brother; what are you thinking of?’ exclaimed the elder priest, warningly. ‘You must not repeat any names. Remember, the confessional is sacred.’ ‘All right, father, I won’t; but it will have to come out some day. Well, this man entered, and after telling me he was not a Catholic, said he had a great burden on his mind and wished to try if confession would ease it. He then went on to give me the whole details of my darling’s murder--how he had gone down to Dover and met her on the cliffs, and she had repulsed and taunted him--I can see her doing it, my poor, brave girl!--and how he had pushed her deliberately over the rocks to the shingles below. He said he had been miserable ever since, as well he may have been, the brute! and had the audacity to ask me for absolution for his crime.’ ‘Did you give it him?’ ‘Not I! I felt much more like giving him his quietus for evermore! I told him, if he were penitent, to go and make his peace with the law first, and then ask for the forgiveness of Heaven. It was all I could do to speak to him with any degree of decency.’ ‘Do you think he did not recognise you, brother?’ ‘Not till the last, when I opened the half door and looked at him. He knew me then and ran away, horrified, no doubt, at his own indiscretion. And now, father, tell me what steps can I take? To whom should I go? I feel as if I could not pass through the Sunday services with this black secret in my keeping. Tell me downright, what shall I do?’ Father Tasker looked at him sadly. ‘You should know better than to ask me. You can do nothing!’ ‘_Nothing?_ Are you laughing at my agony?’ ‘God forbid! I am grieving for this fresh pain you are called upon to endure, more than I can say. But I repeat, you can do nothing. Have you forgotten the solemn vows you have taken not to reveal anything you may hear in the confessional? You would not have dreamt of coming to me with a story you might have heard concerning a stranger. Your hands are just as much tied when the revelation affects yourself!’ ‘You mean that I can do nothing to set this matter right--that I am bound to let the murderer of my wife go free?’ ‘Certainly, since he has confessed the deed to you in your sacred office as confessor! You are bound by your own oath to maintain an utter silence on the subject.’ ‘And he, this brute, is to walk about the world, prosperous and esteemed--triumphing, perhaps, in his secret crimes--whilst my innocent darling lies unavenged in her grave? Oh! it is too, _too_ cruel! I cannot believe it would be a duty!’